Dad vibes

Navigating Social Order: A Young Person’s Dilemma

Upon leaving the sheltered environment of school, young individuals face a crucial crossroads in their social journey. They must choose between two paths:

1. Adaptation and Assimilation: Embracing the existing social order, they can adopt an apprentice-like mindset, seeking guidance and mentorship to seamlessly integrate into the established system.
2. Revolution and Transformation: Embracing a rebellious spirit, they can challenge the status quo, viewing the current order as outdated and in need of radical overhaul.

During the Industrial Revolution, when the agricultural economic order crumbled under the weight of technological advancements, the latter mentality held particular sway. The older generation, often rooted in traditional farming practices, lacked the knowledge and skills required to navigate the burgeoning industrial landscape. In contrast, the younger generation, molded through compulsory education, possessed the technical expertise and adaptability necessary to operate complex machinery, participate in industrial production, and execute intricate military tactics.

This generational knowledge gap created an illusion of superiority among the youth, who perceived themselves as capable of overthrowing the antiquated wisdom of their elders. The prevailing zeitgeist fueled this rebellious spirit, providing them with an arsenal of theoretical justifications and rhetorical ammunition to challenge the established order.

The term “Dad vibes” emerged during this era to disparage the perceived paternalistic attitudes and outdated opinions of the older generation. However, this simplistic label fails to capture the complexities of intergenerational dynamics.

The reality is that the parental generation, far from being antiquated relics, possesses a wealth of experience, knowledge, and insight. Their academic achievements, understanding of systems, and aesthetic sensibilities may well surpass those of their younger counterparts. They have witnessed firsthand the evolution of society, weathered its storms, and emerged as seasoned navigators of the ever-changing world.

The notion that the younger generation, armed with a few self-proclaimed obscure books, can effortlessly dismiss the wisdom and experience of their elders is not only arrogant but also deeply flawed. The “avant-garde” creations and groundbreaking innovations that the youth so admire were, in fact, spearheaded by individuals now deemed “pathetic and outdated.”

The irony is that the “Dad vibes” brigade, armed with second-hand knowledge and ideas gleaned from their parents’ generation, seeks to undermine the very order from which they sprang. They are unwittingly complicit in perpetuating the same generational divide they claim to despise.

True progress lies not in rejecting the wisdom of the past but in building upon it. Instead of engaging in a futile tug-of-war, the younger generation should seek collaboration and mutual respect with their elders. By harnessing their collective knowledge and experience, they can navigate the challenges of the present and shape a brighter future for all.

Dad vibes

When a young person joins social order after leaving the shelter of school, he faces two choices.

He can either actively adapt to and identify with the existing social order with a mentality of apprentice and cultivation. Or he can choose the mentality of “I’m here to revolutionize you future rulers” and view the original order as “rotten and backward tombstones”.

The latter mentality had a very special period rationality in the era when the industrial revolution destroyed the agricultural economic order - at that time, the parents’ generation were often illiterate or semi-literate from traditional agricultural backgrounds, while the children’s generation were molded as soldiers and workers oriented toward operating technical weapons, participating in industrial production and executing complex tactics through Prussian-style compulsory education.

There was a generation gap in knowledge between the two generations, and teenage revolutionaries could scold the white-bearded private school teachers and 70-year-old clan heads, saying “Do you understand steam engines and parabolic curves?”.

This created an illusion for the children that “defeating their elders” was a divine right. And that special era also prepared a large amount of ready-made theoretical weapons and rhetorical ammunition for them, which was almost inexhaustible.

Terms like “Dad vibes” were just ugly freaks among the rampant similar vocabulary of that era - at least their parents were decent-looking with neat features and could show up in some academic occasions seriously, and they had some definition. But it couldn’t get on the high table, and didn’t even dare to give its definition clearly - knowing that it would be shameful to say it out.

A basic question is, are your parents really less knowledgeable than you now? Are they less adapted to this era than you?

The elite of your parents’ generation, such as your dad, your brother, your sister, your aunt, have absolutely more development experience than you, understand the systems absolutely more deeply, have absolutely higher academic attainments than you, have more profound aesthetic taste in arts, and may even be more decadent and rebellious than you.

This is the era they created and managed, and it will only be handed over to their recognized successors.

This is an obvious fact.

To dream of graduating from university in your twenties, reading some books you think are obscure, and then looking down upon the entire parental generation without having to care about their praise or criticism, and guiding everything by yourself.

Sorry, your parents have read those books.

Everything you know is nothing “fresh” or “revolutionary” in the eyes of this generation of parents.

They are absolutely not “outdated relics who don’t know how to use phones or computers” like the young people of several decades ago.

They are the pioneers of the forefront of this era.

The most avant-garde things you admire and praise were basically created by parents in their 40s.

If you think rebellion is the most trendy, then unfortunately, the leaders of the “rebels” are also a group of parents.

Shūji Iwai, Metal Gear Solid, 1963.

Satoshi Kon, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, 1963.

Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell, 1951.

Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, 1975.

Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto, 1974.

Hajime Isayama, Attack on Titan, 1986.

Gen Urobuchi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, 1972.

Clint Hocking, Assassin’s Creed, 1975.

Ririko, Devilman, age unknown but she started working on Junk Boy manga backgrounds in 1987.

Jony Ive, Apple designer, 1967.

Elon Musk, Tesla, 1971.

Reed Hastings, Netflix, 1960.

John Wells, Shameless, 1956.

George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire, 1948.

Justin Roiland, Rick and Morty, 1980.

Wong Toh, DJI, 1980.

The youngest is Hajime Isayama, aged 35.

They are all a group of parents or even grandparents.

Essentially, the little brats using the “Dad vibes” meme are using products of their parents’ generation, watching “avant-garde art” filmed by their parents’ generation, playing with “memes” and ideas pieced together from their parents’ works and thoughts, and using these “weapons” and “basis” handed down from their parents to look down on their parents’ views and propositions.

They also hope to challenge the “order dominated by their parental generation” by relying on these second-hand scraps their parents left between their fingers.

**But those things themselves are just part of another order established by another group of parents. You’re just helping the second uncle beat up the first uncle.

**Your “victory” has nothing to do with you. You’re just an appetizer on the banquet celebrating the second uncle’s achievement.

So you’d better carefully consider the benefits of joining the army of “Dad vibes” users.

What responsibilities and obligations do your comrades have towards you? Will your comrades be responsible for providing you with jobs and solving your livelihood? What guidance and help will your comrades give you? What achievements or difficulties can they help you achieve or resolve? What guarantees do they provide?

You can also try starting your own company or organization to see if you can rely solely on the “Dad vibes” group to balance your income and expenditures and keep yourself alive, help your members get married and have children, be fed when hungry and treated when sick, and supported when old.

You don’t even need to take the extremely difficult path of starting an armed separatist group. Just manage not to starve yourself - if you can get a group of “Dad vibes” users to accomplish even that level, then you can come talk to your parents about their “Dad vibes”.

Otherwise, with only an insignificant and dependent “disobedience” that still needs parents to provide living expenses, dowries and down payments, what use is it really?

It’s a waste of time and emotions.