So far this weekend I've had three debates with some of my older family members and friends about how my generation is different from the past two or three generations, and how the Internet has affected society (makes for some interesting dinner conversation.)
The overall opinion from most of these older folk about us teenagers these days is that most of us have a mentality centered around "instant gratification"- that the speed at which we can now access all sorts of information has made us a lazy, ignorant bunch who doesn't appreciate working hard and studying hard.
I dunno if it's just the school I go to or the group of people I hang out with, but I'd beg to differ - our generation looks like it's growing up to be one of the most empowered, passionate people I've met. And the Internet {Facebook in particular} has been such an amazing platform for our ideas and opinions on so many things that it's hard to think of us as being uninvolved or ignorant on topics like politics or humanities. Now that we have access to worldwide news at the touch of an iPhone button, we can educate ourselves, and talk about our opinions, instead of growing up thinking that our parents' views are the only correct views.
All the messes our parents' generation is leaving us in - the economy, the environmental issue, the political disaster we find ourselves in - I strongly believe my generation will be the one to rise up to the challenge and solve our problems, because we're growing up with the technology and the power to influence change and bring innovative ideas to the global table.
Maybe I'm just a little too optimistic about the potential a bunch of college and high school kids have, but hey, if we're not the smartest generation, we're definitely the most exciting.
There are my deep thoughts for the day, and put as eloquently as possible for a blog post written at 11:30 on a Sunday night :)
love,
nat
No comments:
Post a Comment