Emojis

[Bill Spight]

I am reminded of this XKCD:

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So true!

[Bill Spight]

Having read numerous non-fictional books, I've often wonder how many ideas have really stuck in my head and how deep the thoughts were evolving about these ideas, with respect to the time invested into reading the words conveying them.

"Reading rots the brain."
-- Schopenhauer

[hyperpape]

The younger generations (I'm no longer sure whether I fall in their ranks or not) are much more illiterate, uncivil and uncultured than their elders. Where they shine is in not believing self-serving myths about how their generation is the best. But give them time. Eventually they'll be old and will start posting crap on the forums.

Why we can't discuss such issues without some younger person deeming it a personal attack on them is beyond me. I believe that you mean "The Greatest Generation"--coined by Tom Brokaw to describe the people who fought during World War II, fathered the baby boom, and became the "silent majority" under Nixon. I'm closer to the hippie generation--we invented make love, not war. Of course, once in power many former toker/pokers seem to have succumbed to the dark side.

A personal attack? I don't consider it one. My mother used to work as a copy editor, and for a few years she marked up all the errors in my essays before I turned them in. As a result, I have passable grasp of written language, though I do overuse commas, especially if I don't stop to edit my writing. I'm also a few years too old to use text speak: I use periods and complete sentences even texting (but my elders don't: http://xkcd.com/1083/).

What I object to is, to repeat myself, the ahistorical and self-serving character of the comments (see Herman's post for some evidence). There's no definitive way to settle the issue, but for every anecdote or trend you cite, I could offer an opposite one. Did you know that teen pregnancy is at its all-time low?

Again, give it time. Someday, the kid who is sitting around listening to "dubstep" will be posting on a message board about how the kids these days have no respect or sense. And just like today, it will be bullshit (in the technical sense).

Let me leave you with something amazing and fun.

[Knotwilg]

I'm sure that youth adapts better to the challenges of its time than elders, in all times.
I'm also quite sure that the art of full sentence writing in proper grammar and spelling is one that elders are generally better skilled at. This is mostly because that art shows a diminishing value in our times.
Youngers are impressively better at making videos or multitasking (aka not paying attention), for example.

Progress is not linear. Some virtues and skills may have to come back.

[Aidoneus]

A personal attack? I don't consider it one.

No? It seemed like it to me after you introduced a defense of younger generations. The discussion concerned the societal changes that have been driving weaker students into colleges, not how much better the top students used to be in some glorious past. I suggested that the trend of pushing to enroll everyone into college has met with so much success primarily owing to the loss of middle class manufacturing jobs. I knew many kids at my school who went straight into the steel mills during the 1960s. (Of course, many others had musical, athletic, or some other talent that they pursued.) Since the mid-1970s, U.S. Steel Gary Works, for example, produces just as much steel but with one-tenth the workforce. I don't think that I am an elitist. I do think that those who insist that everyone should try to get a college degree are misguided, at best, or simply shills for the for-profit colleges that have sprung up across the U.S. (Edit: See this WSJ article for changing employment: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/how-americ ... /?mod=e2fb)

As for how much better, or maybe more civil, public discourse was in America's golden past, I would refer an interested reader to Richard Rosenfeld's American Aurora. American Aurora is a reprint of substantial portions of the Philadelphia Aurora newspaper, which was published from 1794 through 1824 by Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache (d. 1798), and William Duane. Even the most casual perusal will dissuade the reader of any image they may harbor of polite "drawing room" mild discord among the general voting population. In my opinion, reading this old newspaper will do more for understanding the political battle between Adams and Jefferson than any 10 academic tomes put together.