I found this article interesting that once more it is talking about twelve year olds in the year when I myself was about thirteen years old. Once more it is projecting what life will be like when people my age hit college, and I must say I was disappointed in how little hope this article seemed to portray for my own future, but at the same time I believe I have as little of hope in most of today’s young people (kids around the age of twelve).
When I first read this article I was displeased because yet again, this was another article saying that what my brain does on a daily basis is impossible, making me abnormal. It disproved the ability to multitask. I for one am a very gifted multi-tasker. And no I am not just saying I can listen to music while I study (which I can do no problem). I am saying that I can have three conversations at once. Granted only one of them is real and the others are just in my head, but still I find that to be pretty impressive.
As far as this article goes, it says that students no longer have the capacity to read full books. I can read an Edith Wharton novel while one of my “neighbors” is belting his guts out singing yet another Broadway show tune. I can fight to the death over whether or not I am allowed to eat on any given day while pouring through a book of poetry. I am far more capable than for what this article likes to give me credit.
Now I know my case is different. Most people my age do not struggle with this, but I am curious as to whether or not this article makes others feel slighted or overlooked.
The author makes us seem hopeless because she categorizes generations as either deep or hyper thinkers, where I believe that most people have skills to think in both ways, and employ one or the other depending on the situation. Like you, I am able to sit down and read for long periods (which might be a conditioned behavior since our academic interest necessitates it) as well as engage with multiple experiences like writing while listening to music and attending to social media.
It reminds me of the Why Johnny Can’t Write article–the analyst of the preceding generation can’t see the up and comers as capable in the same way they were because we are functioning in a different way, with different technologies and styles of learning and doing.
When I read the article I kept writing in the margins about how I was multitasking while reading this article, because as I read it I was watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix and having a conversation with my Grandma via text. And that’s how I usually do most of my work. I can’t just sit and do one thing, I have to take breaks or else I’d have a panic attack or a mental break down. Ironically as I write this I’m in a quiet office and have only stopped to sip my coffee. But I have never really been able to do homework or read without some sort of background noise.
I think this is due, in part, to my parents conditioning me early on to be able to sleep with background noise. Most parents want their child to be able to fall asleep in a noisy room, because they don’t want to be confined to their house during their newborn’s very full sleeping schedule.
I think maybe our generation has stepped this up a notch because we are a generation of having televisions in our bedrooms and so most of us are used to having this noise in the background when we sleep. And we are the generation of iPods so we are used to having this noise in the background when we walk or ride a bus or ride in a car, and this has probably transitioned to having background noise when we do anything.
I can very successfully focus on one task for a long period of time, but part of me also prefers not to. If there are people around me I am way too nosy to just focus on myself. I want to know who is walking by, who they’re talking to, what they’re saying, and so on. This does not help me with my work at all, but it lets me practice my spy skills which are also a form of concentration so really I’m probably an amazing concentrator.