Argument For The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein - Term Paper Example

An Argument for the Thesis of “The Dumbest Generation” by Mark Bauerlein The last fifty years have seen tremendous technological and scientific development leading to a digital revolution. The digital age that we live in today has made life easier. There are numerous advantages of this digital revolution. Some of the great advents of this digital revolution are technologies such as computers, internet, mobile communication, etc. These technologies have transcended the way we live. Mainly, internet and mobile communication have made it easy to communicate and interact with each other and also has made a great wealth of information easily available. This was supposed to be a boon to the mankind, but is slowly turning out to be a bane. Lately, many researchers and experts have raised doubts over the positive impact of these technologies. One such argument is raised by Mark Bauerlein (2009) in his book “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Dont Trust Anyone Under 30)”. The main thesis of the book is clearly stated in its subtitle: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Dont Trust Anyone Under 30). Bauerlein (2009) argues that the Millennials (generation born in 1980’s and 1990’s: age group of 12 – 30 years) have access to more technology and information than any other generation in the past, but they fail miserably to use that technology and information. They have failed to use the advents of the digital age to expand their knowledge and skills. Instead, the digital age seems to have contracted their knowledge and skills. This paper is an agreement with the above thesis and is aimed at proving the thesis right. The paper argues for the thesis of the book: “The Dumbest Generation”. The argument is supported by the numerous peer-reviewed articles. One of the main reasons that Bauerlein points out which has resulted in the poor state of the millennials is the fact that the digital media is intrinsic in nature. Books have been one of the main tools of passing on knowledge through the generations. But today’s under 30’s generation do not read books at all. Veteran English teacher Kelly Gallagher has pointed out that there is a widespread lack of interest in reading among students. Students read very less and as a result have no ability to comprehend what they read. As a result of lesser reading, there is a gap in the prior background and knowledge that the students posses. Hence, they are able to read what’s on the page but fail to understand or comprehend what it is. He is of the view that digital media is to be blamed for this trend. Kids today are more indulged in entertaining themselves through instant messaging, texting, facebook, video games, etc but indulge in a very few activities that leads to acquiring knowledge and information (Rebora, 2011). The concept for reading for pleasure and acquiring knowledge is lost in today’s generation. The under 30’s today in America are far behind their counterparts when it comes to intellectual development in other countries. It is argued that Internet is great source for information and there is a lot of reading that can be done on the internet. But that is not the case. The design of the websites on the internet is such that it discourages reading. The inherent design prompts the reader to navigate from one page to another without actually paying attention what is there on the webpage. Also it is dominated by images and videos, and not to forget the numerous ads that are visible on all websites. It was best put up by Nielsen Norman when asked about how web user read. His response was that they don’t read. Therefore with the amount of time the millennials spend on the internet, thoughtful reading is impossible (Bauerlein, 2009). Therefore the generation Y are more oriented towards to how and where to find information rather than understanding the information and acquiring knowledge. Another major factor that hinders the intellectual development of millennials is the lack of communication between the millennials and people outside their peer group. It can also be said that there is excess peer-to-peer communication among the millennials. Technology, mainly digital media has drastically changed all aspects of education, culture, art, commerce, etc. Adolescents today spend nearly 7-8 hours a day interacting with each other through an electronic device. They are mainly in touch with their peers and partly with parents. This has reduced the opportunities for them to interact with older people who can offer them a different perspective. Adolescents are missing on a vertical or aspirational model of relationships. This has crippled the Millennials. They are not able to have conversations with adults apart from immediate family who can offer insight into various aspects of life and help them develop competencies and skills that they would need in their lives (Meyers & Walter, 2011). The more time they spend on the internet and more easily they find the information that they want, they are getting more isolated from the real world and in turn the numerous experiences that it offers. Socrates’ famous saying: “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance”. This is what true education is supposed to be. But the digital revolution has completely turned this concept upside down. Today it is more about “knowing everything except for the fact of our own ignorance” (Cookson Jr, 2010. 8). Internet and mainly search engines such as Google have made the information of the world accessible at our fingertips. But ubiquity and speed of getting the information is not as important as knowing and understanding what the information is. Learning is a continuous process and not just having the information at your fingertips. Learning is multidimensional and involves numerous processes such as understanding the world by gathering data and interpreting it appropriately, organizing data into information that can be used, using information to solve real world problems and in the process acquire knowledge develop wisdom (Cookson Jr, 2010). This process of learning is true education which allows us to see the world differently and develop our perspective. But with the advent of digital age, this process is cut short and knowledge is now merely brought down to sea of trivia. As it can be seen, the generation that has grown up in such an age is limited by the learning process that is created by the digital age. The generation Y has all the information and technologies needed to succeed but Lack the knowledge and wisdom to use that information effectively. The most disturbing argument put forward by Bauerlein is his concern of the American democracy. The millennials don’t show any interest in politics, history or culture. He questions the credibility of the current generation to the run the nation in the future. With the academic and intellectual abilities of the current generation it would be very difficult to form a well-informed electorate that debate over greater issues of the world and find a solution. Miller (2010) supports the above argument effectively in his paper “iPolitics: Talking Government with the American Idol Generation”. The millennials live in a completely virtual world. They are more likely to know who are reality show winners and a new singers than the judges of the supreme court or speaker of the US house. Voting to them refers to voting on favourite shows such as American Idol rather than for the presidential elections. Their sense of community is limited to their communities on MySpace and Facebook. It does not extend to the real world communities which they are a part of. Their political knowledge and participation is very minimal. With such an attitude towards anything which is not a part of their personal life has limited their political understanding. Their knowledge about current events is limited to what their friends share on social networking sites. This makes the millennials incapable of making decisions when it comes to making important informed decisions. It can be said that, politics and history is alien to millennials. Writing skills are seen as one of the important skills required for an individual. Effective writing allows an individual to express his/her ideas effectively to rest of the world. Any great idea would be of no use if it cannot be expressed to the rest of the world and writing still remains one of the most effective ways of doing it. But results have shown that the current generation of students are getting into academics and professions with a major deficiency in writing skills. One of the reasons behind this is the increase in the use of technology such as text messaging, social media and internet use. These have lead to a gradual decline in the writing skills of Gernation Y crippling them of expressing themselves (Lingwall, 2010). It is now clear that the generation Y is highly dependent on the internet for information. The important question that can be raised now is the credibility of the information. The millennials today are not consumers on the information on the web but also the content creators. Web 2.0 has made them content creators and this makes the information available on the web less dependable or accurate. Sources such as Wikipedia (most used source by generation Y) cannot be trusted for the accuracy of the information. This makes the generation Y vulnerable and their knowledge questionable (Carney, 2009). Stewart & Bernhardt (2010) in their work “Comparing Millennials to Pre-1987 Students and with One Another” put forward the views and perceptions of many university colleagues and experts. Even though they do not argue or prove that the digital media has affected the intellectual ability, they definitely establish the fact that there is a decline in the intellectual ability of the millennials. Many in the universities believe that there is a dip in the academic performance of the students of Generation Y when compared to that of the Generation X. Stewart & Bernhardt (2010) also highlight the fact that the norms of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) were re-centred due to the decline college student’s academic aptitude scores in the mid 90’s. Academicians are of the belief that this generation is less skilled academically and less knowledgeable than the previous generations. Even though they don’t establish the link between the decline in academic performance and digital revolution, they certainly establish the fact that the millennials are not academically and intellectually on par with their predecessors. This paper has successfully argued for the thesis of “The Dumbest Generation” by Mark Bauerlein. Works Cited Bauerlein, Mark. (2009). The dumbest generation: how the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future (or, dont trust anyone under 30). NY: Penguin Group. (Print). Carney, Ryan. (2009). “The Internet’s Impact on Culture: Shifting the Balance to the Center”. The Review of Communication. Vol. 9, No. 4, October 2009, pp. 355-36. (Online). Cookson Jr., Peter W. (2009). “What Would Socrates Say?”. Educational Leadership; Sep2009, Vol. 67 Issue 1, p8-14, 7p. (Online). Lingwall, Andrew. (2010). “Rigor or Remediation? Exploring Writing Proficiency and Assessment Measures in Journalism and Mass Communication Programs.” Journalism & Mass Communication Educator; Autumn/Winter2010, Vol. 65 Issue 3/4, p283-302, 20p. (Online) Meyers, Elaine. & Walter, Virgini. (2011). “Talk to Teens Theyre Still Listening”. American Libraries; Sep/Oct2011, Vol. 42 Issue 9/10, p37-39, 3p. (online). Rebora, Anthony. (2011). “Can Reading Be Saved?”. Education Week; Spring2011 Teacher Sourcebook, p22-26, 5p. (Online). Stewart, Kenneth D. & Bernhardt, Paul. (2010). “Comparing Millennials to Pre-1987 Students and with One Another”. North American Journal of Psychology; 2010, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p579-602, 24p. (Online). Miller, William. (2010). “iPolitics: Talking Government with the American Idol Generation”. Conference Papers -- Southern Political Science Association; 2010 Annual Meeting, p1, 24p. (Online). Read More