Why do we struggle so much with long-term thinking? Excellent question. The answer is because younger generations (Alpha and Z mainly) are conditioned by social media to seek instant gratification rather than long-term satisfaction. This evokes the mantra: short term gain for long term pain. Social media and digital devices have dumbed down today’s young people, which has resulted in super short attention spans—per the often used goldfish analogy.
It’s not the fault of young people that they were born into the digital age and live in virtual spaces. The fault lies with older generations like mine, Gen X, which have designed and blindly promoted the very technology that caused the problem we are now attempting to solve. In short, this speaks to the double-edged sword impact of new and evolving tech. Do the positives outweigh the detriments to youth? If not, then why has the U.S. Congress consistently failed to appropriately regulate big tech companies for two decades and counting?
At least the EU has taken some effective action in this regard. The USA should at the very least emulate those effective safeguards to make the online and social media experience a more critical thinking experience which enhances long-term thinking and longer attention spans—not vice versa. Maybe then young people will stop simply seeking immediate gratification.