I have to disagree with DRnanjo concerning whether the attributes of the
typical 18-year-old should be published. I think it should be because the
list is:
(a) funny in the sense it reminds me of how DIFFERENT our (instructor's)
generation is from the typical 18-year old,
(b) funny in that it tells me about the values of the author--he or she
thought these were major differences,
(c) instructive to me as a teacher because I can get a sense of the value
system that the traditional student cohort has--which it turns out helps me
to understand why we sometimes can't communicate very well. Values from the
sixties and seventies have limited usefulness here.
(d) consistent with the comparative approach in psychology--cross-cultural,
cross-species, and in this case, cross-generational, AND
(e) delete-key vulnerable. If I don't like it or don't have the time, I
send it to cyber heaven or hell depending on your perspective.
Indeed, the point that drnanjo made:
If a visitor from 6 centuries before or after our era were to violate the
known physical laws of the universe and visit us, his or her comparison of
those born in the 1950s and those born in the 1980s would reveal very
little
difference indeed. That person would pretty much see all those born in the
late 20th C as similar except in the most trivial ways (i.e. type of rock
music, minor changes in clothing.)
pretty well shoots the hell out many interesting areas in psychology. It
can also be said that humans are pretty much the same when compared to
other species, if an alien were violate the known laws of physics, and
visit etc.
Gimme a break (a la Stossel)
Bill Wozniak
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William Wozniak, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology Ph: 308.865.8242
Department of Psychology FAX: 308.865.8980
University of Nebraska at Kearney e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kearney, NE 68849-5140
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]
om To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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09/06/01 Subject: Them versus Us
07:28 AM
Hello:
It's that time of year when, posted in various faculty workrooms and on
various listservs I am seeing that witty treatise on how "different" todays
college students are from us - how students born in the 1980's don't
remember
Ronald Reagan, Bob Dylan, don't care about the Vietnam War, have grown up
with the Internet etc etc ad infinitum ad nauseaum.
I am hoping not to see that treatise on this list this year. For one thing,
it's constructed mainly of stereotypes, for another thing, it serves no
useful purpose except to increase our feeling that we are so very different
from our students, like "they are from Mars and we are from Venus." And it
is (almost) purely a matter of perspective.
If a visitor from 6 centuries before or after our era were to violate the
known physical laws of the universe and visit us, his or her comparison of
those born in the 1950s and those born in the 1980s would reveal very
little
difference indeed. That person would pretty much see all those born in the
late 20th C as similar except in the most trivial ways (i.e. type of rock
music, minor changes in clothing.)
As the new school year begins, I hope we can think about our own time spent
as students, and maybe use that knowledge to better understand and serve
our
students. After all, as Pogo said "They is Us."
Nancy Melucci
LACCD
