by Joel Stein Monday

I am about to do what old people have done throughout history： call those younger than me lazy， entitled， selfish and shallow. Heres the cold， hard data： The incidence of 1）narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation thats now 65 or older， according to the National Institutes of Health. Theyre so convinced of their own greatness that the National Study of Youth and Religion found the guiding morality of 60% of millennials in any situation is that theyll just be able to feel whats right.

Millennials consist of people born from 1980 to 2000. In the U.S.， millennials are the children of 2）baby boomers， who are also known as the Me Generation， who then produced the Me Me Me Generation， whose selfishness technology has only 3）exacerbated. Whereas in the 1950s families displayed a wedding photo， a school photo and maybe a military photo in their homes， the average middle-class American family today walks amid 85 pictures of themselves and their pets.

我即將要做的事正是多少年來(lái)老一輩的人都曾經(jīng)做過(guò)的：批評(píng)比我年輕的人懶惰、自私、淺薄、自以為是。以下是一些冰冷的硬數(shù)據(jù)：美國(guó)國(guó)家衛(wèi)生研究院提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，與目前達(dá)到65歲或以上的人相比，二十多歲的年輕人患自戀型人格障礙的幾率是前者的將近三倍。這些人深信自己很了不起：“全國(guó)青年與宗教調(diào)查”報(bào)告發(fā)現(xiàn)，60%的千禧一代表示，他們?cè)谌魏吻闆r下遵守的道德是：他們覺(jué)得這是對(duì)的就行。

千禧一代，指的是從1980年到2000年出生的那些人。在美國(guó)，千禧一代是嬰兒潮一代的子女。嬰兒潮一代被廣泛稱為“自我的一代”，他們的子女則是“我我我一代”，后者的自私程度更甚。上世紀(jì)50年代，美國(guó)人家里會(huì)擺放結(jié)婚照片、學(xué)校照片，或許還有軍裝照。而如今，美國(guó)一般中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的家里則是滿布個(gè)人照片及寵物照片。

They got this way partly because， in the 1970s， people wanted to improve kidschances of success by instilling self-esteem.“When theyre little it seems cute to tell them theyre special or a princess or a rock star or whatever their T-shirt says. When theyre 14 its no longer cute.” says Jean Twenge， a psychology professor at San Diego State University.

Though theyre cocky about their place in the world， millennials are also stunted， having prolonged a life stage between teenager and adult. Now that cell phones allow kids to socialize at every hour， Millennials are interacting all day but almost entirely through a screen. Youve seen them at bars， sitting next to one another and texting. They might look calm， but theyre deeply anxious about missing out on something better.

Millennials grew up watching realityTV shows， most of which are basically documentaries about narcissists. Now they have trained themselves to be reality-TVready. In 1979， Christopher Lasch wrote in The Culture of Narcissism， “The media give substance to， and thus 4）intensify， narcissistic dreams of fame and glory， encourage common people to identify themselves with the stars and to hate the ‘herd， and make it more and more difficult for them to accept the 5）banality of everyday existence.”

他們之所以變成這樣，部分原因在于，上世紀(jì)70年代，人們對(duì)孩子灌輸自尊的理念，希望以此增加孩子成功的幾率。圣地亞哥州立大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授吉恩·特文格說(shuō)：“當(dāng)他們還小時(shí)，你讓他們自覺(jué)特別、是個(gè)公主、是個(gè)搖滾明星什么的，這很好。等到他們長(zhǎng)到14歲時(shí)，還這么說(shuō)就不明智了?！?/p>

盡管千禧一代對(duì)自己在世界上的地位狂妄自信，但他們的成長(zhǎng)也受挫，他們從青少年轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槌赡耆说纳A段被延長(zhǎng)了。如今，手機(jī)使得孩子們隨時(shí)能夠進(jìn)行社交活動(dòng)，千禧一代整天都在互動(dòng)，但幾乎全是通過(guò)屏幕。你也曾在酒吧里見(jiàn)過(guò)他們，他們緊挨著坐在一起發(fā)短信。也許他們看起來(lái)冷靜，但其實(shí)心中充滿焦慮，生怕錯(cuò)過(guò)什么精彩資訊。

千禧一代看著電視真人秀長(zhǎng)大，這些節(jié)目大多數(shù)基本上都是有關(guān)自戀者的紀(jì)錄片。如今，千禧一代把自己訓(xùn)練成隨時(shí)能上真人秀的選手。1979年，克里斯托弗·拉希在《自戀文化》一書中寫道：“媒體描畫出大眾追求名望的自戀夢(mèng)，加劇了這種渴求，鼓勵(lì)普通人將自己視同明星，憎恨‘蕓蕓眾生，使得他們?cè)絹?lái)越難以接受日常生活的平庸。”

So while the entire first half of this article is absolutely true， millennials self-involvement is more a continuation of a trend than a revolutionary break from previous generations. For example， millennials perceived entitlement isnt a result of overprotection but an adaptation to a world of abundance. What idiot would try to work her way up at a company when shes going to have an average of seven jobs before age 26？ Because of online dating， Facebook circles and the ability to connect with people internationally， they no longer have to marry someone from their high school class or even their home country. Because 6）life expectancy is increasing so rapidly and technology allows women to get pregnant in their 40s， theyre more free to postpone big decisions.

In fact， a lot of what counts as typical millennial behavior is how rich kids have always behaved. The Internet has 7）democratized opportunity for many young people， giving them access and information that once belonged mostly to the wealthy. So the great thing is that they do feel entitled to all of this， so theyll be more innovative and more willing to try new things and theyll do all this cool stuff.

“Can you imagine if the boomers had YouTube， how narcissistic they wouldve seemed？” asks Scott Hess， senior vice president of human intelligence for SparkSMG，“I think in many ways youre blaming millennials for the technology that happens to exist right now.”

Millennials are able to use their leverage to negotiate much better contracts with the traditional institutions they do still join. Gary Stiteler， who has been an army recruiter for about 15 years， is more impressed with millennials than any other group hes worked with. “The generation that we enlisted when I first started recruiting was sort of do， do， do. This generation is think， think about it before you do it，”he says. “This generation is three to four steps ahead. Theyre coming in saying， ‘I want to do this， then when Im done with this， I want to do this.”

But if you need the ultimate proof that millennials could be a great force for positive change， know this： Tom Brokaw， champion of the Greatest Generation， loves millennials. “Their great mantra has been： Challenge convention. Find new and better ways of doing things.” he says.

So heres a more rounded picture of millennials than the one I started with. Theyre earnest and optimistic. They are 8）pragmatic idealists， life hackers and 9）tinkerers more than dreamers. They want constant approval—they post photos from the dressing room as they try on clothes. They have a massive fear of missing out and have an 10）acronym for everything. They want new experiences， which are more important to them than material goods. They are cool and reserved and not all that passionate. They love their phones but hate talking on them.

So， yes， we have all that data about narcissism and laziness and entitlement. But a generations greatness isnt determined by data； its determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them. And， just as important， by how we react to them. Me， I choose to believe in the children.

因此，盡管這篇文章前半部分的內(nèi)容絕對(duì)屬實(shí)，但千禧一代的自戀更多的是一種趨勢(shì)的延續(xù)，而不是不同于之前世世代代的革命性決裂。比方說(shuō)，千禧一代懷有的自以為是并非是父母過(guò)度保護(hù)的結(jié)果，而是面對(duì)豐庶世界的調(diào)適。如果一個(gè)人在26歲前平均會(huì)換7份工作，有哪個(gè)傻瓜會(huì)試圖爭(zhēng)取在一家公司獲得晉升？由于有了在線約會(huì)、“臉譜”網(wǎng)上的交友圈以及在跨國(guó)人際互動(dòng)的便捷方式，他們不再需要與高中班上的同學(xué)甚至是本國(guó)的人結(jié)婚。由于人類壽命迅速延長(zhǎng)，科技使得女性四十多歲也能懷孕，她們?cè)谕七t重大決定方面有了更大的自由。

事實(shí)上，許多被視為千禧一代所特有的表現(xiàn)，有錢人家的孩子一直就是這樣做的。對(duì)于許多年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)讓機(jī)遇變得均等，讓他們可以獲得方法和信息，而過(guò)去這些優(yōu)勢(shì)多半只屬于富人。所以難得的是，這一代人確實(shí)感覺(jué)到了自己的優(yōu)越性，所以他們會(huì)更具有創(chuàng)新精神，也更愿意嘗試新鮮事物，他們會(huì)做些酷酷的事情出來(lái)。

“想像一下，如果嬰兒潮一代擁有YouTube視頻網(wǎng)站，他們會(huì)變得多自戀？”創(chuàng)意公司SparkSMG的人類智能高級(jí)副總裁斯科特·赫斯說(shuō)，“我認(rèn)為從許多方面來(lái)說(shuō)，之所以千禧一代受到指責(zé)，是因?yàn)閯偤迷谶@個(gè)時(shí)候出現(xiàn)了許多新技術(shù)?！?/p>

千禧一代能夠利用各種手段為其投身的傳統(tǒng)機(jī)構(gòu)爭(zhēng)取到更好的合約。在從事了15年征兵工作的加里·斯蒂特勒看來(lái)，千禧一代比他接觸過(guò)的其他群體更讓人印象深刻。他說(shuō)：“我剛開始負(fù)責(zé)征兵工作時(shí)，入伍的那一代人都是那種做、做、做的類型。這代人則會(huì)在做事之前一想再想。這一代人向前邁進(jìn)了三四步。他們一來(lái)就會(huì)說(shuō)：‘我想做這個(gè)，然后等我做完了這個(gè)，我想做那個(gè)?！?/p>

但是如果需要最有力的證據(jù)來(lái)證明千禧一代能成為推動(dòng)積極變革的重要力量，那么有必要了解這一點(diǎn)：“最偉大的一代”的擁護(hù)者湯姆·布羅考對(duì)千禧一代喜愛(ài)有加。他說(shuō)：“他們的信念是：挑戰(zhàn)常規(guī)，找到新的、更好的做事方法?！?/p>

所以，以下關(guān)于千禧一代的描述比起我在文章開頭的表述更加全面。他們是真誠(chéng)、樂(lè)觀的一代人。他們是務(wù)實(shí)的理想主義者，喜歡小打小鬧但不做白日夢(mèng)，他們是懂得利用技術(shù)來(lái)享受生活的人。他們不斷尋求認(rèn)同——他們?cè)诟率以囈路r(shí)就會(huì)把照片發(fā)到網(wǎng)上。他們極其害怕錯(cuò)過(guò)任何事，談?wù)撊魏问挛锒枷矚g用簡(jiǎn)稱。他們希望有新的體驗(yàn)；對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，體驗(yàn)比實(shí)物更加重要。他們矜持淡定，并非熱情十足。他們熱愛(ài)手機(jī)，但是討厭打電話。

所以，誠(chéng)然，關(guān)于他們的自戀、懶惰和自以為是，我們擁有各種各樣的數(shù)據(jù)。但是，一代人的偉大之處并非由數(shù)據(jù)決定；決定因素在于，當(dāng)有挑戰(zhàn)降臨在他們面前時(shí)，他們會(huì)如何應(yīng)對(duì)。而且同樣重要的是，我們將如何看待他們。至于我本人，我會(huì)選擇相信這些孩子。