The Dumbest Generation Blog

In The Dumbest Generation? Don’t Be Dumb!, there are many points with which I agree and with which I do not. Although I am categorized as one of the Gen-Y’s, I do pay attention to the world around me, and I do know many things that I believe everyone should. I am astonished when my fellow classmates have never heard the name Leo Tolstoy or Nelson Mandela, or can’t tell me the dates of World War I, one of the most significant wars in history. I do agree with the fact that videogames improve hand-eye coordination and at times require problem-solving skills in order to pass a level or whatnot, although many do neither. However, I have a problem with the sense of dismissal I get from my classmates when basic knowledge or global issues are introduced into the conversation. I certainly hope that sooner or later they will begin to desire and understand the necessity for that knowledge, preferably the former. This article also ties in to our conversations about Ortega y Gasset’s On Studying. The underlying messages in his essay basically convey his ideas that studying is useless unless the person doing it has a need to know or understand whatever sort of information that they feel is important to their being. I’m not exactly sure about anyone else, but I absolutely love coming to school and learning new things everyday. The things my teachers explain and elaborate upon in daily lectures fascinates me, and the feeling of finally understanding something difficult or connecting something to another piece of knowledge is one of the best I can think of. I’ve always loved to learn, but more so in the past few years because I’m starting to get into topics that are really challenging and really make you think. Literature is one of the best places to explore new ideas and have your ideas challenged, and one of the places in which I found this to be true was in William James’ The Social Me. To think that you are nobody but who people perceive you as and that everyone only does what they do in order to fit into society was a very difficult idea for me to grasp. It challenged what I had been taught to think my entire life; the cliché phrases heard so often, like “you’re an individual” and “you’re special” were torn asunder in the excerpt of James’ writing. So far this year, I have noticed a huge difference in the way I see things, and I think most of it is due to having my ideas challenged. I hope there are more idea-filled pieces of literature to come next semester.