The outcome of the latest LaST survey on the various forms of planning by the Italian population testifies to the climate of uncertainty that dominates and crosses generationsalbeit with very different intensities. And it is also the comparison between the ages that highlights strong discontinuities. A first observation highlights the differences between the generations in experiencing everyday life and the future. On the one hand, young people appear polarised between a carpe diemto living exclusively in the present (80.1%), and by a climate of uncertainty that makes it impossible for them to make definitive choices (81.6%). On the other hand, while uncertainty weighs - albeit to a much lesser extent - also among adults (59.4%), they are nevertheless characterised by a greater capacity to make long-term plans (46.3%) than young people (11.1%). Thus, young people in the 'continuous present', adults in the 'near future'. Given the current context, could it be otherwise? Certainly not.
The issue is that often towards the younger generation the 'living exclusively in the present' tends to take on a negative connotationan assessment that does not take due account of the profound transformations that mark the environment in which they grow up. We need only think of the irruption of new technologies into our lives, of how they have (and are) changing not only our lifestyles, but the way we learn and construct social reality and relationships. The dimensions of space and time are cancelled: there is no place or occasion in which we cannot be reached on our smartphones; if we cannot connect to the Internet, discomfort and nervousness rise; it is possible to watch television programmes at any time; information and relationships via social networks must be in real time, and so on. We are immersed, precisely, in a 'continuous present', we are uninterruptedly 'on line': where yesterday and tomorrow merge with today, seamlessly. This was not the case even just twenty years ago. When the mobile phone was not a widespread tool and you had to wait until you got home or to the office to be reached. Back then, the boundaries were clearer and more definable; today they are much less so. And it is precisely because they are not identifiable that younger generations invent 'explorersthey are constantly seeking different experiences (67.5%) much more than their parents and grandparents (14.6%) were able or willing to do. Having broken through the barriers of traditional references, they are looking for new ones, experiment, explore, try things out as if in an open sea. They surf, just like the internet, and look for links to land on. And, paradoxically, precisely for these reasons they need directions, someone to guide them.
