Both of our readings this week, Distracted, and the Dumbest Generation, are highly suspicious of contemporary youth culture. Both authors blame this culture's failings on the rise of cyberspace. I actually share many of these authors' concerns with post-modern culture, however, in blaming the internet for this, I think they really miss the point.
Both authors point to a fundamental shift in the way young people appreciate knowledge. Mark Bauerlein, for instance, is apalled that children use their leisure time to actively forget their education, rather than to integrate its lessons into their daily lives. Both Jackson and Bauerlein treat knowledge almost with a twinge of religious awe. Mark Bauerlein especially relies on a deep veneration of the cannon to underlie his arguments.
I think the main factor in "the dumbing down" of is the commodification of knowledge.
The Dumbest Generation opened with a discussion of the culture of overachievement. Schools have become so focused on results, that the process of learning is ignored. All that counts is the test score not the knowledge itself. How can anyone enjoy learning in this context? Marx's concept of the alienation of labor is easily applicable here. The focus on providing good numbers and bright and colorful (though completely superficial) powerpoint demonstrations has made it impossible to focus on the intrinsic value of knowledge itself. In that situation, why wouldn't you try and distract yourself as much as possible?
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I wouldn't necessarily agree with calling our generation dumber than the ones before. I'll give them that we're lazy, but laziness is a human trait that we'll never really grow out of.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say we're dumb-- we're just smart in other things. History may not be our strong point, but technology is.
We have a lot of potential! We use computers without any difficulty, we write programs, we surf the Internet as if it were second nature.
Knowing how to do these things may seem a bit worthless now because some of us aren't applying the knowledge to the greater good of society, but give us time! These skills are priceless, especially with the growing presence of the Internet. They'll come in handy (and then we won't look so dumb, will we?)