Are we the Dumbest Generation? Hmmmmm…well, I can honestly say after reading Bauerlein’s article and watching the interview, he has a point. People may dislike my opinion, but I agree with him, to a certain extent. As part of the generation where we use the most technology, in the long it makes us smart in some aspects, but for the most part it does not require us to think much. Technology such as cell phones, computers, IPods, and other devices are great inventions, but if something were to happen and they all were destroyed we would go back to using paper, pencil, and face-to-face communication. When it comes to our generation I understand that we may think that Bauerlein is stereotyping us because he calls us dumb. However, I do think countless people in this generation are lazy and ignorant. We all sit in some classes and wonder why we take this class because it will not help us in the long run. Yet, we never know where we may end up life where you might have learned something useful in an anthropology class that can help you. Yes, our generation is different from the generation before us, but it will always be that way. History helps make the future. How will we know what to do differently or try different approaches if we do not learn from our past?
In the video with the Miss North Carolina, I consider her dumb. She had no clue what she was talking about when it came to geography. She made herself personal look like a complete fool. Either way I think Bauerlein is just trying to get us to notice that education and the lack of commitment to our education is a problem. He blames his colleagues and society for not helping, and I agree. In class someone made a statement saying it is not their fault if they were not taught it either. I agree it is not their fault, but that does not mean that they cannot take the initiative to learn and pass it on. So the dumbest generation? Maybe! I would ultimately change the word dumb to just simply DIFFERENT.
I agree with some of the points you made. there are a lot of people in our generation that are lazy and ignorant. I admit to being like that sometimes but I also think that everyone is like that sometimes. Not just people in our generation but the older ones as well. I know some adults that refuse to learn how to use the internet or anything similar. A lot of people in the older generations are just stubborn when it comes to learning about new things which, in a way, makes them the same as us.
ReplyDeleteI know you were trying to stir up some discomfort with the group and I have to say you make a valid point. The education of this current generation is somewhat lacking, but who is to say we are the dumbest? One person can say it, but it doesn't make it right. Miss North Carolina is actually a terrible example for how dumb we are, when trying to make a serious point, don't go to one major exception. It's just muckraking not stating a point
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with you, also to a certain extent. I think that most of the articles/books we're going to read for this class are pretty exaggerated, but they all have valid points - they just use extreme examples. I think they do that to piss people off so they change - like the Miss Carolina example. Like Evan said saying that we are the dumbest generation is a stretch. Becuase our priorities and opportunities are a little different, I think that we need to be given a chance to prove our selves in the "real" economy in a few years. I think we'll be fine but we'll see!
ReplyDeleteI also agree to a certain extent. There are certaintly some in our generation that are just lazy and ignorant, who have no desire to learn new things. I also liked when you talked at the beginning how our generation is so different from the generation before us. I agree with you that we may be smarter in a way because we can use technology better than our predocessors, but that also makes us "dumber" in a way because everything is right at our finger tips.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said to a certain extent. We definitely use too much technology and rely on having computers and what not do things for us. Rather than researching using books and enclyopedias, we go to wikipedia and have our information in 10 seconds. On the other hand I feel like we aren't the dumbest generation, we might actually be one of the smartest generations due to technology. I agree with you on that. Technology has many ups and downs.
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