In my last post, I discussed how age cohorts may have a major impact on the future of baseball in America. As a result, I’ve paid more attention to cohorts (Generation X, Millennials, etc.) in my daily peregrinations.
Enter Count Leo Tolstoy, whose War And Peace I’ve been reading. (Yes, I’m reading a hoity-toity classic; it’s cheaper and has a greater chance of being worthwhile than trying my luck with new books.) This quote stopped me in my tracks:
…mentioning “our days” as people of limited intelligence are fond of doing, imagining that they have discovered an appraised the peculiarities of “our days” and that human characteristics change with the times. (translation by Aylmer Maude; emphasis by me)
In other words, Count Leo considers a fool anyone who believes that generations differ fundamentally from one to the next. Should we agree with him?