Mark Bauerlain's The Dumbest Generation

Mark Bauerlein seems to believe that is the dumbest generation because research has shown that knowledge skills and intellectual habits have gone down, and although some people agree with him, others don’t. I believe this generation isn’t the dumbest because there are other things that need to be considered when calling someone, a group of people, or even an entire generation stupid or dumb, rather than just knowledge skills and intellectual habits.

Ever since the integration of technology and social media, we have changed as a society in how we interact, make conversation, and go about our daily lives. In the novel Feed, by M.T Anderson, the possible consequences of our dependence on technology and social media are highlighted through experiences between several teenagers in the future. They all live in a world that is the equivalent of a hyped up social media, which has taken over the way we interact with people. It becomes evident that M.T Anderson does not view our generation with applause, rather with disdain and pessimism for what we are doing to affect our future generations socially, politically, and economically. From the beginning of the novel, the reader

“We are gradually changing from a nation of calloused hands to a nation of agile brains.” – Marcel Just. (Begley 92) This quote really speaks to me. I find it to be very true as we are focusing more on developing new technology to do the work we might be doing with our hands. It is similar to the common expression “Work Smarter not Harder”. I think that this is what the internet is letting us do. However many authors and writers do not think this is the case. They believe that the internet is making us less intelligent as it is rewiring our brain to think in order of internet articles rather than books. I on the contrary believe the internet is giving us an easy opportunity to learn which is therefore making us more intelligent.

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.

People claim that new developments have caused kids to be so dependent on their devices, that they can't think for themselves. This claim can also be turned around by saying that technology has given kids more opportunities and chances to learn, and in particular, more opportunities to write (Source 7, Clive Thompson). An example of this is a study done at Stanford University, where it was discovered that Stanford students did a stunning 38 percent of their writing outside of the classroom (Source 7, Clive Thompson). With the developments of E-mail, texting, and social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, younger people are constantly writing in their every day lives. In the past, people would, for the most part, stop writing once the finishes their education. Now however, people are more comfortable, and more used to, writing. And while the argument that technology has decreased level of the vocabulary and vernacular of young people is true in some cases, the increase in writing shown by young people has led to a greater ability to convey information to other people, and a greater comfort in talking to people they don't know (Source 7, Clive Thompson). As Andrea Lunsford says, "I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek Civilization" (Source 7, Clive

A few years ago, I decided to learn sign language. It was not a project for a class, a requirement to graduate, or a fact that everyone knew. I just wanted to learn sign language, so I did what many twenty-first century millennials do and downloaded an app. The app showed me diagrams to learn basic phrases, videos to perfect the movements, and lessons to learn more efficiently. The technology of the app made learning sign language easy, and I could use it wherever I went. I thought that I was smart for using technology to learn specific things, but Mark Bauerlein, the author of a 2008 book called The Dumbest Generation, would disagree. According to Bauerlein, twenty-first century teenagers possess “low knowledge levels” when compared to past generations because of the increased use of technology. However, Bauerlein is mistaken. This generation is not “the dumbest generation” because we focus on different topics, we write more often, and we know that every generation has been called “the dumbest”.

Which generation really takes the title of the dumbest generation? Is it people under the age of 30? How does age have a part in this statement? And why is there even a dumbest generation?

Dumbest Generation Synthesis Essay People of the Millennial Era would consider their generation to be the smartest . With all the technological advances and the upgrades on the way society functions it would seem clear that they are the most intelligent . According to social critic , author , and professor Mark Bauerlein , those under the age of 30 make up the “dumbest” generation in modern history .After his publication of his book, “ The Dumbest Generation,’’ it was brought to America’s attention that anyone after Generation X are apart of the dumbest generation .

Mark Bauerlein-- english professor at Emory University, senior editor, and author of “The Dumbest Generation” states that this generation is dumber than the previous generation. I disagree with Bauerlein because millennials have improved their intellectual aspects and writing abilities over the years. Technology has been a huge advantage for this generation because not only do millennials depend on it but also learn to be self taught as well. This generation is constantly being accused of being “ the dumber generation”.

Anti-Intellectualism and society's overall decline Anti-intellectualism is an attitude that minimizes the value of intelligence, knowledge and curiosity. The death of thinking and anti-intellectualism is becoming a trend in American culture. The reason for this behavior is due to the ignorance of science, arts, and society and it's replacement by entertainment and ignorance. Wanting to learn new things isn't much of a trend and never was. Anti-intellectualism has became a tradition in America, unlike many other countries.

Andrea A, Lunsford believes our generation is not brain dead. She made some studies at Stanford, and interviewed a handful of well-known writers. She concluded that even though the youth uses slang in their text messages they don’t necessarily use them towards respectful people. They know the difference between a friend and a college professor. From youngster point of view she is totally correct, because the youth in fact knows when is appropriate to use internet lingo. It seems older generations always disagree with the newer, for example, the generation without light thought they were better because they survived without light. And that generation argued that they survived without automobiles. Furthermore, the automobile generation argues

One of them being Mark Bauerlein in his book/article called The Dumbest Generation. He bases all of his argument on a survey that shows how “ 56 percent of 18-29 year-olds possessed low knowledge levels, while only 22 percent of 50-64 year-olds did”(Bauerlein 168). This is not a reliable statistic to base an argument off of. Of course people who are fifty and older have more knowledge than teenagers and people in their twenties. They have been around a lot longer than this generation has and have had the opportunity to learn and experience way more than this generation.

Our generation is not, and we trust family, friends and even strangers in digital networks. Our generation does not trust advertising any more. We are most influenced by each other. We have to make our own decisions. Gigli’s paper did not predict how the Internet would change lives. Young people created Facebook and YouTube and all of a sudden we were the ones creating the media. When we want to know what a word means, we look it up straight away on Urban Dictionary. If the entry is not there, we create it. Katniss in the Hunger Games faced many dangerous situations but the children did work together – they shared information and food. They cared for each other even though they knew that would have to kill or be killed in the end. We look to our peers, not authority, for advice.

The question asked by many professionals is if technology has inhibited human interact, more so looking at social interaction face to face. Society has gotten to a period where teenagers, or even young adults, have never experienced a time without technology. Todd Link, a writer for the Telegraph – Herald in Iowa, communicates in his article mainly about the effects of technology and what the older generations think in this technological era. “The older generation [is] venting frustration over the work habits, social skills and lack of face-to-face communication skills of other generations”

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.