The end of America's intellectual legacy?

books:


	• The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't ... Mark Bauerlein Tarcher, 2008 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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Here's Generation D's Failing Report Card

[Fred Allen, radio/TV comedian of the 50s, once "predicted" that the then mass of new TV-watchers would eventually have "brains the size of peas and eyeballs the size of cantelopes" if they didn't get the excesses of the"vast wasteland" (words of then FCC Chairman, Newton Minnow) -watching under control. Well...] Seems we just may have reached the point Allen had in mind, our having fostered a generation who's life is routinely about being glued to all kinds of electronic screens...not to mention getting musically iWired, making big money, looking good and having fun

Nevermind brain-power enhancement. For youngsters, gaining knowledge, writing, shaping values, and just plain reading are not the "cool" things to do these days.

--Or so author and university English professor Mark Bauerlein claims. Risking minor wrath of 12-to-29-year-olds by describing their lifestyles as mind-dulling and narrow, he describes a youthful way of life that's devoid of the curiosities of even everyday learning. --But lest the reader be fooled that this is a book repleat with armchair opinion, here's one bold, serious effort that takes on a generation in need of a mind-set overhaul, a generation unashamed of its open apathy toward reading and learning --and what it means for all of us. The book makes its point relying on a myriad of convincing references, results, and conclusions from studies, surveys by reputable academic think tanks, associations, ed boards, conferences and committees.

In fact, sometimes the read gets a little dry with all the numbers, percentages, comparisons, charts, quotes and definitions offered. Indeed, The Dumbest Generation [the book, that is] is not a loose work designed to lampoon a vulnerable, younger people. Quite the opposite, it's an up-close examination of the relationship between lack of learning and disdain for reading...and a resulting dismal future for our democracy. At first, this sounds like a stretch, but Bauerlein is a credible voice and does a good job showing we've got a problem on our hands: a generation of very capable youth...that openly rejects the past, rejects authority and mentors, rejects schoolwork...only to fill the void with over-abundant screen-watching, never-ending peer contact, time-consuming jobs, and dreaming about/planning for hefty future incomes.

We find out our "kids" know little about math, tradition, history, philpsophy, art, current events, science, the world around them...and, says Bauerline, we're going to pay for it. He claims the low levels of general knowledge comes from too much time spent in self-serving, ego- boosting activities...like texting & iPoding & watching TV, web surfing, playing video games, and more. The author claims "Generation D," shall we say, reads little, spells poorly and writes even worse....and doesn't much care about the difficiencies.

He takes no cheap shots. Bauerlein drills into nobody and affixes little blame but does make a sound case, outlining how too much Internet and too little reading have lead to poor general knowledge, which ultimately results in the demise of a democracy. [Appropriately, he includes a good reference to Jefferson and his comments about "a literate electorate...."]Our author puts his research of "how it is" out for all of us to think about...as he concludes that declining values, a reduced quality of life and crumbling political process are in store.

Unfortunately, the book falls short in making no clear connection between youth's passion for electronic gear and fun-time...and the the multinational corporations' infatuation with youth's cash. That marketeers expect billion$ and billion$ from this group annually is no small point, and "getting smarter" almost Requires the rejection of (at least some of) the hip, modern, "cool" electronic toys the 12-to-29ers infectiously require. ["I couldn't live without my cell phone," laments one of The Generation's respondents in the book.] We get only passing notes on the enormous pressures put on them to buy. Bauerline might
have shown some cause and effect. Why not here and now address the relationship between pandering companies and low achievement? As there's, apparently, no money in getting smarter these days, Bauerline passes up a perfectly good opportunity to briefly clarify...even though up front he tells us that the scope of this book is limited and would not include
such examinations.

So, the Internet's the culprit in all this window-watching the young generation's "into"? --Hard to disagree, especially when we see so much of youth culture forever plugged-in, on-line, and checked-out. An important, laudable work...yet the author is apt to make some mad --like middle school and university teachers who, he claims, have lost the responsibility for teaching kids to learn How To Learn --like some members of "Generation D" who (unfortunately) may criticize this laudable work as an personal affront instead of a blueprint for change. [--But, then again, they'd had to have Read The Book first....] Given that the intellibots of the "dumbest generation" are, in fact, great at mastering Web offerings, Blackberry and cell phone manipulation, and 40-level video-game challenges, 50s funnyman Fred Allen probably should have included: "...and thumbs the girth of tree stumps."

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The end of America's intellectual legacy?

"The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein is an unabashed and curmudgeonly critique of the poor intellectual habits of America's youth. A Professor of English at Emory University, Mr. Bauerlein takes aim at his many peers in the education establishment who have far too often pandered to students by promoting self-esteemism, arguing that what students need most is a reality check about their capabilities and shortcomings if they are to properly prepare themselves for success and self-fulfillment later in life. While this cour ageous book is destined to generate a great deal of controversary, it should also stimulate much-needed discussion about what might be done to ensure that America's intellectual legacy does not end but somehow carries on into the future.

Mr. Bauerlein provides ample evidence to support his thesis that the vast majority of today's youths are being dumbed-down by their immersion into a technologically-mediated frenzy of puerile peer group interactivity. Mr. Bauerlein believes that the seductiveness of pop culture and the allure of screen imagery serves to distract and impede study, demonstrating that student proficiencies in critical disciplines such as civics, math, science and engineering have descended to abysmal levels. The author contends that ignorance across a range of subjects has stifled critical thinking skills and threatens to shut down the pipeline of young intellectuals who may be capable of the kind of thoughtful discourse that is required to maintain a healthy democracy.

A great merit of the book is Mr. Bauerlein's debunking of the purported benefits of technology in enhancing the student learning experience. Mr. Bauerlein persuasively argues that mastery using gadgets such as cell phones, MP3 players, video games, Web browsers and the like may have some limited benefit pertaining to careerism but certainly not for the acquisition of knowledge. Revealing the failures of expensive technology initiatives to improve test scores, Mr. Bauerlein suggests that the majority of youths who navigate only within a narrowly-circumscribed universe of narcissistic social networking sites have only succeeded in isolating themselves from the cultural inheritance bequeathed to them by prior generations; precipitous declines in leisure reading, museum outings and other behavioral indicators lends credence to the author's concerns.

As we struggle to understand some of the reasons why our unprecedented access to information has thus far failed to lead us closer to enlightenment, we would do well to read Mr. Bauerlein's timely book.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

This shocking, lively exposure of the intellectual vacuity of today?s under thirty set reveals the disturbing and, ultimately, incontrovertible truth: cyberculture is turning us into a nation of know-nothings.

Can a nation continue to enjoy political and economic predominance if its citizens refuse to grow up?

For decades, concern has been brewing about the dumbed-down popular culture available to young people and the impact it has on their futures. At the dawn of the digital age, many believed they saw a hopeful answer: The Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and hyper-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children. The terms ?information superhighway? and ?knowledge economy? entered the lexicon, and we assumed that teens would use their knowledge and understanding of technology to set themselves apart as the vanguards of this new digital era.

That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn?t happen. The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their verbal skills has had the opposite effect. According to recent reports, most young people in the United States do not read literature, visit museums, or vote. They cannot explain basic scientific methods, recount basic American history, name their local political representatives, or locate Iraq or Israel on a map. The Dumbest Generation is a startling examination of the intellectual life of young adults and a timely warning of its consequences for American culture and democracy.

Drawing upon exhaustive research, personal anecdotes, and historical and social analysis, Mark Bauerline presents an uncompromisingly realistic portrait of the young American mind at this critical juncture, and lays out a compelling vision of how we might address its deficiencies.

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