Manheim wrote The Theory of Generations<\/a> in 1928, but its application is still influencing the way we understand social cohorts to this day. When we think of a difference in opinion as being caused by a \u201cgeneration gap\u201d we are, indirectly, referring to Manheim\u2019s work. And the fact that we consider it natural for a 60-year old person to have a different worldview than, say, a 30-year old person, speaks to how engrained this theory is in our minds <\/p>\n\n\n\n This ubiquitous theory has been mainly used to help understand trends in purchasing, political participation and preferences in the workplace. Particularly interesting are the studies aimed at understanding the core ideas and beliefs of a generation, which ultimately shape the world in which the following generation will live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The terms we use to describe generations nowadays originated from different phenomena. The labels usually start to be used by advertising companies, journalists or writers; they eventually gain popularity and then stick through repeated use. Ultimately, they are a shortcut to refer to a great number of qualities, and they are incapable of describing that generation for what they truly are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But what are the labels based on? It depends. Birth-rates \u201cbooming\u201d after the end of World War II were the reason that cohort was nicknamed \u201cbaby-boomers\u201d, while the term \u201cGeneration X\u201d became widely adopted after novelist Douglas Coupland<\/a> published a book<\/a> with that name. He said he used the letter X because he wanted to capture the generation\u2019s desire not to be defined, referring to the mathematical use of X as an unknown variable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is believed that Generation Y and Z followed the Gen X labelling trend; however, those were the names that were used before the distinctive traits of those generations started to show. Once Gen Y became of age, at the turn of the millennium, the nickname quickly became \u201cMillennials\u201d. As for generation Z, this label is currently a placeholder while we come to see what will set them apart, but there are discussions<\/a> of perhaps iGeneration being the nickname of choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although there isn\u2019t universal consent on the exact names and years that determine each generation leap and current classifications are mainly based on United States population, the following table is a good summary to understand how history can shape a generation, and how this, in turn, changes history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How does generation labelling work?\u00a0 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Generation](\"https:\/\/www.stillmantranslations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/people-2570559_640.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n How do you know which generation you are?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n