"The Dumbest Generation? Don't Be Dumb." Current Event 5-30-08

This article discusses the fact that many high school graduates are ignorant of much of the United State’s history. For example many didn't know who America's ally was in WWII. (Soviet Union). Nor did they know things like, "What is the largest lake in North America?" (Lake Superior). All these facts are evidence that is brought up in a recently published book by a man named Mark Bauerlein, the book is called "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future." As stated in the title this book discusses the idea that technology is making people dumber and it's retracting them from more important things (studying Vietnam war, Iraq etc.) This has sparked some relatively heated debate because according to some studies video games and this new emphasis on multitasking actually can be beneficial to the brain. It is said that video gaming can teach problem solving techniques, it also teaches them how to deal with many specific calculation that they normally would hate to see in class. In other words, with video gaming they get to learn in a new fun way. Games also can teach cause and effect for example they mention the SimCity game taught a young seven year old that" high tax rates in a city's industrial zone can deter manufacturers from relocating there." It is very impressive that a seven year old can come up with conclusions like that from gaming. A final argument that is made in this article is that judging a generation before it is 30 is just absurd.