For me it’s time signatures in music. I grew up playing instruments, played in several orchestras, etc. But no matter how many times someone tries to explain time signatures to me, it makes no sense. I don’t understand why people place such importance on it. To me, notes have a pitch and a duration, maybe some dynamics. That’s it. I don’t understand why people try to needlessly complicate it. It doesn’t give you anything.
My wife will hear a song and go “Oh neat, it’s in 5/8.” And I’m like “How tf do you know that, and why does it matter?”
I don’t know if it’s a modern skill, or a modern deficiency, I think it is a deficiency. But it’s the apparent ability to take nothing seriously, to commit to nothing, to not be able to plan anything, to not be able to follow through on anything, to be completely unreliable… All of this and somehow still have a functioning life and social group.