Gen Z is shaping the world in a way never seen before

The world's demography was never categorised by alphabetic letters like it has been done since the Millennials. Yet its next generation known in short Gen Z has captured the headlines more than their preceding and succeeding generations. The Millennials have no chance of getting more prominence than the Gen Z but any prediction about the Alpha may be premature. Right now, the Gen Z is ruling the roost. Born between 1997 and 2012, here is a generation that virtually was born with their small fists on wonder devices with smartphones leading the way. The majority of them are the children of Generation X and are likely to be the parents of Generation Beta.

When generations are so categorised, the elderly people feel unease because the elements of blood and flesh appear to be missing from human beings. Yet it must be recognised that the Gen Z has got a distinct mark unlike other generations. They have earned for themselves a prominent identity because of the technological edge they have got in their favour. Let alone those children from poor families struggling to manage two square meals, the majority of them belonging to this group have been fortunate enough to lay their hands on computers, laptop, notebook or smartphones early, which has mostly helped them become techno-savvy.

Then what really are the distinctive characters of this generation? Sure enough, the Covid-19 pandemic has left a decisive mark on their mental makeup. That was the time when they had enough time for introspection. Unlike the hippies of the 60s and 70s, they took life seriously. They are not gregarious like their preceding generation but yet they feel some short of affinity with their cohort and the feeling is not confined to a particular community or country. The feeling is global.

This is interesting because their ideas of right or wrong neither depend on the traditional religious lessons nor on political charlatanism. In this case, their objective outlook has developed from a sense of digital communication at a speed never imagined before. Well, they have been the first social cohort to grow up with Web 2.0 digital technologies. Their sense of propriety is based on information and an objective analysis of the situation. They are more aware of their mental health although many of them have become habituated to stay awake at night. The screen time is quite concerning. Notwithstanding their scrutiny of fake or fabricated contents, many of them are misled to believe in those. Social platforms are full of alluring contents and the less educated among them respond to those materials unaware of the danger of falling in such traps.

Also called zoomers, this generation is not very active in developing interpersonal relationship. The adolescents among them feel at ease in connecting with each other on phone calls or text messages. But their younger groups generally prefer video calls. Although they are not detached from members of their families, they are found to be lonely because of the mental stress to build up their own careers. The smarter of them have proved innovative enough to become entrepreneurs or developing apps. But the mediocre often struggle to make a stable source of income.

Now that the artificial intelligence (AI) has made a giant leap forward, the job market is sure to shrink further. Against such a background, the information and communication technology (ICT) is also likely to lose ground. But where the pre-eminence of robotics is getting established, there is a danger of knowledge and culture receding to the back burner. Indeed, reading books has become almost outdated among the Gen Z. They are more concerned with information that would open a window of opportunity. But books are a store of genuine knowledge and culture of a community, race or nation that give sustenance to life.

Technologies, however advantageous they may be, can never be a replacement for philosophy, art and culture developed over hundreds or thousands of years. There is a need for addressing the mental crises after arduous works of the day. Yes, the fortunate among the Gen Z fulfil their mental urge for cars, apparels, shoes, watches and other objects of precious brands. But this is small consolation for the loneliness within. This generation has set the tone of technological advantages, what will its succeeding generation do?

Although many countries have aging population and declining birth rate, by 2020, the Gen Z was the largest generation alive. This generation accounted for 2.47 billion ---about 32 per cent ---of the 7'7 billion inhabitants on the planet, according to a Bloomberg analysis the United Nations data. Much will depend on how the Gen Z conducts itself collectively and leaves a legacy for its posterity.