I wasn’t popular enough in high school to walk into a room and get the sense that everyone was talking about me seconds before my arrival. Lately, though, I’m starting to get that impression, albeit it on a grandiose and impersonal level, as adults have begun to constantly study, discuss, debate — and maybe most of all worry about — my generation. Millennials, dot-commers, whatever you want to call us, we were born in the ‘80s and ‘90s and spent some of our most formative years post Y2K. Newspapers and magazines are constantly running stories on us, featuring topics that cover everything from our Internet habits to our cult-like following of the clothes featured on Gossip Girl to whether we will actually get our asses out to vote this year.
The really frightening thing is we’re growing up, and in a few short decades we will be running this country. This has led the older generations to fret about the results of our digital upbringings. Can we contribute to a democracy in a meaningful way? Can we get off of Facebook long enough to even try to contribute to a democracy in a meaningful way? Have we spent so much time IM-ing that we’re afraid to talk to people in real life? Are we addicted to virtual communities? Baby boomers debate and discuss this and more, but rarely do they ask us about it.
Emory professor Mark Bauerlein recently published a book called The Dumbest Generation (Tarcher books, 2008 ) that apparently outlines why we millennials will ruin the world. Based upon reviews and the introduction, the premise seems to be that we took the most profound technological opportunities the world has ever seen and shot the Internet’s potential to hell by becoming addicted to social networking and gossip blogs. “Can a nation continue to enjoy political and economic predominance if its citizens refuse to grow up?” it asks, explaining that the youth don’t care about history, culture, or anyone but themselves. Bauerlein says this selfishness has stunted our emotional and intellectual growth, and has led to creation of the dumbest generation.
That’s a pretty bold claim, especially coming from a guy whose generation was high as a kite for an entire decade (disclaimer: that was speculative… I can’t find a record of Bauerlein’s date of birth or the year he earned his undergraduate degree. He looks to be about my parents’ age based on his photograph, though). It also ignores the fact that generations before ours turned a blind eye to climate change for decades, voted a president into office — not once, but twice — who should have been impeached, and allowed corporations to have all the rights of a legal person but none of the responsibilities. We might be the dumbest generation, but even we aren’t dumb enough to think Barack Obama is Muslim or hates America. Nor do we think it somehow benefits the American electorate to create polls about whether Barack Obama’s race is more of a disadvantage than John McCain’s age. Too old versus too black? Seriously? This is relevant? No you’re right, clearly Facebook is the enemy here… watch out for the dot-commers.
But while Bauerlein’s title lends itself to hippie jokes and is sensationalist to say the least — the girl working behind the counter at Borders did a double take and asked, “Is this about us?” when I bought it — the book undeniably raises some very valid issues. The fact that our generation is focused more on acquiring information quickly than actually using that information effectively has been a concern of librarians for years. So far I’ve only read the introduction of The Dumbest Generation, but I’m extremely excited to read the entire thing and see how Bauerlein’s thesis holds up. Maybe we really are the dumbest generation — baby boomers, hippies and warmongers included. Bauerlein also appears to criticize the baby boomers who let us reach this point of overwhelming inferiority, so really it’s the chicken and egg question. Who’s dumber: the dumbest generation or the generation that raised the dumbest generation? Chew that one over, kids.
As I read The Dumbest Generation, I am going to write about the issues Bauerlein raises and more. My responses will be based on research, interviews, and personal experiences. My goal with this blog is simply to contribute to the discussion of my generation as a member of it. I am writing as a college student who wants to give a youth perspective, not the youth perspective. One reviewer at Amazon.com wrote, “Bauerlein does not propose much in the way of remedies. I do not think that there are any.” I disagree. Rather than making exaggerated statements about how young people are the dumbest our country has ever seen, I think it’s best to identify what the real problems are and figure out how we can fix them. Maybe most importantly, we need to figure out how to take our greatest gift (access to information) and use it to maximize society.
Frankly, I think Bauerlein is a little harsh on us and on our parents. I’m confident my generation will not ruin the country, which would actually be difficult to do given the messes we are inheriting. We are the lucky ones who are faced with global warming, worldwide hatred of our country, and epic amounts of debt. But I think many young people plan to do what it takes to not only keep the country from going further down the tube, but to take this mess and make something better than what we had before. We’re flawed, but I don’t believe we are the Dumbest Generation or a hopeless generation. We’re not Generation X or Generation Y, and maybe we’re not even the Millennials or Dot Commers. I hope that we will turn out to be Generation Underrated.
5 Comments
July 22, 2008 at 5:08 am
I think every older generation has looked on newer ones and decided that what the “young’uns” are doing is not as good as what the previous generation could have done in the same situation. For my part, I’m extremely interested in history and culture, which I study in school and plan to continue learning about for the rest of my life working in musuems. And of course I do use the internet for networking, but I also use it for research (no, not just wikipedia, but scholarly research as well) and communication with people across the globe.
However, I must agree that digital communication may be harmful to the way people interact face to face. Many teens I know are socially inept; they’d much rather send an IM or text than even call someone on the phone, let alone confront them in person–their communication has to be completely impersonal. I can’t imagine life without human interaction and have a slight fear of loss of the necessity for human contact (hopefully not in my lifetime, but certainly in the future).
I think this is a great idea. I’m going to have to get my hands on the book, but I can’t wait to continue reading your blog.
July 22, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Nice writing. I think pretty much every generation thinks it’s the best and the one below it sucks. You should look for similar books that have been published throughout the decades, because I’m sure there are plenty. In the roaring 20’s, for example, many people thought society was in a huge decline because of the prosperity and carefree attitude of its young people – a good example of this is the show “Jeeves and Wooster” from the BBC. Before then, in Europe leading into WWI youth seemed full of nihilism, existentialism, and a bunch of other “isms” that made them seem worthless to older people.
Just a thought.
July 23, 2008 at 2:46 pm
How can Bauerlein think that the youth of America is going to be the ruination the world? The way I see it, the Bush administration has already done that for us. Keep supporting big business over the interests of the individual and watch our dollar fail and our country ’s infrastructure crumble. Sure there are a lot of kids out there who are clueless but there are a lot of “adults” that are hooked on Fox News and they are not exactly what I call great thinkers.
August 12, 2008 at 4:07 am
I have not read the Bauerlein– and find no particular reason to– yet I can’t help wondering what responsibility (or complicity) he feels for birthing and shaping this stupid generation.
The most apparent issue affecting high school students these days is a result of “goal-oriented” thinking, achieved in large part through the work of organizations (e.g. College Board) founded by members of older generations. When teenagers face a fight-or-fail situation, to their credit, they go for it; this manifests itself anti-intellectually, as students scramble for individuality in an era when SAT scores and grade reports are so fundamental to “college acceptance.” The post-Vietnam notion that one must be degree-certified (in order to become a functional entity in this world) is the foundation of this scramble. Commercial media exploits this, as teens with emotional tunnel-vision are more receptive to “diversion.” High school becomes a venture, a path, to university. Selective learning (“academic prowess”) is valued; passionate independent study is eschewed for its non-applicability in regard to this “journey to college.” The scenario continues to devolve. And commercial media exploits these so-called students.
One may recognize (or personally know!) exceptions to these patterns; this “dumbest generation” label is only validated by the prevailing culture these teens grew into. I understand what I’ve heard with Bauerlein’s arguments– and I agree with many of his positions– but his seeming inability to view the current situation as a product of social progression (the sort propagated, if not mandated by his own generation) leaves me wondering how solid a scholar and person he is.
Not that it matters what I think– after all, I’ve been staring at a computer for many years.
October 2, 2008 at 4:04 am
[...] but because I wondered if my generation had actually been tried. And worried that if we were tried, we’d be found wanting. . [...]