Why do generations differ so much in duration?

Question

I have always wondered why some generations are widely recognised to last ~15 years, others 18, some others 25. What even constitutes a generation?

In: Biology

Answer 1

There’s no real, official definition of a generation. It’s more of a cultural phenomenon centered around large shifts in society and technology.

Is someone born in 1995 a millennial? They were only 5 on Y2K and barely remember it, but they do vaguely remember the young internet in a way someone born in 2001 might not. They’re right at the transition between two cultural moments.

In the same way, some “baby boomers” got drafted to fight in Vietnam and some were nine years old. They’re often tossed into the same “generation” but someone born in 1945 and someone born in 1959 had quite different experiences. Those late “boomers” were children during a cultural transition and it’s hard to place them.