Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How do media influence adolescent behavior
Impact of digital revolution on society
The influence of media on youth
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How do media influence adolescent behavior
Many people regard the younger generation, those under 30, to be the dumbest generation. One of the main blames, according to Mark Bauerlein (2008), is of “the eighties and nineties economy and the digital revolution” (pg. 168). A lot of older generations believe that technology is separating the younger generations’ ability to retain knowledge, communicate, and have common sense. I do not believe this claim is valid, but instead, I believe there are changes that are misunderstood. I think the argument of technology being a bad thing is not so much the technology itself, but change in general. The technology is caught in the middle. As each generation develops, it is clear they cultivate their own set of ideas, values, circumstances, and ways of life, resulting in generational differences that separate age groups through change. …show more content…
I grew up with some technology, but technological advances has made it so different from when I grew up. Looking back, the change is drastic, but it has gradually evolved over many years. In this progression, counting years even before me, studies have shown that IQ’s have been rising since the 1930’s. (Sharon Begley, 2010, pg. 168). Begley proceeds to cognitive thinking, stating that, “Gen Y’s ignorance of facts reflects not dumbness, but choice.” (pg. 168) In saying this, Begley is saying that younger generations’ IQ tests compare differently than older generations. The change in values and ways of life, as mentioned before, weigh heavily on the scores. Politics, world affairs, and the economy could influence the generations in what they had to know for the time being. For example, Begley states that 60% of people in 1966 said it was important to keep up with political affairs, compared to the 36% who agreed in 2005. (2010). The older generations were in the midst of a war and had to know certain information for survival. We, on the other hand, are not in a major
“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.
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.
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.
The author claims that the working of a human brain is deeply affected by the technological advances of the current age. Closely administered behavior of Digital Natives reveals that they have sharper cognitive skills as compared to the Digital Immigrants of the previous generation. She begins by quoting Palfrey and Gasser as her counter-argument, who acknowledge the difference between the current and previous generations, thus: “These kids are different. They study, work, write and interact with each other in ways that are very different from the ways that you di...
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 the quote, “first, the IQ scores in every country, including the United States, have been rising since the 1930’s,” Begley appeals to the logical side of the audience. By doing so, he makes the audience reason that if numbers and statistics adhere to his claim, then that means that they can believe his argument. More importantly, today’s society associate IQ with intelligence. Therefore, that particular statement convinces the audience that the young
In his book The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein states that the Millennial generation, with their dependence on technology, are the dumbest generation. He says that Millennials have an unprecedented lack of general knowledge, and this foreshadows trouble in the future when this generation takes control of the agencies of power. Bauerlein’s analysis ignores the nuances of generational ideological priorities, reaches damning conclusions from weak and sparse data, and hypocritically ignores the historical precedents for the argument he is making.
According to Mark Bauerlein, those who were born after 1982, known as Generation Y, are the world’s dumbest generation. Bauerlein argues that this generation is not meeting the standards that he believes today’s technology should allow them to reach and it is hard to argue with all of his statistics on test scores, but Bauerlein obviously does not understand this generation. Who does he think is behind it all? It takes a genius to create new technology, no matter what the technology is used for or how other people perceive it. It did not just appear out of nowhere. Generation Y is not the dumbest generation, because if they were that would mean Bauerlein’s generation failed to raise Generation Y, technology just creates itself, and test scores determine intelligence.
The Dumbest Generation, How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future is a critical analysis on the effects of the prolific spread of information and communication technology on the youth of today. A statement such as : those under the age of thirty are “the dumbest generation” is quite a bold assertion.although I am definitely under thirty and easily fall into “the dumbest generation” category I do agree with such statement to an extent. The four documents geared towards the negative effects of technology are: The Dumbest Generation, Is Google Making Us Stupid? , Are We Getting Our Share of the Best? and Shelved. The four documents with a positive view on today's technology are: The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be
Have you ever wondered if our generation is the dumbest? Well, there’s some evidence to prove so. Generation ‘Y’ is considered to be the dumbest generation of all. This is based on numerous experiments, polls, surveys, etc. While everything else in this world is rising, intellect of each generation is falling. With the ignorance of facts, by choice, and lack of some education, Generation ‘Y’ is considered to be the dumbest generation.
Technology has become an integral part of our modern society. It has paved the way for growth in all aspects of our daily lives and has helped us mature into better educated adults. Technology is an ever changing constant that will be a part of our culture for years to come. To not embrace technology but blame it for an epidemic of immature adults today, would cause us to miss out on the momentum that will carry us into a future in which the generations will be more mature than even our
Technology is an important issue that my generation will face in the coming years if it is used inappropriately. Albert Einstein states his input on how technology will be an issue: “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots”. Many people say that technology will affect people’s ability to think properly and claims that we will have a generation of people who are ignorant compared to earlier generations. Technology has shaped how people live their lives on a regular basis and it defines my generation as the technology generation. Technology has changed how we do things in our daily lives and has become a large part of our daily lives and has impacted each
The generation that I was born into can sometimes be easily misunderstood by those in earlier generations. The individuals in my generation get thrown many different labels such as those that Rosie Evans (n.d.) listed in her article, “Millennials, Generation Y, the Lost Generation, boomerang kids, the Peter Pan generation…” and more. This can impact us as a whole because some will begin to live by the labels, in some cases that can be negative but in others it may be beneficial. Many people in this generation believe that they can’t reach their full potential due to labels and prejudgment, while there are others believe nothing can hold them back. When we get labeled all together that is also what may drive some to try to stand out from the
Generation Z is determined to change the future and is at an advantage over all previous generations to do so. This group is those born between the years 1995 and 2012, whom are currently ages 4 to 21. Statistics show Gen Z is extremely mature for their age with the lowest levels of drug use, alcohol consumption, smoking, and teenage pregnancy in decades, as stated by JWTIntelligence. This demonstrates that they are future orientated. Generation Z is unified, diverse, realistic, and technologically advanced, making them the generation with the power to impact the world.
As the largest generation on the planet (Jenkins), the Millennials (otherwise known as generation Y) have faced plenty of scrutiny from the previous generations. A Millennial is the demographic group made up of anyone who was born between the years 1980 and 2000. This group of young people has proved to be a great contribution to society and also to the advancement of technology. They do things in their own ways and on their own terms, always approaching a problem in the most efficient way possible for everyone. Millennials have settled numerous issues in our society and they are expected to change our world exponentially. Millennials adapt to new technologies very quickly, however, while Millennials see themselves in generally positive terms such as ‘tech-savvy’ and ‘up to date’, many people from the older generations see them as ‘spoiled’ and ‘lazy’. The new technologies do make living everyday life easier and more functional, however, Millennials are not at all ‘lazy’ for taking advantage of them. Millennials use these new tools in incredibly innovative ways and they see the world in a completely different light.