Future Echo

When I grew up as a teenager there was almost constant talk about the ‘generation gap’ and about how young people were so different to previous generations. Then when it got our turn to have kids my wife and I joked that the only think our kids could do to shock us was to wear suits and like classical music. Which strangely they did! But I was almost more shocked when my oldest son asked for a CD for Christmas that I had listened to as a gramophone record while doing my A levels when it first came out. There was respect for the older generations who were the ‘wise’ people of the family In centuries gone by people tended to live in extended families, where generations lived together for their entire lives. There was respect for the older generations who were the ‘wise’ people of the family, because they had accumulated knowledge over their years. Sometimes generational respect became inverted. I remember visiting Oman about a quarter of a century ago. Before 1970 it had be

Since early days mankind has grouped together in families and families together as tribes. These tribes came into being formed from historic wider family groups and within each tribe a culture and often a hierarchical structure evolved. One of the things that defined these tribes were the myths and stories told from generation to generation, parent to child. In this context by myth  I mean a story that is not necessarily true but is believed to be true within that tribe. Different tribes would have different myths and so different cultures and expectations arose between them. Though capable of tremendous good and compassion, people have    proved to be brutal to each other At a basic level all people have the need for food, shelter and security. The myths help to define both how these needs were understood and how to attain them. Though capable of tremendous good and compassion, people have, over the centuries, proved to be brutal to each other dividing into 'us' a