Sjeltur

A comment by Monica inspired me to write a little about her observation that the world is going mad. It looks like this is true, but it’s actually nothing new. Although never the same, history seems to go through cycles and the current cycle is definitely one with heightened madness. Historians and demographers recognize four basic types of different generations, born in four different eras. Here a table of the different generations and eras, and a short description:

An Awakening is a period were young adults attack old values, they want to change the world.

An Unraveling is a period of relative peace and prosperity after an Awakening, but also a time where slowly but surely it becomes clear over time that a Crisis is coming.

A Crisis is a period were the old order is replaced by a new one. It’s a time of economic decline and major wars are fought.

A High is a period were people are building on the new order that emerged from the Crisis. Society is reshaped, it’s a time of new inventions and discoveries, the economy is growing.

Prophets are moralistic, value-driven and focused on self. They grow up as children during a High, come of age as young adults of an Awakening, enter midlife during an Unraveling and age during a Crisis. The Baby boom generation is an example of a Prophet generation.

Nomads are tough, diverse, adventurous, and cynical about institutions. They grow up as children during an Awakening, come of age as young adults of an Unraveling, enter midlife during a Crisis and age during a High. Generation X and the Lost Generation are examples of Nomad generations.

Heroes are conventional, powerful, institutionally driven, and have a profound trust in authority. They grow up as children during an Unraveling, come of age as young adults during a Crisis, enter midlife during a High and age during an Awakening. Generation Y and the GI generation that fought World War II are Hero generations.

Artists are subtle, indecisive, emotional and compromising. They grow up as children during a Crisis, come of age as young adults during a High, enter midlife during an Awakening, and age during an Unraveling. Generation Z and the Silent Generation are examples of Artist generations.

We live in an era of Crisis, the world has already seen 9/11, followed by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and an economic crisis has just started. We will probably see more economic decline, depletion of resources and possibly some major wars in the years to come during this Crisis. After that, the world will finally move to a new High. Until then, we can expect a lot more madness to come, unfortunately.