Did a 20-year-old in the past have the same fear/insecurity/hope/dream as a 20-year-old today (details inside)
I just don’t know how to properly word this.
I know that people in the past were subjected to different circumstances than people today. But fundamentally, we are all human and we have similar need/value/hope/fear, regardless of our time period. It’s just that our circumstances dictate how we process that. For example, everyone wants to feel fulfilled in their career, but someone in the 1950s may see that as having a stable corporate job and being loyal to their boss, and someone today may see it as having a business and being their own boss.
Or at least that’s what I think. So I’m wondering if it’s possible for a young adult living long, long ago in the past (say in the 19th century) to experience the same value/hope/fear/etc as a young adult in the 21st century.
I know that the concept and expectation of growing up in the past were much different than today. There was even a period of time when adolescence wasn’t a thing, just childhood and adulthood. But could it be possible that a person in the past actually experienced adolescence and didn’t know it? Or could a young adult in the past experience quarter-life crisis and didn’t know it?
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The age is a little bit of an odd pick for America. Most young adults graduate from high school at 18. They graduate from college at 22. So, 20 is either when they have been working over a year already or when they are picking a major in college.
I think ages 17–25 are some of the most stressful times in life. Trying to figure out what you want to do in life, trying to get a career started. It’s very very hard and often feels like you don’t know what you are doing. I don’t think it has changed much in the last 75 years. Prior to that maybe it was different. When there were more farms, more family businesses, more apprenticeships.
Edited.
75 years ago was 1946. That was just after WW2. School was non-existant for some children, I’m sure. Some kids probably were working either legally or illegally, just to survive. In Europe and in the US, people in your age group were either just starting out in civilian life, or were in college.
Maybe 50 years is more accurate.
So I’m wondering if it’s possible for a young adult living long, long ago in the past (say in the 19th century) to experience the same value/hope/fear/etc as a young adult in the 21st century.
I would guess that yes, in the 1800s they had similar values/hopes/fears/etc as we do today. I think that simply being human and having the brain we have creates those qualities.
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