Dwelling in Possibilities Analysis Essay

As generations go by, our predecessors assume we are skipping out on important aspects of life just to get a few extra minutes on our devices. In Catherine Rampell’s “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much”, it is said the older generations believe Generation Y is “coddled, disrespectful, narcissistic, and impatient” (Rampell 388). In all reality our generation is just doing what it has to in order to thrive in the world we live in, where technology is one of the largest parts of our everyday lives. If the older generations that criticize Generation Y had grown up in Generation Y they would realize the world we live in requires the use of technology. The advancement of society with technology has shaped Generation Y to be the people that they are, relying on technology; however, older generations believe Generation Y is lazy.

In the article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Jean M. Twenge she argues that a generation has been taken over by smartphones. I agree with Twenge's theories, but I feel that she was over-exaggerating when she states that teenagers are on a "mental-health crisis". Smartphones differ with everyone some people know how to manage their time and still have a social life, but others are certainly more comfortable online than out partying as stated in the article. She is a professor of psychology who research's generational differences, work values, life goals, and also speed of development. She had been researching generational differences for more than twenty-five years. It all started when she was twenty-two years old and a

Teens today branded as iGen, the generation born in between 1995 through 2012, has grown with smartphones at their complete disposal. According to, Jean Twenge, writer of “Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation,” the rise and sway smartphones and social media have over teens has negative contributions over the emotions and behaviors of iGen, and they are “on the brink of a mental crisis.” “There is compelling evidence that the devices we have placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.”

The purpose of this news article was to bring light to a topic that adults and non-millennials probably would not comprehend and or understand otherwise about the current generation and what they gravitate towards. Examples of this could be an elderly parent or grandparent wondering why their child/grandchild loves social media so much or a young person being curious of which app they use the most. The article is mostly focused around college and high school students. The research study further goes on to explain why this trend is happening through questions, graphs, and exact numbers. It goes on

Technology has advanced a lot more in the past century than it has over a million years. There is millions of new advancements found every day, however, this is making the younger generation a lot less knowledgeable. In the book The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerkein, it states that the teens today are the dumbest generation to live on the planet. It is commonly believed that the young generation is the least knowledgeable generation because of their great reliability on technology, constant distraction by technology, and negative media influences. Although technology helps to make one’s everyday life a lot easier, it is taking away one’s intelligence.

This specific generation has changed severally from past generations. Today’s youth have become attached to technology and can’t seem to let go of it. People have become dependent on technology; they make sure they check social media before they proceed to do anything else. Past generations focused on having a social life, getting out of the house, and having good relationships with friends. Twenge (2017) says that “the allure of independence, so powerful to previous generations, holds less sway over today’s teens” (p. 5) which is alarmingly true. Teens today spend more time at home interacting with their friends through social media rather than in person. Today’s teens have also let meaningful relationships slip away, many have put themselves in depressing states and end up feeling lonely because the lack of interaction and quality time with other individuals has gone away. Young people now focus on their likes and views rather than a significant other and being in relationships that could bring them joy. This newer generation lacks the independence past generations had. Past generations thrived to be on their own and have the ability to do what they wanted when they wanted. Past generations freedom came from having jobs and making money; teens today have lost the vigor to get jobs and make money. Many eligible young people have lost their strive to get jobs and have an income, many rely on their guardians to take care of them and pay for all of their necessities. However, Twenge mentions in the article, “Independence isn’t free – you need

In chapter one of The Dumbest Generation, Mike Bauerlein makes several statements about our generation and comes to a conclusion that helps set the groundwork for the entire book. His analysis of today’s youth states that the current generation is lacking when it comes to intellectual knowledge. He provides evidence that states that today’s under-thirty population in the United States does not have adequate knowledge, and their lack of knowledge with affect them greatly in their adulthood years.

Along with the progression of society, major advances have been made in hundreds of different fields — particularly technology. Controversy has risen, and debates ensued over whether today's young Americans are really “the dumbest generation,” due to their “money, media, e-gadgets, and career plans” [Source A]. While advances have been made, they have brought with them resources to benefit off of, and ultimately assist in the overall intellect and intelligence of the human race.

Reflecting on this course over this semester, there have been many lessons learned that will be valuable, as we enter the business world. Our first lesson was to learn to work together, as a team, to prepare a short memo, long memo, letter, and email for use in the business world. This is a lesson that will experience many times as we do our daily work. Punctuation and grammar are so important to present to the client and other organizations that we are professionals. It could mean the loss of a sale or acquiring new business. It’s like dressing for work; looking professional or unprofessional.

It is believed by many that younger generations, those under the age of thirty are the “dumbest”. Apparently, technology has now influenced and molded people into less-intelligent individuals who lack the knowledge and skills that people of the same age once acquired. Though if we look at more aspects of their learning capabilities, millennials do have the potential to be bright beings, now seen through more creative, non-traditional ways. And because of this, younger generations cannot be undermined as they have high levels of cognitive abilities, the help from technology, and how technology makes them write more and be more involved with their interests. Younger generations are not limited in their cognitive abilities, rather these abilities are expanding as time progresses.

The younger generation of Americans, those under the age of thirty, are often criticized as being the “dumbest generation”. Many Americans blame technology for making “goods so plentiful, schooling so accessible, diversion so easy, and liberties so copious” (Bauerlein). Many are posing the question: Is the increasing ease in life causing our intelligence to slip? Those under thirty are not the dumbest generation, in fact, technology is expanding, changing, and pushing in new directions intelligence and mental capacity.

In the text ‘The dumbest Generation: How The Digital Age Stupifies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future’ written by English professor Mark Bauerline at Emory University, he continually emphasizes the implication that the millennial generation has intellectual deficiencies because of their dependency on social media and technology. One of his most relevant theories is that the use of video games and the integration of technology into the classroom has negative impacts on a student’s academic performance because “It conditions the minds against quiet, concerted study, against imagination unassisted by visuals, against linear, sequential analysis of texts, against an idle afternoon with a detective story and nothing else” (Bauerline 95).

This isn't really a main point but it is supporting the issue and is implied through most of the beginning and in a few other parts of Edmundsons’ essay. The second idea that leaches from the first would be how millennials were the first to have been cultivated from a young age to utilize and master such machinery. This is discreetly said in his essay as “Internet technology was on hand for my current students from about the time they were eight years old” and “Internet seems to me to have shaped their generation as much as the multichannel TV, with that critical device, the remote control, shaped the students who registered for my classes a decade ago. What is the Internet to current students?”. Lastly and the underlying idea of Edmundsons’ paper would be, that the reliance millennials have on technology, a problem that no other generation has faced, could be their road to ruin. This is affirmed multiple times in the essay restated with different words, an example of this would be the title “Our Students’ Spectacular Hunger for Life Makes Them Radically Vulnerable” and a sentence that is stated in the beginning of the essay “These students may go on to do great and good things, but they also present dangers to themselves and to the common future”. With what was just written It is a bit enigmatic to comprehend, maybe not to college professor like edmundson of course, but to

This generation has obtained a tremendous amount of accessible information through technology. Technology has progressed during this generation which has corrupted the minds of teens everywhere.

Technology has been involved in people’s lives forever, especially in the Millennial Generation. This generation consists of individuals born between the years of 1982-2004. The articles “The Flight From Conversation,” “Teens and Technology 2013,” and “Leading The Charge For Change” deals with teens interacting with technology today.Each article has different topics, but they connect through the over dependence of teens to technology. The Millennial Generation becomes less and less in touch with the real world and morphs into a quasi-reality.