# Astronauts versus YouTubers By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-01-17 A generation ago, most American children wanted to be Astronauts. Today, most of them want to be YouTubers. One can look up the surveys that show this or ask some children one encounters. It is interesting to consider the societal implications of such a shift. Especially when Chinese children still list astronauts as their desired occupation. Conservatives likely find this shift a threat and will respond by pushing for the return to past value systems and practices. Liberals may be concerned that this shift is a symptom of unhealthy engagement with digital media. However, I suspect most people will, at a minimum, find this evolution problematic somehow. What isn't universal is the way individuals respond to the problem. Here, only one conservative and one liberal response was suggested, but many more exist. But is it a problem that children want to be YouTubers and not Astronauts? In terms of probability, I suspect it is much easier to become a successful YouTuber than an Astronaut. Many more inherent, unchangeable requirements prevent people from becoming Astronauts. For example, one must have good vision and not be too tall. A person cannot change these things about themself. YouTube has no such restrictions. Thus, it is much easier to become a successful YouTuber. Additionally, many children want to be famous in some capacity, and YouTubers are similar to movie stars or comedians. Today, Astronauts are not renowned for various reasons, so I suspect this has a lot to do with a child's career selection. Finally, considering that several generations ago, being an Astronaut wasn't an option, should we consider this change in childhood preference as anything other than a reflection of societal change and evolution over time? This gets to the heart of the debate: how do we deal with and interpret change? Instead of contextualizing change as a constant, we get stuck in our own experiences, and the only way we experience things is via change. Then, we interpret that past change as good or bad and embrace conservative or liberal leanings without ever seeing the forest through the trees. #### Related Items [[Career]] [[Children]] [[Change]] [[Paradigms]] [[Liberal]] [[Conservative]] [[Thinking]]