"People refresh Twitter as mindlessly as they twirl their hair"...and that's a problem

I think one thing we need to be careful of in our high tech world is the misconception that people want to be updated on our every action, no matter how completely mundane.

No one cares what you had for breakfast, that you hate your job, or that you are sitting at home bored.

And private conversations, with inside jokes, are not funny to the rest of the world... Tell us the whole story!

Uhh... when's the reassesment on this?

In my opinion, the philosophy behind standards based education is an issue that has an effect not only on our generation, but our entire society.  I think that theoretically it is a valid plan; we should be assessed on intellectual ability rather than homework and handwriting, right? Teachers should not revere the girl with perfect penmanship for mediocre work, while disregarding the brilliant boy who scribbles his thoughts down as hieroglyphics on scratch paper.

But standards based education is having negative effects on some students. Presentation DOES matter in the real world!  Your boss/client/whatever is not going to be happy with your amazing ideas if they are thrown together in a half assed way.  

In our educational system, doing it right the first time is way undervalued.  Why should we stay up all night studying for a test or writing a paper when we know that if we mess up the first time, we have another chance, and then another to get it right? For example, I’m having a hard time coming up with an ending to this blog, but that’s okay ‘cause I’ll do better on the next one.

Promoting Equality

This post may be uncharacteristic of this blog, but I think it is necessary to point out one of the greatest strengths our generation has.

The majority of us are very accepting of racial, cultural and personal differences. Progression towards an equal world is being made thanks to a change in ideals, as well as advancements in technology. This fact was highlighted by the large amount of support for equal marriage on Facebook this past week.

Lena Dunham

I recently discovered Lena Dunham, a writer/director who may be the voice of our generation... Her independent film, Tiny Furniture caught the eye of producer Judd Apatow which led to the HBO series, Girls. Dunham offers a fresh perspective on the issues that are unique to people our age. The characters come across in a realistic way.  Each episode touches on some insecurity or peculiarity that makes it super relatable. The characters will remind you of either yourself or someone you know. I will probably make references to or link to episodes of this show in later posts. If you haven't seen it, click the link below to watch the season 2 trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6eKTTJu0JA

Photo Ops!

Gone are the days when it took four rolls of film to get one good picture of yourself. Twenty years ago, you had to take your film to a darkroom. You would pay to have pictures developed and then end up discarding half of them that you didn’t like. With digital photography it is possible to snap and delete until we get the perfect photo. This technology has expanded our ability to take amazing pictures, but unfortunately it has produced a massive amount of amatuer photographers who “specialize” in self-portraits. People literally take hundreds of pictures of themselves in only slightly varied “poses” usually in front of mirrors.

If you want to spend your time this way, that’s okay. I can see trying to get that perfect shot, the one that is going to be different than all the rest. But then do you have to post ALL HUNDRED on facebook?

Now, we can all probably concede that 90% of the time spent on facebook is wasted, but not even the most diehard junkie is going to scroll through 100 mirror pictures of someone else... so why post them? Who do they think is looking at them besides stalkers? The posting of multiple photographs that are basically the same person in the same pose defeats the original purpose of digital photography.
To end this, I would like to point out that there is something worse. If you insist on posting so many pictures of yourself, don’t touch them up or edit them to make yourself look like a supermodel. We all know what you really look like, because we see you every day.

The Age of the Indigo

The indigo child is brilliant, fearless, intuitive and most importantly self-empowered. They are not afraid to express their opinion and when doubted, profess their superiority.

The “indigo child” is a euphemism for a SPOILED BRAT! And if we look at ourselves closely enough, we will find that this describes most of us to one degree or another.

80% of us are indigo children! Remarkable, isn’t it? How is it that our generation, so much more enlightened than previous ones, is not smart enough to realize that we still have a lot to learn?

It’s not our fault! It’s the way we’ve been raised. It wasn’t that long ago that common child-rearing wisdom was that we were to be “seen and not heard”. Forward thinking psychologists say we deserve to be raised in an environment of love. Praise us for what we do right, and if we do it wrong, say, “how have we, as parents, teachers, etc... failed you?

Again, it’s not our fault! In fact nothing is EVER our fault. And we always deserve a second, third and fourth chance. ..

Our generation is coddled and I think we would be much better off if more was expected of us.

I say we end the Indigo Era and bring back the Tiger Moms! Watch this Jon Stewart clip to see if you agree.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-26-2011/tiger-mothering

Reclusive Socializing

In my previous post, I may have given off a negative impression of texting. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this form of communication!

I am what you might call socially inept. I have always harbored an unusual amount of anxiety when it came to interacting with others face to face. There is so much that can go wrong!

You might say the wrong thing without thinking first, or even worse, you might spend too much time thinking of what the right thing is to say which creates those awkward silences. If you don’t know what to say when texting, you can always just say lol or put a smiley face. Imagine just standing there smiling in person, and it’s creepy.

Sometimes people look right at you when they talk to you which is very unnerving. Then you don’t know where to look. Sending a text requires no eye contact- a definite plus.

One of the criticisms of our generation is our lack of interpersonal skills as a result of texting. I don’t really know how to respond to that... other than...:)