Seriously, dude, take a step back and realize what a "kids these days" take this is.
It is well established science that differences between the generations are largely overstated. Typically, "generational" differences are actually just differences between age groups. Comparing 20 year olds to 40 year olds in 2020 isn't an apt comparison - we need to compare 20 year olds in 2020 vs in 2000. And when we do that, many differences disappear.
What differences remain tend to be driven by environmental factors, or are statistical artifacts. For example, it has been said that these days, the bachelors is the new high school diploma - you can barely get any job that is upwardly mobile without one. Which means a lot of average or below average people are pursuing them. So it may be more apt to compare bachelors students in the past to masters students in the present.
You, on the other hand, seem to be lumping whole generations together and ascribing the differences to some kind of moral decay. Which, oh my god, is the most "get off my lawn" take ever. Seriously, you are acting the cliche.
No, because that’s not the context of the question. The question is directed at those already in university to investigate their outlook.
tf are you talking about? Yes, students in university are more concerned about their economic future these days...? This seems like a straightforward fact.
University is inherently a tool to obtain a meaningful philosophy of life. If you are not confused about the means and the ends, obviously attending university is valued highly by those in pursuit of a meaningful philosophy of life, which includes the means to do so. But when you put money /above/ that, the money is no longer just a means to get there.
Yeah, and I sometimes use the battery on my cordless drill as a hammer to pound in drywall hangers. The usefulness of a tool is determined by how the user sees fit to use it. And modern young people see going to college very much as a means to an end - it has become the technical school for knowledge workers, a change which happened gradually over time, since before they were born. Really, due to economic concerns, most young people who want to pursue a meaningful philosophy of life would be better served by learning to swing a hammer and attending local intellectual discussion groups.
Because here's the problem all the Gen Z kids are solving - if pursuing a meaningful philosophy of life, if delving deeply into problems and looking for the best solutions, was actually the path to a comfortable material life and could be taught by the university, then we woud expect philosophy majors to graduate to comfortable jobs and be satisfied with their lives. But we see the opposite - philosophy majors have some of the highest rates of regretting their choice of major post-graduation. Why? Because it turns out that "learning how to think" - at least how the university teaches it - isn't worth jack shit in today's job market. They end up baristas, saddled with a mountain of debt and no way to pay it off.
Most likely what is really happening is:
- You're an old curmudgeon.
- You are comparing yourself and your current or former peer group (who were likely overachievers) to a random sampling of today's young people.
- You are not accounting for the different environment young people are navigating today, and the solutions they are finding, while discounting the various advantages and security you had at that same age.