Mark Bauerlein, the author of The Dumbest Generation is kind of an ass. Sorry. His whole book was a criticism of generation Y and how they are the dumbest generation. His writing style is this. Fact. Fact. Fact. Generation Y is dumb. Fact. Fact. Generation Y is REALLY dumb. Although his argument came off strong and was incredibly clear, he didn't leave much room for analysis and didn't explain why these facts were of any importance. Bauerlein is often incredibly dramatic in his predictions and over all assumptions. He thinks that just because our generation spends time on the internet that our whole world is gonna go down the toilet and basically, we are going to be the reason for the world ending.
I did not particularly enjoy his book. Although there were a few moments of "Yeah I guess I agree with him" as a whole I did not find this book to be incredibly effective. Spewing out facts at a reader makes for a really boring book. If Bauerlein had thrown in a few anecdotes or personal stories it would have made his argument a lot more effective. Although his statistics are probably true, I felt like they were often times taken out of context. Since this is a book based on argument, Bauerlein had to be biased but to me he was too biased (if that's possible).
I don't know the quote exactly, but Hana Kassem brought up this one quote by Aristotle or Socrates or some ancient smart guy who basically insulting the generation that is younger than him. That is what Bauerlein was doing. Everybody is going to think that the generation that comes after them is a mess and doesn't know what the hell is going and will ruin society. I'm sure I will think that when my kids are young but that is a part of growing up. So, this proves that the argument that Bauerlein is presenting is old news. Everybody is worried that the young kids are going to screw up the world and if they do well, shit. It's a good thing that I won't be alive to see it. The world is evolving and we have to shape ourselves to fit this world. So, sorry Baurlein if I don't go to the library every single night to get a book. Lucky for me, I can download it on my Kindle.
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