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The Spectator
The Dumbest Lecture
Bauerlein fails to impress Millenial Generation
by Patrick Landers '12Opinion writer
October 09, 2009
This week, Emory University Professor of English Mark Bauerlein discussed his recently published book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30), and his thesis regarding the "Millennial Generation," who grew up with the growth of the Internet and new media. On his website he contends that, contrary to earlier, rosier predictions, "the technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes and improve their minds had the opposite effect." Besides introducing his arguments, the lecture demonstrated how even a scholar like Bauerlein can engage in poor academic inquiry just to "prove" a desirable hypothesis. It also hopefully reminded listeners that it would be foolish to simply disregard ideas and theories because the initial analysis was deeply flawed.
As a published author on the topic, Bauerlein should be able to demonstrate mastery of the subject matter. Unfortunately, his poor responses to basic audience questions during the Q&A portion of the lecture left me wondering about the underlying academic caliber of Bauerlein's thesis and work.
The Dumbest Generation's assertion that today's young people are less educated than previous generations about U.S. history and civics needs to be supported by evidence. Alfred Kelly, Edgar B. Graves professor of history, revealed this when he asked the first questions of the night. Bauerlein's responses showed that the supporting evidence for this supposed decline in knowledge is non-existent before the 1950s and limited afterward. Even if this decline was found to have occurred only after the expansion of the Internet and new media, it would still prove nothing.
The lecture never provided an empirical basis for how new technologies and their effects actually caused the Millennial generation's intellectual decline. I'm sure that if Bauerlein had this proof he would have mentioned it. The audience concluded that while Bauerlein may be right, he has failed to prove that today's youth are less informed than previous generations due to our integration with the Internet.
However, Bauerlein may still be correct that today's youth lack basic skills and knowledge that are essential to being an informed citizen in a democracy. The country would probably benefit from an increased emphasis on fundamentals. Associate Professor of Art History Steve Goldberg discussed how the Internet and new media have altered society and our generation in other dramatic ways. There is considerable research in this area, and Bauerlein discussed some of these developments.
Although Bauerlein's lecture may have been underwhelming as a result of his inability to prove his arguments, history may look upon The Dumbest Generation as being very prescient. His ideas serve as a good starting point for better research and renewed debate about the ubiquitous internet and media use and the future of the U.S. education system.