'Dumbest Generation?' Readers beg to differ
Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein aimed to provoke with his new book, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future.'' And judging by more than 1,200 emails and discussion board posts on Boston.com and Digg in response to a weekend slideshow on the topic, Bauerlein certainly succeeded.
Many readers took exception to his hypothesis that people under 30 don't read books as much as their forbears. Or spell well. Or know much about current affairs.
"I'm not dumb,'' wrote Zach, who said he was a teen who finished second in his school's Spelling Bee. "Maybe my parents were when they were young, but I am not. I refuse to believe that most kids are like this, and if they are, maybe it is because their parents are not good parents.''
Other readers said elders are to blame for budget imbalances that imperil their generation, the war in Iraq, and the election of unpopular leaders.
''Calling my generation the dumbest is the same generation that went to Woodstock and smoked weed and did acid,'' wrote Westfield Dan. "Do you honestly think the generation before them didn't see a problem with that? The gas station down the street is full of 40- to 55-year-old men and women who can't do simple math, either.''
"At 25 years old, I am employed by a non-profit transit policy organization trying desperately to correct the foolish mistakes of previous generations,'' writes Benjamin Lowe. "I was born into a country that has allowed sprawling, suburban no-places to devour our open space, drain our resources, and force our country to become hopelessly addicted to oil, and I now spend my career in a bid to undo the damage older, 'wiser' Americans have done to the country I will spend another five or six decades living in.''
Reader cgerv added: "I hope young people band together and fire all of the old people and vote out their Social Security.''
Others wrote in support of Bauerlein, and backed -- sometimes sincerely, sometimes in a tongue-in-cheek manner -- his hypothesis.
"If, like me, you are over 40, you should be glad the next generation is bad at math,'' wrote cccox. "They will keep paying into Social Security and we might actually get some of that gravy.''
Reached Monday afternoon in California, Bauerlein, 49, was unbowed at the online fuss.
"Anger over my allegations is a good thing,'' he said, "because it shows they care. To feel shame is a recognition that you have intellectual standards that you want to meet.''
Bauerlein will have a question-and-answer session with Boston.com readers at noon on Wednesday. You can ask him a question here for that chat.
