12) Artificial "Intelligence"

There used to be a segment on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, called Jaywalking, in which Leno would walk around L.A., interviewing people and asking them basic questions anyone should know the answer to. The humor came from the fact that 20 and 30 year-olds could not tell the audience how many stars were on the American flag, state the first amendment, or who invented the telephone. Of course I understand it's humor, and not a good representation of the average American. But this introduced something else in my mind.

After reading and gutting The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or Don't trust Anyone Under 30) by Mark Bauerlein, I have come to the decision that the title is exactly what it suggests: the newer generation is stupider than the previous. And there is little we can do about it.

Granted, this most likely makes the publishing of the book completely pointless (Which makes him the ultimate idiot), but I understand what he is so paranoid about.

This is the basic premise: the technology age has provided enough opportunities for students to devote themselves to everything else than what matters: an interest in learning.

No student reads Machiavelli's The Prince even though its online. They skim it. And they sure as hell do not read it for leisure.

Let me level with you. As a student, I disagree with Bauerlin because I don't see the advantage of going to school past the 8th grade. I don't understand why I'm going to learn so many things I will never use in my lifetime. The plot of The Cather In The Rye does not help you do the taxes. It doesn't help you get a job. It doesn't pop back up when you are 35 and are working in a cubicle, where reciting its plot details gets you a promotion.

When you hand in your resume, they will ask you whether or not you know how to use Microsoft Word. Not whether you know the British commander at the Battle of Yorktown.

I'm not saying this is to apply in all situations. I'm saying that students learn things they have no interest in learning, and will do nothing for them should the distinct opportunity arise. They simply go online and do a simple copy and paste for assignments in school. They skim passages like you are doing now. Nobody learns anything permanent when they pick up the backpack and leave the door.

Of course I know why. It's much more important to be accepted by your friends when you know more about an American Idol judge rather than a Supreme Court judge. It's more important to update your Facebook page than to read the news. That's just where society has gone.

Is it a bad thing? That's not really for me to decide.

All I really know is that the British commander at Yorktown was George Cornwallis.