There has been some talk lately about my generation (the millenials and generation Y). Is the Internet making us genius or completely incapable of making smart decisions (dumb)?
I do not know where my opinion falls on the subject. I have had contact with brilliant Generation Y minds and also those who are still lacking the personal development needed to be successful in life.
I guess my question is this…
Did radio and TV completely erode the minds of Gen X and the Baby Boomers? Did we see a lack of control when Generation X spent a ton of time watching TV throughout the day?
The Internet has developed a communication platform that enhances the way we learn and communicate.
Generation Y may lack in terms of true research and grammar but we will never lack in connecting the the global environment.
Gone are the days when you could not communicate with the opposite hemisphere. We are living in a global information highway where knowledge is plentiful…
We may just be losing the essentials of old school thought.
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I think we are just losing the essentials of old school thought. With every generation here are the leaders and there are people who always lack the skills. However I think we are more rounded for being exposed to so much through the web. Maybe to rounded and spread out in some cases.
[...] look better – on paper at least. I don’t care how many degrees or certificates you have: common sense trumps all. If you can’t use common logic there’s no point hiding behind all your fancy [...]
Kyle, these kind of posts are why I follow you
Sometimes, Gen Y gets ragged on just because it's easier to rag on anybody at all nowadays. I'm sure if the Internet had existed 50 years ago, there would have been just as much inane fluff flying around the Web about how the Baby Boomers and then Gen X were having their minds rotted by radio, television, movies, etc. God forbid the telephone!
There are studies that show Millenials may not be as good at retention of large amounts of facts, but it's a long stretch between those studies (of which there need to be many, many more) and the assumption that Gen Y somehow can't function in communities whatsoever anymore.
As an aside, I was at a networking event today where a nice gentleman repeatedly expressed fear about joining social networks (and rightfully so, if even just a bit). He continued to stress the value of face-to-face contact, until finally someone my age stepped in and said (basically), "Look, I prefer face-to-face contact, too. My whole generation does. But sometimes you can't have that kind of contact, and email/IM/text/Twitter are a much more appropriate extension of communication." That nailed it, for me anway.
Thanks for writing this stuff, and keep up the good work!
Thanks for the link love to Diva Talks BTR show about boomers and SM. I'm a boomer who has "lived" online since the late '90's; but it's still different than having grown-up with the technology integrated into your baby toys. SM simply offers another way to build relations that spans cultures and distance and once people grasp that concept the technology is just a means to an end and the discomfort begins to fall away. That said, we all have much to learn from each other .. no matter the number of our age.
Just because the baby boomers and other archaic and obsolete generations don't understand technology doesn't mean everyone else has to show up and speak face to face. It could be said that before written text, the best way to trade information was by word of mouth, but that method isn't very accurate and efficient with the advent of writing. Then came libraries and written text, which everyone would agree is a huge advent in information technology and communication. Then came the Internet – the ultimate stomping ground for information globally. Telling people to stay away from technology as a form of communication is just some snake oil, almost superstitious thinking with absolutely no reasonable or logical argument for doing so. It's like the baby boomers are saying "Don't use technology because it's the devil". Pretty dumb.
-Chase – Gen X 1976
Chase H: "archaic and obsolete generations don't understand technology…"
Keep in mind, Chase, that 'the internet' was originally conceived, developed, and physically built by members of the Baby Boom generation. Though it's use at that time was restricted to governments, universities, and hackers, the internet has been around since the early sixties.
"Generation Y may lack in terms of true research and grammar but we will never lack in connecting the the global environment."
How does connecting the global environment substitute for the ability to perform true research?
What exactly do you mean by connecting the global environment? Chatting on a fiber optic cable with someone in another country in and of itself does not advance civilization.
"Did radio and TV completely erode the minds of Gen X and the Baby Boomers? Did we see a lack of control when Generation X spent a ton of time watching TV throughout the day?"
Yes. TV is a life consuming waste of time. So are video games. I would estimate 95% of internet content is either wrong, incomplete, and/or useless. I say this as a Gen Xer who wasted too much of his youth with pointless things.
On the up side, your grammar seems ok.
so true! i think people who blame technology for their kids going dumb are too ignorant of the world around them.