I am honestly jealous of the fact that little kids today are growing up in what I perceive as a technological haven- so many social studies and the like have proven that exposure to the internet and technology in general increases cognition and intelligence; I'm one of the many millions of children that can attest to that on a personal level. I feel that, with all of the breakthroughs in technology in the past 20 years, kids that grow up today will be smarter than our current generation by the time they hit adulthood, and frankly, it sucks. It's only natural that each successive generation is smarter than the last, but I hate being on the brink, so to say. It's one of my worst phobias: I can visualize myself enjoying life as a computer technician or programmer in adulthood and along comes this kid half my age that can do everything I can and more, and he hasn't been through any formal program beyond a Computer Introductions class in secondary school. Don't get me wrong, I know MOST kids will still be fuckups in the next generation and that only a small minority will actually be able to thrive in these conditions, but it's still pretty creepy to think about. Recall how smart people were 100 years ago; look at how smart we are now; imagine how smart we'll be in an additional 100 years. The best we can do is live in the present, but every day that I have to go through the minor pains of middle-class life in America, I wish (futilely) that I had been born a thousand years from now in some kind of Utopian society overflowing with perfection. It's not an uncommon fantasy or dream, and unless life extension technologies increase dramatically within the next half century, it will remain nothing more than a dream for us all.
...er, I seem to have gone off on a big tangent there. Enough of my pseudo-philosophy, back to the main thread: My phobias are probably without warrant. Overall intelligence in our youngin's definitely seems to be on a decline, and a rapid one at that. Just turn on the
Maury Show to see what I'm talking about- 12 year old mothers that are addicted to drugs and alcohol, people with chronic tendencies to cheat or sleep around, kids with a near psychological dependency on violence... our culture today is a damn
cesspool of naive, innocent children being tricked to believe that you have to break laws and social conventions to be seen as 'cool', kids who grow up around and accept violence and extreme drug abuse- I'm not talking about people who get into a bar fight every now and then or smoke a joint, I'm talking about little kids with peach fuzz and cracking voices running around on the streets with tire irons and baseball bats, getting drugs from their deadbeat older siblings, drinking and partying and essentially killing themselves. Most of the next generation won't live past 40 or 50- from liver disease and cancer if they're lucky, from gang beatings and shootings if they're not. I live in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the most violent cities in the United States. We have some of the highest murder and assault rates in the whole country last time I checked- I see the things I mentioned earlier going on at least once a week, even though I try to avoid the bad areas and limit my time alone outside.
tl;dr: I feel like an oldfaeg who has to yell at these 'hip' new idiots roaming the streets with their shorts hanging down to their ankles, fighting and stealing to impress each other, and it's bittersweet to realize that so many of the children in the next generation will die before I do because of their bad choices in life.
Last edited by Ragdollmaster; Apr 22, 2010 at 01:30 AM.