Here's an interesting little insight from some Viacom research, called Nickelodeon Generation. According a UK National Kids Day Survey carried out in Dec 05, these are the 10 most 'very best things in the world'...
- Money and getting rich
- Being famous
- Football
- Pop music
- Animals
- Families
- (Computer) games
- Holidays by the sea
- Nice food
- God
As a Christian, it's good to see the Big G sneaking in at no.10. Although numbers 1 to 9 do seem to encompass pretty much everything else in life, so I don't know if 10 is good or not.
I also like that 'animals' and 'holidays by the sea' are in there as well.
One thing that did strike me though, was the expectedness of the list: given how much we a told the experience of childhood has changed (and as a parent, I would have to say it's true), the 'very best things in the world' don't seem that different to when I was a kid. The nuances, specifics and order may be different, but the top 10 feels pretty similar: fame and wealth were just as important 30 years ago. The literal 'stuff' may be different, but relative to the time in which you live, it just goes to show how little changes (and I bet a social anthropologist could tell you it as ever been thus).
It's a truth we need to remember: as important as external (superficial) trappings and trends are, and no matter how much they might change, deep down there are core, primal needs that always stay the same. And whether talking to kids or adults, it is these which drive us.
