The Dumbest Generation? Really, Mark Bauers?
October 22, 2009, 1:07 pm
Are you younger than 30? Do you enjoy the luxuries of technology? If so, you are ruining the world as we know it. At least, that's what author and English Professor at Emory University, Mark Bauer would like you to think. A couple of months ago, at my local Barnes & Noble, while prowling for some helpful programming literature, in the same section, a certain book caught my eye. The title? 'The Dumbest Generation: How The Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (or Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)'.
Wow. All that it takes to be grossly offended by this writing is to read the title, but I wanted to at least give a benefit of the doubt and read the synopsis.
Holy hell, it only flew downhill from there. Bauer asserts that the technology that was promised to enrich our youth and turn them into super-geniuses has backfired and turned us into a group of egotistical retards too consumed in our online popularity to pick up a book. He goes on to say that when there is an avenue for absolutely everybody to express their opinions, there is a problem. To a certain extent, he has a point. People that don't need a podium to spread their opinion diarrhea can be found: here, here, and here. And yes, most of the world does not care that my facebook status or my twitter feed indicate that I am currently 'Eating the best ham and cheese sandwich in the world, OMG you guys!' But surprisingly, a couple of people do. Mark Bauer incorrectly suggests that your typical social network user thinks that they are some sort of celebrity, fruitlessly sending their message for the whole world to see. Outside of bloggers, your average networker's 'audience' are friends, family, and people they have created a connections of sorts due to common interests.
What is really the most bothersome about Bauer's opinions is that he just seems to refuse to see the good in any of these new communication methods. During the despicable acts following the 2009 Iranian election, Twitter users ensured that the brutality didn't go unnoticed. Digg uses the ego stroking Bauer accuses social networks of causing to an advantage by allowing users to share news with each other, often times these are important issues not covered by traditional media. Social networking turned Barrack Obama from a little-known Senator into the victor of the 2008 presidential election. And who made the deciding votes? People under 30, and I would say that they made the most non-dumb choice at hand. Even 4chan's 'b' page, the absolute bottom-feeder of internet intellect, the birthplace of countless mindless memes, (and a guilty pleasure of mine), use their dirty deeds for good to bring social justice to pedophiles, corrupt organizations, and other online criminals.
But how do I feel? Do I think that there is anything wrong with social media? Short answer: YES. My problem with social media, and the internet in general is that there are a lot more users than creators, and a lot of creators are monopolizing by convincing their users that they, themselves, are creators. People add some CSS changes to their myspace page, relentlessly update facebook, follow indiscriminately on twitter, and while they are contributing to the networks, there aren't enough people with the drive to build their own networks that could be more useful. Blogging is a fantastic source of creation, but even in this world, the vast majority are simply users. They are using blogging software and plugins that do the intellectual work for them. Is this really a catastrophe though? Absolutely not. It's certainly nowhere near as criminal as Mark Bauer would like for us to believe.
It is important to point out, but I did not, nor will I ever read 'The Dumbest Generation'. My opinions on Bauer's ideas are based on judging a book by it's cover, interviews I have watched/read, and the book's promotional website. Does this prove Bauer's theory of the aliteracy our youth faces? You could argue that it does, but I don't have to read an Ann Coulter book to know that I hate her ideas. What I find to be truly ironic is that as a technology enthusiest/writer and avid social networking user, I found this book in the non-fiction section of a bookstore while looking for books that teach the reader how to use modern technology in intelligent ways. It was sitting right next to O'Reilly's Web Database Applications book. Let that one soak in...
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