The whole generation thing is just astrology for marketing departments. Xennials use to get called Gen Y, there was no overlap with Gen X and Generation Jones didn’t exist.
Actually, I think it's worse than that. The generational definitions serve as yet another way to divide people against each other. They provide convenient groups that can be blamed for whatever someone is angry about in the world. It's racism for people who are too self-aware to actively support racism.
There's are cultural difference between those born between 1965-1970 and the rest of Gen-X. I liked a comment posted on Reddit that said that the border between one side of Gen-X and the other was marked by bicycle seats. Banana on one side and BMX on the other.
As an older Gen-X, I get that. Outside of generation labeling being too generic, like astrology as mentioned, the problem is that it focuses on the birth date and not the times of childhood. Older Gen-X grew up in the 70s with its particular influences and teen years in the 80s while the other side saw more late 80s-90s while being a kid. Same "generation", but totally different take on things. And likewise can be done for any of the others. And the label "millennial" is now so broad it doesn't even apply to the original group, as it's used as a negative towards teens now when the actual millennials are 30s and parents and potential grandparents already.
It's a classification that worked once because of hard dividing lines, but now is blurred and overmarketed.
Not really. People's formative experiences do have a big impact on their world view. The generations are broken up into groups that experienced very different things as they were coming of age.