‘What do you think will die out with the next generation?’ – 21 things it looks like we’ll lose, for better or worse

Life changes at a very rapid pace nowadays, for good or ill, and things that we once thought permanent fixtures have started to disappear.

They’ve been discussing this on the AskUK subreddit after PaddedValls posed this question…

What do you think will die out with the next generation?

Are private phone calls on the way out? I see the youth just Facetiming each other all the time, with their conversations completely open to the public.

So will the generation after them do that too, and private phone calls will become a thing of the past?

We hope not, as it makes travel on public transport incredibly tedious. Lots of other people chipped in with their thoughts on the matter, like these…

1.

‘The concept of ownership. So many things are subscription based now it’s almost the norm for people who never had the experience of “you bought the thing so it’s yours to do with as you please” rather than “you will only use it how we say, and we can take it away at any time.”‘
–8_string_menace

2.

‘Critical thinking. You see it a lot on Reddit, in gaming Discords (oh yeah, forums have all but died out now I guess) and I used to work with young people. They don’t go “oh that’s a problem, let me think how we can fix it or get round it” they go “hey siri…” or “chatgpt says…”.

They’re no longer thinking for themselves, they’re just waiting for the next line of text to tell them what to do.

I say this as a massive fan of AI – I use it a lot at home and at work, but if I come across an issue, my first thought isn’t “oh let me just log into ChatGPT”.’
–egvp

3.

‘NHS dental care.’
–coconut742

4.

‘Drinking culture, won’t die out but will not be like it was. So many younger people don’t drink.’
–Doomergeneration

5.

‘Staffed tills and stuff like that. They are largely kept for the older generation. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all gone within a decade.’
–JauntyTechno

6.

‘Knowing a mate’s number off by heart.’
–trackowner

7.

‘Reaching the summit of Snowdon without queueing up for a selfie.’
–Weekly_Frosting_5868

8.

‘Privacy. When I was a kid I was told not to talk to strangers on the internet. Now that’s all we do. We’re also showing these strangers our homes, jobs, interests, friends, family, schedules etc. All in the hopes of becoming internet salespeople aka influencers.

We are our own surveliance state, putting each other on trail whenever one of us steps out of line by saying or doing something the hive mind doesn’t like.

Recording strangers is normalised. Sharing photos and videos of people you don’t know is normalised. I thank god I didn’t grow up on this version of the internet.’
–Theory_99

9.

‘America.’
–AboutLastFight

10.

‘eople learning to drive. I remember growing up in a decently-sized city in a pretty working class area, still about 60-70% of my year had their licence by the time we finished 6th form. Now raising my son who finished year 13 this year in a middle class area in the city you’re very much in the minority if you have a licence, he said he max about 40% of his year has their licence.

I think the cost of lessons and insurance for many people it’s just too unaffordable. Obviously I don’t think it will completely die but definitely far less common.’
–Danielharris1260

11.

‘The big soap operas. A generation raised on Netflix level dramas will be, or are already, saying ‘ WTF is this?’ to Coronation Street etc. It will also soon be not financially viable to be constantly paying a big cast and production team to be making several episodes a week without a break.’
–No_Ease7557