Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Was my generation given a specific purpose?

supersix2 · 02-04-2005, 11:22 PM

The first thing I'd like to do is start off with a little background about me. I was born in 1985. I have two great parents who aren't the most book smart people when it comes to science and math but they know there stuff (my dad a businessman and my mom a nurse). All throughout my life since I can really remember (my most lucid memories are from kindegarten and up) I have always been very interested and good at math and science. As of now I'm studying aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Ok so I was sitting in class today thinking about something. When I was growing up there were quite a few science and in general educational shows on TV. From the top of my head I can remember Mr. Wizard, Nova, Beakman's World, Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Magic School Bus, Wishbone, Reading Rainbow, Sesamee Street, and Mr. Roger's. I know there were atleast 1 or two more that I used to watch religously but I have long since forgotten thier names. I know they were on PBS. Anyway I would ALWAYS watch all of these shows just absorbing the information. It was these shows that made me realize my love for math, science, reading, and education. I value education beucase of these shows. Aside from NOVA all of these shows were geared toward's kids. They were entertaining yet informative and they made liking learning a good thing.

Fast foward to my days in highschool. I begin to develop friendships with people who have the same intellectual interests for me and we would always discuss how awesome those shows used to be.

Now most of my friends are studying other forms of engineering, or they are majoring in math, physics, education, pharmacy, computer science, and other like high tech fields.

I look at the programming geared toward's kids now and it is acutally appalling, there are almost no education shows, most of the shows are actually rather violent, and macbre in nature (all of those damn japanese cartoons and anime shows). Then I look at the kids who are around 8-10 years younger than me and I look at thier behaivor and even see how some of them are in school and its completely different than I remember my childhood to be. These kids are not nearly as mature as I remember my peers being at that age. From what I've see most of them don't value education as much as my peers did and the ones who do are outcasts. In my school the smart kids were also the popular and likeable kids. A lot of my college friends said the same things about thier schools. To me, the bulk of these kids that are half my age are just not on the same level as my generation. There is a drasitc difference in kids born in the 80's and kids born in the 90's.

There are so many other issues that I can go into as far as behaivor is concerned but I'm mainly focused on the fact that math and science seems to have been fed to me and others my age in a way that is not being done now. And that idea has got me thinking that maybe somehow my generation was being designed to be the new thinkers and innnovators. Or maybe I'm all wrong and its not that we were being made a certain way but that this new generation is being disadvantaged by today's system. Maybe our whole culture has changed so drastically that kids today are missing out on all the oppotunities I had.

I'm not in anyway bashing an entire group of kids because I know there are a lot of bright kids out there who are way smarter than I am. It just seems like they are being overshadowed by a much larger group of kids who are geared purely towards pop culture.

Has anyone else observed anything like this or am I just a ranting fool?

02-04-2005, 11:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
supersix2 Insane Location: Houston	Was my generation given a specific purpose? The first thing I'd like to do is start off with a little background about me. I was born in 1985. I have two great parents who aren't the most book smart people when it comes to science and math but they know there stuff (my dad a businessman and my mom a nurse). All throughout my life since I can really remember (my most lucid memories are from kindegarten and up) I have always been very interested and good at math and science. As of now I'm studying aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Ok so I was sitting in class today thinking about something. When I was growing up there were quite a few science and in general educational shows on TV. From the top of my head I can remember Mr. Wizard, Nova, Beakman's World, Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Magic School Bus, Wishbone, Reading Rainbow, Sesamee Street, and Mr. Roger's. I know there were atleast 1 or two more that I used to watch religously but I have long since forgotten thier names. I know they were on PBS. Anyway I would ALWAYS watch all of these shows just absorbing the information. It was these shows that made me realize my love for math, science, reading, and education. I value education beucase of these shows. Aside from NOVA all of these shows were geared toward's kids. They were entertaining yet informative and they made liking learning a good thing. Fast foward to my days in highschool. I begin to develop friendships with people who have the same intellectual interests for me and we would always discuss how awesome those shows used to be. Now most of my friends are studying other forms of engineering, or they are majoring in math, physics, education, pharmacy, computer science, and other like high tech fields. I look at the programming geared toward's kids now and it is acutally appalling, there are almost no education shows, most of the shows are actually rather violent, and macbre in nature (all of those damn japanese cartoons and anime shows). Then I look at the kids who are around 8-10 years younger than me and I look at thier behaivor and even see how some of them are in school and its completely different than I remember my childhood to be. These kids are not nearly as mature as I remember my peers being at that age. From what I've see most of them don't value education as much as my peers did and the ones who do are outcasts. In my school the smart kids were also the popular and likeable kids. A lot of my college friends said the same things about thier schools. To me, the bulk of these kids that are half my age are just not on the same level as my generation. There is a drasitc difference in kids born in the 80's and kids born in the 90's. There are so many other issues that I can go into as far as behaivor is concerned but I'm mainly focused on the fact that math and science seems to have been fed to me and others my age in a way that is not being done now. And that idea has got me thinking that maybe somehow my generation was being designed to be the new thinkers and innnovators. Or maybe I'm all wrong and its not that we were being made a certain way but that this new generation is being disadvantaged by today's system. Maybe our whole culture has changed so drastically that kids today are missing out on all the oppotunities I had. I'm not in anyway bashing an entire group of kids because I know there are a lot of bright kids out there who are way smarter than I am. It just seems like they are being overshadowed by a much larger group of kids who are geared purely towards pop culture. Has anyone else observed anything like this or am I just a ranting fool?