Vanessa Van Edwards teaches students from age 12 to 90 and notices a stark divide: older generations push through social discomfort to build skills, while Gen Z and Gen Alpha actively avoid it through remote work and texting. Without that friction, younger people never learn to navigate real interaction.
This is the first time where I have students of 5 generations. I have 12-year-old students and I have 90-year-old students who are taking my classes. Never before have I had that. What I have learned is that oftentimes Millennials, Xers, Boomers, they will be like, I'm uncomfortable, I'm awkward, but I'm gonna try it and I'll try to figure out how to do it. Either I'd like it or I don't. My younger students are like, I'm gonna craft my life and my career in a way where I don't have to try this. Avoid discomfort. And so they'll just say, I'm really socially awkward and so I have to work from home. I'm really socially awkward, so I'm gonna make sure that I do all my socializing via WhatsApp or via apps. And they limit the number of friction— yeah, interactions they're having. And it's very hard to practice social skills if you're not socializing.
