The annual Beloit College (it's in Wisconsin) list of truisms for every college freshman who will leave college in four years, is out and again makes me feel out of touch and "old". I have attached it so you can have the same useless feeling as I. Some of the items are astounding...starting with number one. That one says most college freshman can't write in cursive! And people blame me for ranting about the addiction and mind numbing technology today. That one item itself gives cause for reflection.
The purpose of the list is to show how their culture is different from ours ("ours" includes even being those even a mere 10 years older), and to show how quickly culture changes today. No wonder we live in a throw away culture. What we are presented with hardly lasts long enough to be recognized. This brings to mind the idea of comparing cultures to determine if this one is better or worse than previous. of course, it can not be examined that way, for each generation sees its own values as more appropriate to others.
If ever one need to define what the old "generation gap" phrase of the 60's meant, he or she need only read this list. And there is no way of slowing down the pace of change in a culture. Technology has made change naturally faster and more severe today. I am sure a list such as the Beloit one, if published in the year 1850 would be pointless. One would have to search many generations prior to 1850 to find even a hint of cultural difference from the 1850 generation.
Oh well, as Heraclitus once wrote, "There is nothing permanent except change."
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