Gen Z is becoming extremely paranoid about anything that has the potential to be exposed as popular content that condemns things that are cringe. So they weaponize it as a form of self-defense and make fun of themselves because you can't be called out for being cringe if you're fully self-aware and talking about your behavior out loud. Also, many people show interest in things they're not even curious about to avoid being harassed online. It's a protection and one of the social trends - anti-intellectualism. It's not that people don't want to learn; it's just a strange cultural aversion to passion and knowledge. Then it leads to failure because self-awareness is not the same as admitting to cringe. As this fear of being afraid shapes the behavior of the new generation, it also affects society as a whole.

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