Dumbest Generation Mark Bauerlein the author of The Dumbest Generation, claims that people under thirty are the dumbest generation in modern history. Many people call us the dumbest generation because we have the Internet. The Internet does not make our generation “dumb”, it makes us one of the most advanced generation yet. There is much evidence to support both side however it is clearly evident that this generation is not the dumbest. With all this up and coming technology, many people think that is would take away intelligence from someone but that is not true. Technology is not ruining this generation but it is making it better. We are in a “literacy revolution” because of technology. According to Clive Thompson “Before the Internet …show more content…
This is true, on the Internet people can find their information within a matter of seconds. Rather than spending hours to find the right book and evidence that they need. In the cartoon, illustrated by Roz Chast, he shows a man in a library facing away from the books using a computer (Source 8). While many can argue that this shows the negative side on how people do not use resources such as library's anymore; they just use technology. This is not negative, people today can find information on any topic while using a computer. Sure they can use books from the library but most books are not as updated as websites; so information could be inaccurate. Using technology rather than a library does not make our generation the dumbest. This shows how technology has helped us become one of the most advanced generations. Mark Bauerlein argues that this generation is the dumbest generation. This is false, our generation is not the dumbest. Today in the 21st century we are giving more resources and technology to help us succeed in life. Times have changed and so does technology. Just because this generation utilizes our resources, that makes us the dumbest. Does that sound
“The Dumbest Generation” is a title no group of people want to behold. Nonetheless, people under age thirty have been given this belittling title. To those who go off questions about obsolete general knowledge rather than the ability to take in and evaluate knowledge, this title may seem quite fitting. However, Millennials aren’t quite as dull as they’ve been perceived to be. The ability of Millennials to absorb information, rather than know general facts, and their use of contemporary technology as reading and writing resources has proven that they are quite an innovative and bright generation.
Since both authors can relate to both age groups, they have written this article to describe the reasons behind Gen Y’s characteristics and allow older generations a chance to understand their younger counterparts. The article is written not towards Gen Y but instead is written for their critics. Since the article allows readers inside the lives of Gen Y members, it is directed at people who do not already understand this generation and all it has to offer to the world. The authors’ knowledge of the criticisms that Gen Y faces allows them to portray their purpose to intended audiences. They do all of this while remaining mindful of older generations that work full time and live busy lives by breaking the article up with headings and subheadings that allow readers to read only sections at a
In “Cultural Illiteracy,” a preface to the novel The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein critically evaluates how technological distractions affect the younger generation. Bauerlein states that “digital diversions” are cutting the younger generation off from culturally enhancing mediums and is in turn making the younger generation less intelligent. Though Bauerlein is correct about the increase of peer pressure due to technology, he is mistaken about how technology is making the younger generation unintelligent.
The new greatest generation was written by Joel Stein, and is critical analysis of the new generation in this article Stein states that people that are in the new millennial generation are considered narcissistic, lazy, and highly unmotivated. He is a writer for the world famous time magazine. The author thinks the only thing the new generation cares about is themselves. The author ran some tests on a huge amount of college students to see if they were narcissistic or not, according to those statistics he found that about fifty percent in 2009 are al considered to be narcissistic. The author shows that technology
Has the modernization of the twentieth century made us smarter or has it hindered our brains to think in 140 characters or less? In the article, “Brain Candy”, Steven Johnson argues that the “steady upward trajectory” in global I.Q scores is due to what we thought was making us dumber: popular culture. However, this romantic critic is too rooted in his technology- age ideology. While Johnson claims that everything bad is good for us, family themed-programing is being replaced by fabricated reality television shows and channels specialized in selling, video games are hindering our reading and writing skills, and books are becoming things of the past. Johnson insists that popular culture is making us smarter, but is stupid the new smart?
... access to it from various forms of media. Instead of demolishing our ability to read and learn, the internet aids us by giving us rapid information that would otherwise take days of research through books to attain. Therefore, the internet should not be viewed as the cause for our lack of intelligence, but rather the reason for our vast knowledge. Technology has revolutionized our learning and will continue to serve as the prime tool in our education.
In the article Mind Over Mass Media, Steven Pinker claims that the use of technology enhances our intelligence, despite what critics say, when used in productive ways. Pinker supports his claim by explaining that if electronic media were hazardous to intelligence, the quality of science would be plummeting and that philosophy, history and cultural criticism, are flourishing will the use of the Web. The author’s purpose is persuade readers that new media is allowing mankind to locate information at a faster rate, in order to prevent readers from believing that technology is hurting us. The author writes in an informal tone for technology users.
Technology has played a vital role in human progression over the past century, with new advancements like computers, smart phones, and orbiting satellites paving the way for a world more connected than ever before. The ease of accessing knowledge via these devices ensures that individuals can have the world at their fingertips, as any and all questions they may have can be answered in only a matter of seconds. Such a free flow of information requires little mental aptitude to understand and access, and some observers of this relatively new phenomenon are starting to ponder if technology is actually hurting us rather than aiding us. One such
The argument that the web is to blame for making us dumb by Nicholas Carr convinces his audience that they might succumb to becoming braindead due to excessive online clicking. Hopping from link to link never fully understanding the content. While Michael Rosenwald points out that we are slowly molding the brain to only skim and search for key words to put together. With these two programed ways our brains work soon libraries and book stores will cease to exist. Or will they? Clay Shirky challenges this thought by saying that among the cat videos and conspiracy theories there lies true gold within the websites of the internet. The gold consists of scientific journals and a place to discuss anything and everything. A community to share ideas and culture. Has the internet changed your brain for the
Humans have been creating tools that allow us to be do things that would be otherwise impossible since the beginning of our existence. The ability to use and develop new tools is what sets us apart from all other animals. Yet it seems that ever since these tools started being created there were also people that feared these new tools and claimed that they are bad for the human race. The present fear of new technology is illustrated in the essay “Is Google Making us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr. In this essay Carr argues that the internet and other new technologies are changing the way we think in a negative way. Carr claims that new technology is making our generation stupid. In opposition the article “Smarter Than You Think” by Clive Thompson
We live in a time where technology is at the center of our society. We use technology on a daily basis, for the simplest tasks, or to aid us in our jobs, and don’t give a second thought to whether these tools are actually helping us. Writers such as Kevin Kelly and Clive Thompson argue that the use of technology actually helps us humans; whiles writers such as Nicholas Carr argue that technology affects people’s abilities to learn information negatively.
This generation may be lazy and self-centered. I do feel lazy and I do feel like things are gonna magically appear into my hands such as my future. I am completely lost about what I want to do later in life. I am a part of those people that take a way too big interest in celebrities knowing that they are doing anything except drugs and entertainment yet I still think they are some kind of Gods. I would love to meet every single person that were in the famous selfie taken by Ellen Degeneres at the Oscars of this year. However, I do feel that we are not the worst generation, we are just different. I wish I could have lived in the early 70's and be a hippie in San Francisco fighting against the war in Vietnam. Nevertheless, this generation was considered by the generation before as lazy and conceited as well. No generation can be better than an other just different.
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
In “The Cult of Ignorance in the United States: Anti-Intellectualism and the “dumbing down” of America” written by Ray Williams is a short story about people no longer being interested in putting in time and effort into learning something new. Instead, all they want is the answers to all of their questions. Not only have we become lazy, we have become isolated from the world thanks to electronics. This story could be viewed differently by every generation. In my opinion, I agree strongly with Williams since I too am apart of the generation being “dumbed down.”
The Millennials generation is widely known to be “entitled, narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused and lazy” as Simon Sinek (2016) said in his interview on Inside Quest about the Millennial generation. Essentially, he is saying that Millennials have issues that will cause them problems for developing in the real world. I agree that Millennials are not prepared for the real world and they do have issues. Sinek (2016) starts off by asserting the Millennial generation is unprepared for the world because of by four categories parenting, technology, impatience, and environment.