I'd first like to start off by saying that I had never really thought of my generation before and how we look to other generations of people. When I really think about it, I could see people calling us "The Laziest Generation", "The Fattest Generation", or even "The Most Egotistical" generation. I hope we all can agree that, statistically, our generation fits all of these categories. We shop online, have food delivered, and even now have Netflix so we can watch whatever movie we want without leaving our couch. Nowadays we can buy a shirt, get chinese food, and watch "Saving Private Ryan", all without ever putting on pants. I think this proves that our generation is a pretty lazy one. Statistically, more people are overweight now than have ever been before. Finally, we have our cell phones hooked up to our laptops, which are always signed into our Facebooks, just in case John wants to poke you or send you a bumper sticker telling you how many bumper stickers he looked through to find the best one for you, because that just can't wait until you get home from work.
So while I do believe that our generation does have its downfalls, I do not think that "dumbest" belongs on that list. One reason that Mark Bauerlein, I'm going to call him Mark from here on out for sake of typing Bauerlein one more time, states that we are the dumbest generation is because, and I'm paraphrasing from the movie, "Digital culture doesn't open teenagers up to the rest of the world, it opens them up to other teenagers." I am going to have to disagree with this statement, to a point. Yes, it allows us to communicate with other people our age, but it also allows us to communicate with other people from across the county. It also includes more information than would ever be found in a book, including Mark's book. If I want to find a quote saying why people under 30 are dumb, I don't have to by Mark's book; I'll Google it. That doesn't make it "dumb". I believe it makes me "efficient". Also, digital culture, such as the internet, opens teenagers up to anything they want to know. The Smithsonian, many history websites, everything is at our fingertips. Now, Mark said that teenagers don't go to the more educational websites. I'd like to see some data on this point. I want to know how he knows for a fact that teenagers do not use those websites. I know that I have used some of these site to check on things that sparked my interest. How's that for dumb?
My next point comes from the group discussion that we had in class. On my drive home from class, I was thinking about the point that was brought up that our generation should know classical music. I was thinking about this, and what came to my mind is this: What makes classical music more important than any other type of music? Just because Mozart or Chopin directed a certain piece of music doesn't mean that it is more important or more noteworthy than any type of music. I know the music I like isn't the best either, but I also won't expect anyone 100 years from now to be able to recognize "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne. Music is not that important. Just because I don't know a song does not make me "dumb".