Generational Echo Chambers

One benefit of working in crypto is that I get constant exposure to people 1-3 decades younger than me.

One of the benefits of living in Oklahoma is that I get constant exposure to people 1-3 decades older than me.

Why does this matter?

We talk about the dangers of political echo chambers or living in bubbles, yet I found myself in a subtle one: an age-specific echo chamber.

Between ages 25 and 35, 95% of my daily interactions were with people ± 5 years of my age. This isn’t a bad thing, but it left me with blind spots, reducing my effectiveness as a leader.

Here’s an example I still struggle with.

It’s easy to assume people your age “should” know something because you were taught similar things and grew up with similar experiences.

This breaks down when someone is 5 to 25 years younger than you. An XKCD comic (Ten Thousand) illustrates this beautifully. The punchline is that every day in the USA, 10,000 people turn 18. And if the assumption is that it is a fact that every adult should know, this means 10,000 people are learning it for the first time.

It’s mind-blowing to have that realization, because it can reframe one’s thinking to assume the opposite: that most people aren’t aware of facts you take for granted.

This insight helped me overcome my frustrations about workforce people not knowing David Allen’s Getting Things Done framework or Gene Kim’s DevOps work.

Then there’s the opposite extreme. Even in my mid-40s, I’m still learning daily. And there are people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s with a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experiences that I haven’t acquired. What a blessing to access and draw from their wisdom.

But there’s another important dimension about this that I learned from Steven Kotler of The Flow Research Collective. Humans weren’t meant to live within a narrow age demographic. Historically, we were raised in multi-generational communities in our families, workplaces, and neighborhoods. This was critical for building and maintaining strong connections as we age and people die.

I never considered this before, but you see this trap in retirement years. If they’re in a retirement community with just people in their 70s, their community can only shrink as people pass away. However, if you have friends in all age groups, the net impact on your ability to stay connected with other humans is intact.

I’m not suggesting everyone meet younger and older people to lifehack their way into a better future, but consider it if most of your relationships are with people in your age bracket. At the least, it’ll enrich your life.