"... but we suspect that if young people don’t know the Bill of Rights or the import of old COLORED ENTRANCE SIGNS-- and they should-- it reflects not stupidity but a failure of the school system and of society (which is run by grown-ups) to require them to know it.” Sharon Begley stated this in response to Bauerlein’s book that completely disrespects and insults anyone under 30 years of age. Because of an answer on a test and because of lack of knowledge of some individuals in our generation we have all been deemed with the label of stupid, lazy and ignorant. I beg to differ.
The quote above sums up my opinions on this topic. It is understandable that people would be shocked to hear how ignorant some of our generation is when it comes to politics, history, literature and other important subjects in our school’s institutions. But then again, can we be blamed for our ignorance? When we come out of the womb are we suppose to have all of this knowledge stored in our brains? Obviously that is not how it is suppose to happen. We learn from experience and from our teachers. When I say teachers I am referring to any person who’s contributions to our life have made an impact on the way we think and who we have considered to be role models. Parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, and anyone else who’s social role ranks above us impacts our lives every single day. We learn from these people. How are we suppose to know the answer to those questions asked by Jay Leno if no one in our lives has cared to inform us about them. I am not saying that our teachers are the direct problem for every single person’s lack of knowledge. There are some individuals out there who honestly have no intentions of learning things other than what they want to know. But there are people, like myself, who are open to learning about things in history, art, and literature. I am a biology major, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find appreciation in other subjects. For those people who want to learn and want to be a part the intellectual society, the teachers have to help them along the way. Or you know, there is always Google.
Oh, but wait, the second anyone from our generation logs on to the internet there is a stereotypical guarantee that we are doing so to socialize. I feel like I have to apologize to Mark Bauerlein because I have a social life and I utilize the new resources in technology to maintain that social life. For those people open to learning, look at the history on their computer. There is more there than social networking sites. I am so sorry that the older generation created a way of easy access to information so we don’t have to go to the library and flip through books. It is all conveniently accessible through my computer.
I can’t tell you how many times a day I see someone from an older generation acting like they know EVERYTHING, when in reality, half of things they say make absolutely no sense. I hear students correcting professors every single day. My parents haven’t been able to help me with my school work since I left 7th grade. My grandparents are in awe about how much information my cousins and I are capable of retaining. Yeah, there is very big chunk of our generation that can be classified as stupid. Life is more than just about facts in books. There are a lot of people out there who could tell you any fact in the world but have absolutely no street smarts. The knowledge is there, but the common sense is lacking. Stupidity can not be based off of an incorrect answer a percentage of our generation circled on a test. Bauerlein needs to wake up and smell the flower and realize that there is a world of information out there where certain things are deemed important based on each individual. Some of that information is important to one person, and might not really affect the other, but those others have a fact about something else that other people don’t know and the cycle goes on and on.
I do agree with you that he is making a generalizations, but most generalizations are true and after reading the chat with Bauerlien article, I agree with him. In his sense of the definition, we are dumb. Also he is not calling us total idiots, he is simply saying that we do not go out and make use of the numerous advances society has made, instead we use it in pointless ways. You made the comment that "the second anyone from our generation logs on to the internet there is a stereotypical guarantee that we are doing so to socialize." I disagree with you in this sentence because most of the time we are on the internet to socialize in some way. When was the last time you used the internet? Chances are it was probably to socialize. You say Bauerlien needs to wake up, I think we need to wake up. We need to wake up and take better advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of us.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is not 100% anyone's fault for being deemed the "dumbest generation". I feel, like yourself, that some of the blame should be rested on the shoulders of those that raised and educated us. Sure there is a large fraction of our generation that can be considered dumb, but every generation has that. I feel as though our generation could be considered more intellectual because of how fast we are able to adapt to the technology that is being thrust upon us.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the blame shouldn't be placed on any one generation, but that collectively we all are to blame. The parents/teachers for not educating us and us (well some of us) for not being open to new ideas, or thinking we really don't need to retain the information that simply a few keystrokes will bring it up for us. But in a sense we are dumb, i know personally for the quiz we took in class i should have known more of the second half. I definitely should have been able to identify Van Gogh, i had four years of art in highschool and each of those years we had to give presentations to our peers on artists/techniques that we were using. I saw and learned about Van Gogh and other artists for four years, yet i CHOSE not to retain the information because i deemed it unimportant. But then again, maybe if my art teacher stressed it more i would have learned it, i dont know. We make choices to ignore information, and that in itself makes us dumb.
ReplyDeleteYeah I hate generalizations and that's basically what he did. To me it sounds like he's blaming us for having a social life and using the internet to socialize instead of looking up things about history or politics or whatever. I agree with Mariah though.I do think most of our generation needs to take advantage to the opportunities out there.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is actually almost entirely not our fault for living the way we do. It is, as other people have noted, the responsibility of the generations proceeding us to bring us up in a way that is fit the world we are living in. However, that doesn't mean that we can't necessarily take it upon ourselves to live a more fulfilling lifestyle but it does mean that we can't be inherently expected to do so. Is there anything that can be done to change the mindset of our generation? Coupled with the state of the media and the degree of commercialism in our society I say it is unlikely for any large number of people to change for the better.
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