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An Army of One:Me
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The way the mind works is through a set of processes, which are steps that must be taken in order for the function it is producing to be accomplished successfully. These processes are related to those that society must be willing to take in order to achieve a desired goal, otherwise known as the ‘struggle’. Younger generations, called Generation Me, develop narcissist views that did not allow for the ‘struggle’ to be considered in their generation. The basis for this mindset is introduced by author Jean Twenge in her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, as she described the gap that occurred between Baby Boomer parents and their GenMe children. This communication was severed because GenMe was taught that their ideas are the best, and therefore not debatable. This translates to differences in opinion and results in individualism. When those individuals do not work together, as demonstrated by Deborah Tannen, author of “The Roots of Debate in Education and The Hope of Dialogue”, they tend to have a weak sense of debate because they stick up for themselves. As a diagnosis to this problem of disconnectedness, Nicholas Carr, author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” decides that our society has begun to skip steps in the process of learning and in particular, the ‘struggle’ that produces the desired outcome. The disconnectedness that has developed in society has caused the loss of real learning, and the problem based on the generation gap introduced by Twenge altered the struggle that is necessary to accomplish, which Tannen believes in and where Carr determines real learning can occur. In order for us to fully understand why we cannot achieve real learning one must understand the roots as well as the problem. Twenge talks about the problem ... ... middle of paper ... ...lting in na less beneficial result, for it it only harms not only ourselves but our society as a whole. Twenge, Tannen, and Carr are all explaining and alluding to the fact that we are not being productive and constructive as a society, and that we are not working together as one. There is a great need for a change in the way that our society works, starting with a change in the teaching of children and even adults about the true meaning of self and how society can develop connectedness by working together. Once society can act for themselves and can learn to listen to others, there must then be a change in the way that learning is promoted, and most importantly a society as a whole must be the one to encourage real learning. Social connectedness is a vital component in mediating real learning, and it is one that our society has to work for in order to achieve.
Technology can only take a generation so far; it is the imagination and creativity of an individual that will take the world they live in to a level that technology can only build; a world where highways of a person’s thoughts makes the world thrive. In the 19th century it was believed technology had been exhausted, and then individuals, such as Einstein, Planck, and Fleming, took science on their backs and brought their own ideas to life. A generation can thrive together as one, but only through the minds of lone thinkers, who alone can move a generation out of one era and into another. Anthem, a novella written by Ayn Rand, talks of a time where the minds of individuals were eradicated, and a community of clone-like minds replaced creativity
In the article, “Facing Challenges Is Part of Growing Up,” Taylor Tepper, a reporter at Money, discusses the reasons for why delaying adulthood is not smart. In response, Jessica Grose, a journalist and novelist, explains her reasons for why it is smart to delay adulthood in her article, “For Many Millennials, Children Are Out of Reach”. Both Grose and Tepper wrote their articles for the opinions page in the New York Times. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos in Tepper’s article appeals more to the audience than Grose’s article, which focuses mainly on ethos and logos, because he is more likely to be trusted due to his use of personal experiences relevant to the topic of adulthood.
In this book, Bauerlein argues that technology as a whole has had the opposite of its intended effect on American youth. According to his argument, young adults in the United States are now entirely focused on relational interactions and, in his view, pointless discussions concerning purely social matters, and have entirely neglected intellectual pursuits that technology should be making much simpler. He calls on various forms of data in order to prove that the decline is very significant and quite real. This book is meant to be a thorough and compelling study on the reality of what technology has caused in the U.S.
Miller kept on emphasizing the main difference between the adolescents of today and the adolescents of her time is the amount of technology. This generation is so far advanced technologically from her generation, which allows for an abundance of opportunities. For example, students now have the ability to travel to so many different places, which allows for further education in a variety of fields. As compared to Mrs. Miller, who was not able to travel to a variety of places. Yet, Mrs. Miller feels as if adolescents are not a motivated as they were years ago due to the fact that knowledge can be accessed with the touch of a fingertip. This causes adolescents to not excel and prefer to just meet standards in accordance to Mrs. Miller.
In his speech at the Wellesley High School for the Graduation Ceremony of the Class of 2012, Mr. McCullough makes a scathing criticism of the “Me Generation”, the modern youth with their modern popular cultures and modern philosophies. Mr. McCullough’s scathing criticism of the “Me Generation” was justified and insightful because the Young People’s YOLO is corrupt, Me Generation’s people do things so they can show off, and the Me Generation is extremely self-centered.. He used statistics, common sense and simple words to describe how the “Me Generation” is corrupt, self-centered and are show offs. Mr. McCullough believes that the modern people are too busy celebrating their achievements to realize that they are not special.
...o solve these problems in an innovative manner. Pew Research Group defining my generation’s journey to adulthood, as “forging our own passage” is accurate. Millennials aspire to influence and contribute to society like their parents of the “greatest generation” accomplished. A majority of Millennials are the children of the “greatest generation”. The children of the “greatest generation” fought the ideals of their parents to become politically and socially liberal in ideals that pertain to equality, feminism, race and sex. The “greatest generation” fought to be freethinking and as parents encouraged this same behavior in their children.
The U.S educational system’s purpose is to control the minds of its students that will be the future leaders of the country. Juveniles are being taught that in order to have a nice car, branded clothes and the house of their dreams, by getting into an expensive mortgage, they have to be an employee of a huge corporation. In addition, they have to undergo to a prestigious school, study hard, have excellent grades in order to become popular and respectable in the world. However, many people would not become those super leaders, but these majorities of people have a great role in the capitalistic society of the US. As Gatto says, “We buy televisions, and then we buy the things we see on the television. We buy computers, and then we buy the things we see on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether we need them or not, and when they fall apart too soon we buy another pair” (38).
...m the claims of cognitive supremacy of Digital Natives by birth, and the lesser tendencies exhibited by the Digital Immigrants. Later in the article, she advances to presenting various cognitive and Neuroscientic studies as refutation to the previously reported claims of Palfrey and Gasser, and Tapscott and Prensky, which may be best concluded in the words of John Medina, who states, “The brain is in the business of reacting to its environment by continuously rewiring itself in response to external experience.” (422) Hence, she proves her point that brain power is not “generationally defined,” rather it increases and adapts to the growing and demanding challenges faced by human cognitive experience.
Gitz, Bradley R. “Save Us from Youth.” Practical Argument. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R.
Ultimately, I am in agreement with what Albert Einstein supposedly predicted “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” Some historians dispute that the most brilliant brain of the 20th century ever really said that, but nonetheless, it appears that the prophecy is coming true. All we have to do is look around us, whether we are dining in a restaurant or sitting in a college classroom, we will see people glued to their smart phones or doing internet searches on their laptops. There does not really seem to be any meaningful social interaction amongst individuals. Along the same lines as Greenfield’s research paper is an article printed in Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection that presents views on both sides of the technology and education argument. Although this article presents opposing views on the topic, the critics suggest that the drawbacks of technology are the tools can be difficult to use and prohibitively expensive and it reduces or removes the human interaction that many believe is crucial to education (“Technology and Education.” par. 3). Basically, technology severs social
Goldberg, David Theo. “If Technology Is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault.” Blog. Digital Humanities. August 16, 2010. Gooch and Suyler. in Argument. Avenue of the Americas, New York.2011. 301-03. Print.
Microgeneration’s are already rising and horrifying the group right before them, an example needs to be set to show them that it is possible to work through the generational differences (Stein). People have power in numbers and currently the separation between age and features of generations are preventing them from being one workforce, working together to achieve a common goal—the wellbeing of an entire society. All groups can make an effort to close the gap by being more accepting and open minded to change. As Millennials run into setbacks in their advanced methods, previous generations can help and explain the foundational way of operation. While previous generations fall behind in technological advancements, Millennials can share their expertise on technology. Every generation has its flaws and together the holes can be filled, simply with a little optimism and collaborative work. The key to closing this gap is education – knowledge of the past and present. Programs such like Pollak’s initiative to work with companies and help train directors how to manage and market to the Millennial generation of young adults will contribute to a better understanding on how to handle workplace confrontations (qtd. in Dowdy). Lastly, Millennials too have some contributions they can make to close the gap. As understanding as they are, they
Prakash, J. (n.d.). Brief notes on the Thorndike’s Laws of Learning. Retrieved from Preserve Articles: http://www.preservearticles.com/201105206859/thorndikes-laws-of-learning.html
There is a generation that is 80 million strong who is the start of a new millennium. The people of this generation are called the Millennials. Many think of them as closeminded, faulty and not fit to run the major cooperation’s of the world someday, yet the true identities of this group are just starting to be revealed. Millennials can easily and thoroughly understand the new advances in technologies. They are also the most diverse and open minded generation yet. They show a lot of potential and could someday change the world for the better. A writer for Time magazine, Joel Stein, does a wonderful job describing the millennials for who they truly are in his article “The New Greatest Generation.” While Stein agrees with Twenge in that millennials show faults, he maintains that their faults have potential to make them the next greatest generation. Despite the negative connotations millennials receive, they often have the ability to be resourceful with the technology, open-minded to the diversities the world displays and have a lot of potential.
Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.