Generation

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For other uses, see #Disambiguation.

Generation is the act of producing offspring, or procreation. It is also the act of bringing something into being (such as electrical generation and cryptographic code generation). A generation can also be a stage or degree in the succession of natural descent (such as grandfather, father, and son are three generations) or stages of successive improvement in the development of something, such as computers.

A generation can also represent all the people born at about the same time, called a generational cohort (see demographics). Historians hold differing opinions as to what extent dividing history into generations is useful or an improper over-generalization.

William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book Generations list the generations of America. Their definition of "generation" is as follows: A cohort-group (all persons born in a limited span of consecutive years) whose length approximates the span of a phase of life (about 22 years) and whose boundaries are fixed by peer personality (a generational persona recognized and determined by common age location, common beliefs and behavior, and perceived membership in a common generation).

The four peer personalities are Prophets, Nomads, Heroes, and Artists. Prophets are typified by the Baby Boomers, who reshaped society from the inside as they grew up. They are strong idealists who clash with their elders. In later life, they become strong leaders, sometimes called the "Gray Champion." Nomads follow Prophets, and are downtrodden, rough, pragmatic individualists, personified by Gen X or the Lost Generation before them. They suffer as children, but grow up to get things done, in mid-life as the middle managers under the Prophets, and as seniors they work on ambitious practical projects (such as Eisenhower's interstate system) while ignoring internal dissent bubbling up.

After Nomads usually come Heroes, who are team-oriented and pull together to fight during an external crisis as they come of age. They are typified by the G.I. generation who served as soldiers in WWII. As they mature to gain control of the institutions of society, they are bewildered by the dissent from the next generation of Prophet youth who come up and tear their society apart. Last are the Artists, who are sheltered children during the external crisis. Both the Silent Generation and the Homelander Generation are growing up sheltered and restricted. They are sandwiched between the Heroes above and the Prophets below, and as the Silent Generation did, they serve as mediatiors between the two. Their contriubtions are often recognized in art and culture, and they shape the coming idealist movement of the Prophets, much as the Beat Generation (a subset of the Silent) did for the Baby Boomers.

In the United States, the Civil War (as an external crisis) came early, disrupting the cycle and leading to an unsatisfactory conclusion. However, the cycle of generational personalities reasserted itself, and continues on today.

The Puritan Generation ("Prophets," born 1588-1617)
The Cavalier Generation ("Nomads," born 1618-1647)
The Glorious Generation ("Heroes," born 1648-1673)
The Enlightenment Generation ("Artists," born 1674-1700)

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The Awakening Generation (Prophets, born 1701-1723)
The Liberty Generation (Nomads, born 1724-1741)
The Republican Generation (Heroes, 1742-1766)
The Compromise Generation (Artists, 1767-1791)

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The Transcendental Generation (Prophets, 1792-1821)
The Gilded Generation (Nomads, 1822-1842)
The Progressive Generation (Artists, 1843-1859)

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The Missionary Generation (Prophets, 1860-1882)
The Lost Generation (Nomads, 1883-1900)
The G.I. Generation a.k.a. "Greatest" Generation (Heroes, 1901-1924)
The Silent Generation (Artists, 1925-1942)

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The Baby Boomers (Prophets, 1943-1960 per Strauss & Howe, who time it based on attitude and events, not demographic booms (1946-1965 in this case) in births)
Generation X (Nomads, 1961-1981)
The Millennial Generation, a.k.a. Generation Y (Heroes(?), 1982-1991 per S&H, the year could also be approximately in the late 90s / early 2000s)
Generation Z, a.k.a. the Homelander Generation (Artists(?), 2000s-???)