Changing Intelligence With The Generation

To designate a whole generation the dumbest generation is in the sight of numerous, a judgment that may misinterpret and undermine a large population. There are various aspects and viewpoints on this topic which all must be taught about prior to declaring nowadays generation the dumbest generation. Taking into deliberation the number of technological and societal proceeds from today to the past would be exponential. The innovation of the internet produces abundant resources for many. The digital age and the internet allow for today’s generation to incorporate the perspectives of others such as: societal issues, principal of specific subjects in school, and forbearance to read books. “For the young American, Life has never been so yielding, goods so plentiful, schooling so accessible, diversion so easy, and liberties so copious” (Bauerelein), in “The Dumbest Generation”, Bauerelein initiates today’s society at a loss of intellectual expertise. This could be true, the society still directs to recompense for losses by, “Changing from a nation of callused hands to a nation of agile brains” (Begley).

Digital age, technology and features of culture continues to advance to social media apps, internet and, most certainly smartphones. With inventions, “Young people acquire various forms of technical and media literacy by exploring new interests, tinkering, and “messing around” with new forms of media” (ITO ET AL ). ITO ET AL, alludes the case of young culture always altering, and conformity for culture to combine ideas and the scattering of ideas moving quickly. “Youth respect one another’s authority online, and they are often more motivated to learn from peers than from adults” (ITO ET AL), because youth perceive pressure from grown-ups at all time. The young-ones of this generation would more so collaborate together and unite against an opposing older generation because they feel that the old generation’s priorities do not line up with theirs. R. Smith Simpson complies with, “Ignorance of so elementary a subject as the geography of the U.S.”. With the extraordinary gesture of technological advancements like internet, fundamental subjects are at a push of a button and gives space to areas of education.

Nowadays generation gets a greater influx of technology and such problem would be how technology, “Supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought” (Carr). A study “Your Brains On Video Games” by Steven Johnson, addresses video games and implicit their effects on the brain. For the reason that, video games demand multi-tasking, “Playing the game is a nonstop balancing act: sending one character off to work, cleaning the kitchen with another, searching through the classifieds for work with another” (Jonhson), the cerebrum works constantly and there isn’t time to focus on single things. This ties up on how previous generations would suppose that the younger generation is dumb, because they would not be allowed to consistently read or remeber previous information from such xas history, etc at the rates that the older generations would. Concentration changes significantly when a younger person is multi-tasking.

How one perceive intelligence or a person measuring intelligence is taken into consideration when proving one being “dumb”. “But if dumb means lacking such fundimental cognitive capacities as the ability to think critically and logically, to analyze an argument, to learn and remember, to see analogies, to distinguish fact from opinion..well, here Bauerlein is on shakier ground” (Begley), he elaborates on new generations changing because of choice they consider taking and the differences between all the generations. Studies show that, “IQ scores in every country that measures them, including the United States, have been rising since the 1930s” (Begley), which supports the claim that intelligence in the young generation is growing but not accepted by the older generation.

However, today’s generation can claim higher IQ levels and improvements in the capability of multi-tasking, a few factors remain that the generation now needs but lacks. Such things like, “Knowledge and skills haven’t kept pace, and the intellectual habits that complement them are slipping” (Bauerlien), as he addresses the problem of the generation now losing fundamental habits like reading and focusing in thought to succeed. With the digital age, children are learning through computers instead of reading books which leads to the trait of impotence. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, reveals the cons of digital age and provides personal anecdotes like, “Once I was a Scuba diver in the sea of words. “Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet-ski” (Carr), to prove the effect the digital age has on reader like him. Reading creates a relationship between the reader and book, although technology does not develop a relationship between both.

Regardless of the differences, humans continue to sprout and evolve. There was a time when humans did not like reading but would have rather passed down stories verbally. Now technology paves its way into an adapted part of human life. With advancements of technology and growth of digital age the older generation misjudges the intelligence of the new generation. With the digital age, there is a slim chance that the human race’s intelligence will plateau, but rather beginning exponential growth of intelligence never seen before in history.

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