While younger generations master digital life with ease, they've unknowingly traded away nine fundamental life skills that their parents and grandparents wielded like superpowers—from navigating without GPS to sitting comfortably in complete silence.
Growing up, I spent countless Sunday dinners at my grandparents' house, watching them fix things that weren't quite broken yet. My grandfather would sand down a wobbly chair leg while my grandmother darned socks that had the tiniest holes. They'd grown up in the 60s and 70s, and their approach to life fascinated me. Nothing was disposable. Everything had value. Everything could be saved.
Years later, as I transitioned from my corporate finance career to writing, I started noticing how different their generation was from mine and those younger. It wasn't just about fixing things versus buying new ones. There was something deeper, a collection of traits that seemed to be fading with each passing generation.
Recently, while reading Rudá Iandê's new book "Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life", I came across this insight: "Fear, when understood, is not our enemy. It's an intrinsic part of the human experience." It reminded me of how my parents' generation faced challenges head-on, without the constant need for validation or reassurance we seem to crave today.
So what exactly did that generation have that we're losing? Let's explore nine traits that people who grew up in the 60s and 70s typically possess that younger generations often lack.
1. The ability to be genuinely bored
Remember when being bored was just... normal? People who grew up in the 60s and 70s had to sit through long car rides with nothing but the radio and their thoughts. They waited in doctor's offices with outdated magazines. They had summer afternoons with absolutely nothing planned.
And you know what? They survived. More than that, they thrived.
Boredom taught them patience. It forced creativity. Kids made up games with sticks and rocks. Adults learned to enjoy their own company. They developed rich inner worlds because external stimulation wasn't constantly available.
Today? We panic at the first sign of boredom. A two-minute wait for coffee has us reaching for our phones. We've lost the ability to just sit with ourselves, to let our minds wander without purpose.
2. Real-world navigation skills
My father, who grew up in the 70s, can still navigate to places he visited once, decades ago. No GPS needed. He pays attention to landmarks, remembers street names, and has this internal compass that seems almost magical to me.
People from this era had to plan routes before leaving home. They studied maps. They asked for directions and actually listened to them. Getting lost meant problem-solving on the spot, not just recalculating the GPS route.
This developed more than just navigation skills. It built confidence in handling uncertainty. It taught resourcefulness. When you can find your way without technology, you trust yourself more in all situations.
3. The art of deep focus
Have you ever watched someone from the 60s and 70s generation work on a project? They can focus for hours without checking their phone, without needing a break to scroll social media.
They grew up doing homework without YouTube playing in the background. They read entire books in one sitting. They could spend an afternoon building a model airplane or working on a car engine without constant interruption.
This ability to deeply focus didn't just help them accomplish tasks. It allowed them to develop mastery. They became experts at things because they could give their full attention for extended periods.
4. Financial patience and delayed gratification
My mother, a retired teacher, still tells stories about saving for months to buy a new dress. People of her generation understood that wanting something didn't mean getting it immediately.
They had layaway plans. They saved up for purchases. Credit wasn't thrown at them from every direction. This taught them the value of money and the satisfaction of earning something you really wanted.
Growing up with parents who emphasized education above all else, I saw firsthand how this generation viewed financial security differently. They expressed love through ensuring stability, not through constant purchasing. The patience they developed around money translated into other areas of life too.
5. The capacity for genuine privacy
Can you imagine keeping your thoughts to yourself? Not sharing every meal, every workout, every random observation with the world?
People who grew up in the 60s and 70s had private lives. Their mistakes weren't documented online forever. Their awkward teenage years exist only in a few faded photographs. They could reinvent themselves without their past following them everywhere.
This privacy gave them freedom to fail, to experiment, to be imperfect without public judgment. They developed stronger boundaries because they had to choose what to share and with whom.
6. Hands-on problem solving abilities
When something broke in the 70s, you fixed it. Or at least you tried. There were no YouTube tutorials, no instant access to experts. You figured it out with your hands and your brain.
This generation can change tires, fix leaky faucets, and troubleshoot basic electrical problems. Not because they're all mechanically gifted, but because they had to be. Self-reliance was a necessity, not a lifestyle choice.
The confidence that comes from fixing things yourself is irreplaceable. It teaches you that most problems have solutions if you're willing to get your hands dirty and think creatively.
7. The skill of face-to-face confrontation
Disagreements in the 60s and 70s happened in person. You couldn't hide behind a screen or ghost someone who upset you. You had to look people in the eye and work through conflicts.
This built emotional resilience. It taught people to read body language, to moderate their tone, to find compromise. They learned that most conflicts could be resolved with honest conversation.
Today, we avoid difficult conversations by sending texts or simply cutting people off. We've lost the ability to navigate interpersonal conflict with grace and directness.
8. Authentic community connections
Neighborhoods in the 60s and 70s were actual communities. People knew their neighbors' names, their kids, their problems. They borrowed sugar, watched each other's children, and showed up when someone needed help.
These weren't Facebook friends or Instagram followers. These were real relationships built on proximity and mutual support. The connections were fewer but deeper, based on shared experiences rather than shared interests alone.
Community wasn't something you joined online. It was something you lived every day.
9. Comfort with silence and solitude
Perhaps most importantly, this generation is comfortable with quiet. They can sit in a room without background noise. They can drive without music. They can eat a meal without entertainment.
During one of my digital detox weekends, I realized how uncomfortable I'd become with silence. But my father, whose heart attack at 68 made me grateful I'd left corporate stress behind, can spend hours in peaceful quiet, just thinking or simply being.
This comfort with silence means they're comfortable with themselves. They don't need constant external validation or stimulation. They've developed rich inner lives that sustain them.
Final thoughts
As I've mentioned before in other articles, Rudá Iandê's insights continue to challenge my thinking about generational differences. His book inspired me to recognize that "we are all wanderers in a strange and inscrutable world, fumbling our way through the darkness with only the faintest glimmer of light to guide us."
Maybe the 60s and 70s generation had less light, technologically speaking, but they developed better night vision. They learned to navigate uncertainty with confidence, to find their way without constant guidance.
These traits aren't completely lost to younger generations, and having them all doesn't automatically make someone better or worse. But recognizing what we might be losing helps us make conscious choices about what we want to reclaim.
The good news? Most of these skills can be relearned. We can put down our phones, sit with boredom, fix things with our hands, and build real community connections. We can choose to develop the patience, resilience, and self-reliance that came naturally to previous generations.
After all, wisdom isn't bound by the decade you were born in. It's about being willing to learn from those who came before and consciously developing the traits that serve us best.
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