In Terms of a Collective Debate

When I first read about the book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupifies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, written by Mark Bauerlein, a professor at Emory University, I thought it sounded like a perfect complement to Last Child in the Woods, the book I loved so much last summer by Richard Louv. Last Child in the Woods maintains that one of the big reasons that children are losing their connection with nature is because of their increased obsession with, and reliance on, computers and technology. As a result, many negative things are occurring, including their loss of a "360-degree awareness" of the physical world.

After reading The Dumbest Generation, I would add that this obsession, specifically with computer-based social marketing (which studies show "dumbs down" teenager's vocabulary and virtually eliminates time spent reading books), results in a dramatic drop-off of 360-degree intellectual awareness. According to research Bauerlein cites, the current coming-of-age generation has severe limitations in their knowledge of history, literature, art, civics, philosophy and politics. He is particularly concerned that this lack of any cultural or historical perspective is producing citizens ill-equipped to lead a democracy.

I called Professor Bauerlein to discuss this book in more detail. I was particularly interested in knowing if the new generation represents a paradigm shift that might, in fact, be good for our country. Perhaps faster, more elastic ways of thinking might provide this generation with a new surge of innovation (I'm a fan of fresh thinking). Professor Bauerlein indicated that research is not showing the positive effects that were predicted of computer use on student achievement. However, he considers culture wars to be a good thing for a democracy, with some people holding fast to the past and others advocating for change, leading to a balance.

"We need a plurality of opinions," he told me, "so that ideologies don't become too fixed. People should always think in terms of a collective debate."

The ability to have that collective debate, however, is being threatened. And why is revealed in what I consider to be the best part of this book. There's a whole section about the "Incidence of Rare Words" in various media. Apparently, there is a list of the 10,000 most common English words. Any word not on that list is considered rare. Various media expose readers or viewers to a certain number of rare words per 1000. The more rare words you encounter, the more your vocabularly grows. The fewer rare words, the more your vocabulary stagnates, and the less likely you are to engage with material that challenges you--an endless cycle.

Get this--adult TV has fewer rare words per 1000 than children's books. And kids, teens, and young adults are not reading. Some enormous percentage of them read nothing for pleasure in the last year. Not even a magazine article. In short, the more you allow your vocabulary to stagnate, the less likely you are to experience a plurality of opinions. And that, according to Bauerlein, leads to complacency.

And, let's face it, complacency is probably not a good thing for a democracy. And a language deficit that prevents our youngest adult citizens from being able to engage in a complicated discussion about issues of importance for our country is clearly an emerging problem.

Professor Bauerlein told me that, in the last twenty years of teaching, the big thing he has noticed is a major drop-off in vocabulary, not surprisingly, but also an increased inability for students to memorize things such as poetry. Today's students have a severely limited ability to recall information, perhaps because of their growing dependence on quick computer searches for facts-at-their-fingertips, and, in all fairness, probably also because of our country's current educational focus on short-term recall of facts that can be measured on a standardized test rather than on long-term learning and intellectual development.

Interestingly, just after finishing The Dumbest Generation, I saw that the current issue of The Atlantic has a cover article titled "Has Google Made Us Stoopid?" which adds a whole other level of discussion to this topic (and, for the record, The Atlantic has many, many "rare words" in it!)

And, before young adult readers of FoodShed Planet lambaste me, even though I'm a solid twenty years older than the age-range to which Bauerlein refers in this book, I (a relatively heavy computer user) plead guilty about some of the things he claims are problems with the younger generation. For instance, I found the book a little slow. I kept wanting sidebars, shorter chapters, bullets, wrap-ups at the end of chapters, things like that. It also took me forever to get through the book. Yes, I kept taking breaks to check my email, my Technorati score, my Feedburner and Adsense stats. Is that bad? Debatable.

After reading this book, I think it is time to add a few items to our list of Things Kids Need to Learn in Life (remember when we started that back in early May? This ever-expanding list has been influenced by numerous reader comments!):

* How to grow your own food (and how to store it)
* How to ride a bike
* How to swim
* How to take care of where you live
* General etiquette/manners (and awareness of how it differs across cultures)
* How to access resources (physical resources as well as information)
* Basic "earth skill" survival knowledge
* Basic self defense
* Basic car maintenance
* How to use a variety of tools
* How to earn, manage, invest and share money
* How to recognize and follow your passion
* How to navigate a mass transit system
* How government works, and what influences it, both now and historically
* How to be a good citizen
* How to continually challenge yourself to broaden your mind and not settle for complacency
* The first-hand experience of volunteering
* How to sit still for two hours and read a book
* How to ask questions and not just give answers
* The pride and joy of memorizing a beloved poem. My personal fave is The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, especially since I memorized it while hiking in the woods.

Any other thoughts on this list?