On Our Way to The Dumbest Generation.

After working out some technological difficulties I finally have access to post...on my own blog. So here's week three.

   As I approach the conclusion of Mark Bauerlein's The Dumbest Generation my opinion of my generation has not really changed. WE (notice I say we because I know I am of the guilty party) are far too concerned with connection. Our lives revolve around the latest app and update or who tweeted what. The amount of technology and the ability to research and study through technology is at an all time high, and growing, and we use it to post what we're eating for lunch. Throughout his book Bauerlein says our generation should be the greatest/most intelligent generation to ever walk the earth, to which I agree. If we have full access to information on anything and everything shouldn't know everything? Or at least know something. In chapter 5, the teaching style and level of difficulty are discussed. It seems as though America has lowered its academic standards in order to appease the current generation. Maybe not appease, but most definitely adapt. The average attention span is 15 minutes? So lessons are built around that idea, students can only handle so much learning. I personally think that's absolutely ridiculous. The reason the average attention span is now 15 minutes is because there's fifty other things going on to avert the attention.  As technology is incorporated into classrooms the attention span will continue to decrease. Like Bauerlein said earlier, we're obsessed with multitasking and technology that allows us to do so. We don't have a short attention span, we're preoccupied. Pull out the technology and you'd be surprised how long people could sit and listen.

Overall, I think Bauelein's assessment of our generation is accurate. We may not have been born the dumbest or least intelligent but we sure our making ourselves that way. Unless we find a way to do something about it, we very well could be the dumbest generation, ever. So go pick up a book and stop thinking you can do everything, because if you continue this way you won't do much of anything.