Are we the dumbest generation?

Probably.

I am reading this book called The Dumbest Generation by a guy named Mark Bauerlein. I have not even read most of it, but this is not a book review, yet. I saw it for the first time in B&N like 3 months ago and just checked it out from the CPL recently.

The whole premise of the book is that the dawn of the information superhighway, the answers to all our questions being so readily available, and the sheer amounts of technology that are available today have led our generation (<30 years old) to be poised at the forefront of human ingenuity, the pinnacle of modern thinking, and the golden digital age of globalization... but instead we are a generation of do-littles that are largely unable to wisely converse, smartly problem-solve, and/or work hard toward a difficult goal. The technology that we have at our disposal has caused us to become codependent on it and on each other--which, in turn, has made us experts at communicating with ourselves... about nothing.

Quite a dreary picture. Also, kind of a funny one. Because the guy who is writing it is constantly on the defensive (not wanting to sound like an old grandpa: "back in my day...") and those of us in that generation are on the defensive (if we can put down our video games, blackberrys, and stop typing mercilessly on our blogs) so as to not sound like mindless drivelers.

I'll let you know how the book turns out, but for now, I'd probably say that he is pretty right on. Young people are wasting droves of time, forgetting how to read books (maybe he thought we wouldn't even pick this one up), not learning how to work hard, unable to have a real face-to-face conversation, and trying their best to do the minimum amount required.

Instead of being the tool it was promised to be, technology has become our crutch (try to leave home without your mobile or not connect to the Internet for even half a day)... we'll see what happens. It certainly is a scary new world.