8 reasons why this is the dumbest generation

boston.com ^

[BBell]

Author Mark Bauerlein aims to provoke in his new book, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future" (Tarcher/Penguin). Do you agree? Take a look at eight reasons the Emory University English professor gives to ''not trust anyone under 30'' -- see which you think is the best. Disagree, or have your own spin? Have your say on this message board. Or see if Bauerlein answered your question directly in a chat from Wednesday, May 14.

1. They make excellent "Jaywalking'' targets

Bauerlein writes: "The ignorance is hard to believe ... It isn't enough to say that these young people are uninterested in world realities. They are actively cut off from them. ... They are encased in more immediate realities that shut out conditions beyond -- friends, work, clothes, cars, pop music, sitcoms, Facebook.''

2. They don't read books -- and don't want to, either

"It's a new attitude, this brazen disregard of books and reading. Earlier generations resented homework assignments, of course, and only a small segment of each dove into the intellectual currents of the time, but no generation trumpeted aliteracy ... as a valid behavior of their peers.''

3. They can't spell

Lack of capitalization and IM codes dominate online writing. Without spellcheck, folks are toast.

4. They get ridiculed for original thought, good writing

"On MySpace, if you write clearly and compose coherent paragraphs with informed observations on history and current events, 'buddies' will make fun of you,'' Bauerlein says. Wikipedia writing is clean and factual, but colorless and judgment-free. Often the most clever students, with flashes of disorganized brilliance on MySpace, switch to dull Wiki-writing formats for school papers, he says. "If we could combine the style and imagination of MySpace with the content of Wikipedia, we might get good stuff."

5. Grand

[BBell]

I searched and could not find this posted. IMO the dumbest generation also seem to be Obamaites. I have not read this book but I'm sure it will explain why they love Bambi so much. I suspect it all comes down to shallowness and me! me! me! In my search to see if this article was posted I did find this:

The Not So Greatest Generation (The Dumbest Generation: Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)

[dfwgator]

Idiocracy is here.

[DogBarkTree]

Yup.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Yeah, yeah, every generation has been labelled as such. Elvis was going to be the death of us all. Didn’t happen.

[BBell]

I have not seen “Idiocracy” but I probably should. I see it referred to enough here.

[edzo4]

picture in your mind a person of average intelligence, now remember that if they are average half the people are dumber than that, and now you know how Obama was elected.

[r9etb]

Hm. If I didn't know a whole bunch of smart, active, well-read teens who are the exact opposite of what this guy describes, I'd think he had a point.

That's not to deny the fact that there's a grain of truth in what this guy's complaining about, but I suspect that this next group of young folks is going to surprise us.

[Larry Lucido]

Yep, somehow, the world has survived millennia of “the worst generation ever.”

[thecabal]

I would take President Camacho over Obama any day.

[huldah1776]

Ever think about a long slow death?

[CodeToad]

Not for children, though, but it makes a perfect point about the direction we as a society have been heading. Actually, I might shot it to a 16 year old to maybe help them understand why ignorance is no fun.

[Hazzardgate]

You should. Its both hilarious and depressing (cause its true!) at the same time....

[Larry Lucido]

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint” (Hesiod, 8th century BC).

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and are tyrants over their teachers.” Unattributed, but sometimes attributed to Aristotle.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Ever think about a long slow death?

For my ex, yeah.

[Larry Lucido]

All those copies of Harry Potter are apparently reading themselves.

[mysterio]

Amazing, another those damned kids and their rock and roll music thread.

[Landru]

Fellas, over here.
Pretty good piece; although, the *irony* of [it] being written by a "Professor" {spit} is almost too much.
I mean this *development, years in the making, has made his job quite uncomfortable? :o)

"I searched and could not find this posted. IMO the dumbest generation also seem to be Obamaites."

You're setting yourself up for quite a disappointment if you believe that. Especially when it comes to one the 10 reasons, listed.
Could you guess which one? ;^)

BTW, I voted on which of the 10 items I'd thought the best reason for the metastasizing banality.
Guess what happened after I voted & clicked on, "View Results"?

Nothing.
The link didn't work.
BWWWWWHAAAAAAA!!!

[Landru]

Or was it *8* items? :o)

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

3. They can't spell

Lack of capitalization and IM codes dominate on line
writing. Without spell check, folks are toast.

Even with spell check, some people can't write a
complete sentence.

They use cant (semisecret jargon like thieves talk,
rap, pig Latin, etc) for the contraction of can not
(can't) and loose in place of lose or loss.

[Tax-chick]

I think that the second-oldest examples of writing on Earth - right after public-works accounting records - talk about, “These kids today! Can you believe what they’re up to? It’s the end of Civilization As We Know It!”