So are we really the dumbest generation? I don’t think the older generation has any right in pointing out that we are the dumbest generation. They cannot say this because at one point they too were considered as the dumbest generation. The statistics that were used to back this were very interesting. Yes we may not know who was on the axis or the ally powers, but I am sure that if the older generation was asked this question they would not know that the Soviet Union was the United States ally not the Germans, Japanese, or Italy. The fact that stated that the literacy rate has gotten worse for our generation is a good stat to back their point, but wouldn’t that also mean that during their generation their literacy rate was also falling. Bauerlein needs not to generalize so much and take a step back and realize that there are many similarities between his generation and ours. Our generation has become a generation that is very specialized in different fields. We go to school not only to help ourselves, but to help others. When the generation above us gets old who is going to take care of them? We will. So if this older generation wants to be well taken care of when they get too old to take care of themselves, they better treat this generation better. We will be the ones going to college to learn how to cure their illnesses and other problems that come along with getting old. Our generation is technologically smart. We may not be book smart, but books can only go so far. By developing technology we can find new ways to cure cancer and better sources of fuel so that we don’t have to rely on other countries for our oil. I believe that we do need to know facts about history, science, and math because if we have a better general knowledge of these things we can begin to piece things together in our different fields of study better. It will also help us to learn things better and maybe put more facts into long term memory. I know that I don’t read that much, but I believe if I start to read more and start to want to ask questions about the history, the science of the world it will help me to become a more well rounded human being. With the knowledge that is out there we should pause from the social networking for a minute and figure out how a complex thing like facebook got created. Many people would be baffled by the smarts that it takes to create a powerful thing like facebook. Bauerlein does have some merit in what he says, but not all people of this generation are the way he says. We are not all dumb. There are many smart people in our generation out there.
haha I like how you state that the generation older than us should treat us better, because you are right we will be the ones stuck with taking care of them. Plus by the time out children are born or even there children no one will be using books anyways. There is so much new technology out there that books will probably become a waste of space..
ReplyDeleteYou are right making a social network like facebook takes a lot of time and smarts to put together. Not something some "idiot" could do in a couple hours. Bauerlein should realize that it takes a lot of brain power to do this, so you are right there obviously is a lot of smart people out there.
I agree with what you opened your post out with. I believe there is this proverbial 'dunce' cap that gets passed down from generation to generation. Each consecutive generation is evaluated to be dumber than the previous. Now I don't think our generation should get bent out of shape at what older generations have to say about us. We should take it as constructive criticism. They aren't telling us to completely change what we do, but they offer suggestions on how we can be better and we'd be wise to listen. Baurlein's solution is simple. He proposes that we read for an hour every day, if nothing else. We would all be more well rounded if we did this. Now I do think he is incorrect in calling us dumb, but we have potential and he sees us wasting it. All he wants us to do is apply ourselves and to go on to do great things. His book is not meant to slight us, but to challenge us to be better.
ReplyDeleteI think the big thing you hit on was how much Mark generalizes. He is grouping everyone in a single category and placing a label on them. I think this is inaccurate and hard for us to even fully believe all the things he is telling us. I think we definately lack in certain areas and I do believe that it is important to learn a little about different subjects. By doing this I think it gives us a base of knowledge that we can build off of and helps make us a more rounded individuals. Maybe we do need to put some priority on this but regardless we aren't dumb. I think it is a good thing to point out the intelligence that has to be behind something like facebook. Many people overlook this, again pointing out the bad.
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right there are a lot of smart people out there. Some things done today would not be able to be done by the people in the last generation. We know things that they don't know and yeah we probably don't know some things that they do know. But many things have changed. I mean the past generations probably don't know how to work an Iphone. I mean they didn't really have the cell phones that we do these days. This is because we have some smart people out there to make these new technologies.
ReplyDeleteThe generation before us better treat us better because we do have to take care of them and keep this nation running. We are the next ones in line to work.
And you are also right that there is a dunce cap that is past down from generation to generation. Just wait for the next generation after us. They may be dumber in some ways but they will know how to do things better than us because of new technologies being invented.