(no subject)

[clayhornik]

The evolution of text messages has spawned a shorthand vocabulary of abbreviations and phonetic words that are showing up in homework and reports at schools here and nationwide.

I am a grumpy old man and firmly believe that today's youngsters are less intelligent than previous generations despite the greater availability of information... and they keep proving me right.

Comments

[francis-clay.livejournal.com]

www=six syllables.
world wide web=three syllables

[(Anonymous)]

...and what annoys me are the people who used the yata, yata, yata or bla, bla, bla instead of using the words to finish a statement. Someone is going to figure out how to say those shortcuts used on the internet, then where will we be, English as a foreign language.

[francis-clay.livejournal.com]

Don't make me smack you with my cane.

On behalf of said youngsters....

[faeshale.livejournal.com]

Does good grammar really denote intelligence, or just a stronger knack for following guidelines?

Don't get me wrong, I'm as unhappy with the disregard for cohesive use of language as you are, but for different reasons. I feel the language is disintegrating, but not the minds of the people who use it. My generation is lacking in a lot of things, including social graces, patience and the capacity to memorize long passages from classical works of literature, but we seem to be making up for it with the ability to get to the point, to make philosophy an instinct instead of an act of hard labor, and to make use of the internet as an external memory. Yes, there is more information. It's also conveniently located so that we don't have to memorize it to use it.

That we're less intelligent is an illusion brought about by time-blindness. You weren't smarter. Just more internal.

Re: On behalf of said youngsters....

[francis-clay.livejournal.com]

I suppose I should take it on a case by case basis. But collectively, it's a generation that venerates Paris Hilton.

And "to make philosophy an instinct instead of an act of hard labor"? Interesting statement. But what does it mean exactly?

It's funny. I've commented in my journal in the past on my over-reliance on the internet over my personal memory. I saw the necessity to look things up over knowing it myself as a weakness.
--
And yes, my generation venerated Kurt Cobain, and we all saw how that worked out.

On behalf of said youngsters....redux...

[faeshale.livejournal.com]

Yes, on behalf of we young 'uns, I'd like to personally apologize for the existence of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and every member of every boy band. These are mistakes we will never live down.

As for the instinctual philosophy, maybe that one's just me, but I'm convinced that most of the philosophical schools of thought are really just belaboring whichever point they're trying to make. Thing is, if you explain something to someone my age, they won't be unable to "get it". More often than not, they really just won't care. It's not ignorance, it's apathy.

Actually, I think it's possible I just explained the single biggest problem my demographic (I got tired of saying 'generation') has. It's not hard to make us get something. It's really difficult getting people my age to give a damn. I think that's scarier than being stupid, don't you?