Ha, we were left to our own devices and I think it was to our advantage. 70s moms. I remember when I was about 10 my buddies came over and asked if I wanted to go night fishing with them down at the pier on the bay. My mom said "sure, but be back by 10:30pm. Have fun." So off we went walking about a mile with our fishing gear in the dark. Now I don't think that would happen and that's kind of a problem.
And -- in the US at least -- crime was out of control and off the charts in comparison to today. Everything is so much safer now but people seem so much more paranoid. It is perplexing to me.
I think Gen X are the finest, most practical, the most insightful generation of engineers. Sure, its is a generalization - of course it is - but it is worth noting how exceptional both the circumstances and the incentives were for them to lead us into the technological prowess.
From semiconductors to the internet, thanks folks. I have many mentors from this generation and I find a common thread of extreme discipline and rigor in their work - this is largely lost in my own generation (millenial).
Transfer of knowledge needs to be from prev to next gen. Unlike tutorials on YT teaching horrible practices, which is exactly the opposite. Experienced people from Gen X doesn't have the time, motivation, etc to go on YT with full blast click bait tutorials and compete with user engagement tactics. They write books. They're better than edu-entertainment IMO.
That's way too much (I'm in gen x). I think you are being sarcastic!
Gen x didn't have all the advantages of great economy like baby boomers, but we still had it better than today. My college total cost was something like $5k. I went to grad school and had multiple job offers at each stages.
It's not just engineering! I don't think we would have progressed so far, so fast if Gen X had not discovered the laws of thermodynamics and invented peanut butter.