I’ll bite.
Today I went from TSR to Bucharest, finished some buisness and came back to TSR where I waited for my shuttle to take me home. (I live in the nearby city)
With me there are two other french women about 20 / 22, pretty much the same age as me. One of them came to me and after asking me if I speak english and where I am going her eyes lit up and asked me why would I go there instead of Timișoara, arguing that it’s a closer city.
My response of ‘because that’s where I live" visually blew their minds.
I wonder just what kind of oblivious conversations other people had, whether it’s with other pilots, airport staff or just random people.
If I understand you right, you are asking: what people have you met who lived for the day and with no interest in anything other than their next meal and that night’s clubbing?
If you are in your 20s and you have some serious interest in life, you are a minority 
If/when you go to a university, you will soon realise that way over 90% of the students (probably more like 99% in humanities) have absolutely no clue what they want to do in life, and they picked their course by throwing a dart at a board in a darkened room A lot of them also become communists, etc… Somehow, it all sorts itself out over the following decades, but often with a lot of pain as the realisation sinks in on how different the real world is. They also end up wondering how and why the world is run by a small % of smart and enterprising (and sometimes nasty) people, which seems such a terrible injustice.
I think “oblivious” could be “banal”
Is there a joke here?
“Two people with questionable social skills walk into a forum thread…”
Peter wrote:
If I understand you right, you are asking: what people have you met who lived for the day and with no interest in anything other than their next meal and that night’s clubbing?
Yeah pretty much. It’s always interesting to see how they function on a day to day basis.
Peter wrote:
If/when you go to a university, you will soon realise that way over 90% of the students (probably more like 99% in humanities) have absolutely no clue what they want to do in life, and they picked their course by throwing a dart at a board in a darkened room
I have. But I skipped 90% of classes and went exclusively to pass exams. The 10% being courses where you have projects instead of exams. I never seen anyone interesting to talk to in the few times I was present. I just kept preparing for aviation.
Peter wrote:
If you are in your 20s and you have some serious interest in life, you are a minority
Well … that sucks.
It’s always interesting to see how they function on a day to day basis.
Probably with heavy parental support e.g. free food and free accommodation 
Mums generally love having dependent kids.
But I skipped 90% of classes and went exclusively to pass exams. The 10% being courses where you have projects instead of exams.
I knew people like that at univ. They were “non conformists”, very bright and AFAIK all of them did well in later life. They didn’t get any girls at univ – for max success there you need to be an airhead and a good dancer And yes “projects” (and continuous assessment in the general case) is where you get a nice return on your effort, whereas exams are mostly testing BS, and memory. Unfortunately much of higher education academia holds the view that the only real test of a man is passing exams…
Well … that sucks.
It is just life. I could sound like an old man but these are simply phases in a person’s life, never changed, never will change. Most “young people” are drifting through life, and accidentally drop into some groove which they are ok with, or not in which case they drift some more until they find another groove.
A few % of people end up choosing their destiny and end up with an interesting life. 10 years ago we had a fly-in to Burgos. I brought my older son with me. Sitting around the table with about 10 smart and successful people was quite a lesson for him (without anybody actually telling him) i.e. starting a business of your own is the way to go.
Most “young people” are drifting through life, and accidentally drop into some groove which they are ok with
I think that’s the vast majority of people. If you choose a vocation-oriented degree (like any engineering or scientific subject) then you have to some extent made a choice, but usually it’s based on some combination of what you enjoy and what your teachers have told you. I don’t think either of my children had any idea at 18 what they wanted to do. They are both doing OK now, 20+ years later. My daughter definitely 100% fits your description. She did an English degree, which she enjoyed but which of course is 100%+ useless for getting a job. She has ended up managing social housing, which pays the bills but I think she’d give it up in a heartbeat if she didn’t need the money.
My son ended up doing a Computer Science degree and now does software development for a living. But again it’s not the result of some grand passion – it pays well, he quite enjoys it most of the time, and that’s good enough.
I’m the odd one out – at 13 I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and that’s what I did. But I think that’s pretty rare.
johnh wrote:
I think that’s the vast majority of people.
People have been speculating about this for ages. For as long as people have existed I guess. What’s the meaning of all this. How do I/we fit into all this, and so on. Then a beetle crawled out and said “all you need is love” (after a certain Jesus did it 2000 years ago )
Things were simpler in ancient time when honor and faith ruled. Just think about it. You could kill dishonorable men. If you succeeded or not was only a matter of faith. You also had to be brave enough of course. Bravery and good faith often walked together.
Life is just a bunch of self organizing molecules. In that respect we are just a fly with a slightly larger brain. There’s nothing more. Some honor and faith with a dash of love, and we will be as happy as we can hope for IMO. The odd thing is that we are probably the last generation before AI sets the stage entirely. Going for happiness today is not a bad choice.
LeSving wrote:
The odd thing is that we are probably the last generation before AI sets the stage entirely
There always was a good argument in the background for just going for happiness. At times it was nuklear war. At times it is climate change. Now AI. Go for hippieness and enjoy life,
And now comes the point: who is free enough (in his mind and/or in his circumstances) to follow that road? Not the best skill set for entrepreneurs
UdoR wrote:
Not the best skill set for entrepreneurs
Very true But then again, happiness comes in many shapes
My son ended up doing a Computer Science degree and now does software development for a living.
I bet he learnt nothing of relevance to doing good code. Unless he is writing Java at NATS in which case it doesn’t matter provided he talks the right corporate BS lingo
Many years ago I had a date with a girl doing Comp Sci Masters at Open Univ (Milton Keynes). It sounded like just Javascript and such. I would estimate the useful content of my BSc is Electronics at a few weeks’ worth. And that was sci/eng not humanities! So, what is a univ worth? Avoids 3 years of shelf stuffing at a supermarket, supposedly teaches critical thinking, you get laid (doesn’t work in sci/eng but deffo works in humanities) and maybe smoke some stuff. It’s no wonder most graduates resemble post #1.
“AI” will be interesting. Probably not a good idea to be a software guy now, unless you are very good.
Going into business is the way, and always has been. But most aren’t capable, or interested. And to be fair it is not easy. I did it at 21 and everybody takes the p1ss out of you, especially the bank manager. But today it is much easier because if you knock up a slick website and do the phone professionally, you can look like a proper company, and there is rarely a need to visit customers.
