In the Frontline program “Digital Nation,” the writers talked about how new media and technology is causing the younger generation to become more reliant on their multi-tasking abilities. Everyone always has their Facebook on or their cell phone right next to them while they’re in class or writing a paper. They’re always afraid of missing some kind of “important” social interaction. But as the video says, even though multi-tasking is efficient it does not always lead to quality work. I know that I am one of the many college students plagued by that problem. Students are constantly looking for excuses to take a break from their work. I guess we’ve become more dependent on the idea of instant gratification. Write one paragraph for an essay and then reward ourselves with an hour on Tumblr. As a result, our ideas aren’t cohesive in the long run.
One of the speakers mentioned the idea that today’s generation might be (actually, he states that today’s generation is) getting dumber. It seems like an unfair observation. How does one measure intelligence? Is it based on one’s ability to learn or is it based on one’s ability to display his or her knowledge? Intelligence can’t be measured by grades either. Sure, new media is decreasing this generation’s motivation to learn. As one of the kids said, no one needs to actually read Hamlet these days. He or she can just merely use Sparknotes to find a summary of the play. Just because a student chooses to take a shorter, more efficient approach doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is dumb (although a case can be made for the boy who said that he would read Hamlet if there were 27 hours in a day).
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