Time to feel old, the Beloit College Mindset List is out

[Just Jack]

Wear wristwatch? Use e-mail? Not for Class of '14

 

By DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press Writer Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press Writer – Tue Aug 17, 9:24 am ET

MILWAUKEE – For students entering college this fall, e-mail is too slow, phones have never had cords and the computers they played with as kids are now in museums.

 

The Class of 2014 thinks of Clint Eastwood more as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry urging punks to "go ahead, make my day." Few incoming freshmen know how to write in cursive or have ever worn a wristwatch.

 

About the authors of the list

 

The list

[ExiledInIllinois]

I'd be surprised if many can read analog time...

[Chef Jim]

I'd be surprised if many can read analog time...

 

Hell they can't even write cursive. BTW my sister teaches pre-first and all her kids can write in cursive.

[Doc]

Yeah, e-mail takes too long. Better to text or tweet 24/7, even when driving.

[stuckincincy]

Hell they can't even write cursive. BTW my sister teaches pre-first and all her kids can write in cursive.

 

 

The Palmer method or the Zaner Bloser method?

[ExiledInIllinois]

Hell they can't even write cursive. BTW my sister teaches pre-first and all her kids can write in cursive.

 

I was born in 1968 and gave up cursive in Jr./high-school (took mechanical drawing/drafting/architecture)... I actually use a "hybrid" or my "own font"... I agree, they should be able to do it... That is why I hold off on buying a printer to my children's dismay. They have to write out in cursive if they can't print out an assignment. Which kinda gets me... What a stupid rule the school/teacher has...

[bbb]

I think texting and IMg take way too long. Email doesn't waste so much time........Plus, I can type way faster at a keyboard than on my phone.

 

I think this list is correct if all these kids are morons and have no sense of history.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Maybe the anti-wristwatch crowd thinks this:

 

"...All in time, but the clock is another demon that devours our time in Eden, in our Paradise.

Will our eyes see well beneath us, flowers all divine?

Is there still time?

If we wake and discover in life a precious love, will that waking become more heavenly?"

Kinda hard to argue against this.

 

[bbb]

Yeah, especially because I don't know what it's friggin talking about.

[Chef Jim]

I love the wristwatch thing. I always wear a watch and I was talking to a young person recently about that. They said "I don't need a watch, I've got the time on my phone" so I asked what time it was. I sat there and watched my second hand go around and around as he fumbled looking for his cell phone. Ok, so email takes to long but you had to check your pockets, look around and finally go back to your cube to tell me what time it was.

[bbb]

I love the wristwatch thing. I always wear a watch and I was talking to a young person recently about that. They said "I don't need a watch, I've got the time on my phone" so I asked what time it was. I sat there and watched my second hand go around and around as he fumbled looking for his cell phone. Ok, so email takes to long but you had to check your pockets, look around and finally go back to your cube to tell me what time it was.

 

Not to mention, that if you're in a mtg or something, you can glance at your watch without getting caught, but you can't pull out your cell phone to look at the time.

[Chef Jim]

Not to mention, that if you're in a mtg or something, you can glance at your watch without getting caught, but you can't pull out your cell phone to look at the time.

 

When I'm in meetings I don't glance at my watch either. People pick up on that. I have clocks on all my conference rooms and I make sure that I sit where I can see the clock.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I'm 21, so just a couple years older than the current mindset list. Let me tell you, we're not ALL idiots with no historical perspective. There wasn't a single item on that list that really applied to me in terms of general knowledge.

 

I do wear a watch because of convenience and the aesthetic.

 

However, no cursive for me. Except for signing names, I don't imagine how it will ever be relevant again.

[bbb]

When I'm in meetings I don't glance at my watch either. People pick up on that. I have clocks on all my conference rooms and I make sure that I sit where I can see the clock.

 

You better watch out - people pick up on that.

[Chef Jim]

You better watch out - people pick up on that.

 

How can people pick up on me glancing at a clock that they can't even see. I make sure their sitting so the clock is behind them.

[linksfiend]

How can people pick up on me glancing at a clock that they can't even see. I make sure their sitting so the clock is behind them.

 

I think he was making a pun

[linksfiend]

26. Unless they found one in their grandparents' closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.

As long as they enjoy Kodachrome on the classic/oldies station with #46 Nirvana

[linksfiend]

I was born in 1968 and gave up cursive in Jr./high-school

 

Born just a few years after you and also gave up cursive in college. @10 years ago when taking the GMAT, you had to write out a provided paragraph in cursive. I suppose this was done so they had a record to investigate any cheating (how about a webcam while taking the test?). Anyhow, I really struggled to write a whole paragraph in cursive.

[LeviF]

Born just a few years after you and also gave up cursive in college. @10 years ago when taking the GMAT, you had to write out a provided paragraph in cursive. I suppose this was done so they had a record to investigate any cheating (how about a webcam while taking the test?). Anyhow, I really struggled to write a whole paragraph in cursive.

I took the SAT in 2008, and you had to do a paragraph in cursive for that as well. They taught my class cursive in 3rd grade. I hated it.

 

I, also, wear a wristwatch at all times. It just feels right.

[Jim in Anchorage]

What is "cursive"? I looked it up and came up with a rock band. Is it what I used to call "longhand"?

[LeviF]

What is "cursive"? I looked it up and came up with a rock band. Is it what I used to call "longhand"?

Yes.

[BuffaloBill]

changes - for those who may still write in cursive I assume they are doing so with a pen and not a feather dipped in ink. Not too far into the future it is highly likely that people may not read from a sheet of paper (newspaper, book, whatever). Time and technolgy marches on.

[Jim in Anchorage]

changes - for those who may still write in cursive I assume they are doing so with a pen and not a feather dipped in ink. Not too far into the future it is highly likely that people may not read from a sheet of paper (newspaper, book, whatever). Time and technolgy marches on.

Yes but would this be the same in microsoft word?

[BuffaloBill]

Yes but would this be the same in microsoft word?

 

 

Absolutely not - however if it was written today I highly doubt it would be documented by hand. Both of my parents have beautiful handwriting as it was a point of emphasis in their upbrining but it is a dying skill. In my mind it is perhaps even more painful to watch some young person who can't figure out how much change they should get from a cashier because they can't do simple math in their head.

[bbb]

Yes but would this be the same in microsoft word?

 

 

That Jefferson dude had some cool fonts.

[The Senator]

What I find mind-boggling is that none ever feared a Russian missile strike. Anyone remember the Cuban missile crisis, 'duck & cover' drills and crawling under your school desks (as if that would save you from being instantly vaporized by a thermo-nuclear bomb blast), air-raid shelters/sirens, or "This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System - in the event of a real emergency, you would have been informed the location of the nearest nuclear fallout shelter..."

[Jim in Anchorage]

That Jefferson dude had some cool fonts.

 

"fonts"? I find it a shame that beautiful way of writing has passed into history. If the US declaration of Independence was written today it would look like my phone bill.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I love the wristwatch thing. I always wear a watch and I was talking to a young person recently about that. They said "I don't need a watch, I've got the time on my phone" so I asked what time it was. I sat there and watched my second hand go around and around as he fumbled looking for his cell phone. Ok, so email takes to long but you had to check your pockets, look around and finally go back to your cube to tell me what time it was.

 

 

What did they do before WWI and wristwatches? I think around WWI is when wristwatch came into vogue... If not superimpose whenever that era was...

 

??

 

Oh... Yep... They looked at their pocket watch... Not unlike a cellphone...

 

No?

 

 

 

Anyway... My cellphone has the date and time right on the front... All you have to is tap it.

 

My wife wears a watch... She wears it on her RIGHT hand! Even know she was born in 1967, you can tell right away that she never wound (while still on a wrist) a wristwatch. Even today, that is my biggest pet peeve about wristwatches... People who where them on the right hand... It looks so wrong!

[ExiledInIllinois]

Born just a few years after you and also gave up cursive in college. @10 years ago when taking the GMAT, you had to write out a provided paragraph in cursive. I suppose this was done so they had a record to investigate any cheating (how about a webcam while taking the test?). Anyhow, I really struggled to write a whole paragraph in cursive.

 

I hear you!

 

I remember getting in trouble in drafting class because I used a lettering template... Took my a while to formulate a nice consistent font of my "own."

 

By the time I hit high-school and college, reports/papers were typed mainly on my mother's IBM Selectric II... Then came the PC, first-second year of college and dot matrix printer.

[ExiledInIllinois]

I took the SAT in 2008, and you had to do a paragraph in cursive for that as well. They taught my class cursive in 3rd grade. I hated it.

 

I, also, wear a wristwatch at all times. It just feels right.

 

 

Hopefully not on your RIGHT hand!

 

[Chef Jim]

What did they do before WWI and wristwatches? I think around WWI is when wristwatch came into vogue... If not superimpose whenever that era was...

 

??

 

Oh... Yep... They looked at their pocket watch... Not unlike a cellphone...

 

No?

 

 

 

Anyway... My cellphone has the date and time right on the front... All you have to is tap it.

 

My wife wears a watch... She wears it on her RIGHT hand! Even know she was born in 1967, you can tell right away that she never wound (while still on a wrist) a wristwatch. Even today, that is my biggest pet peeve about wristwatches... People who where them on the right hand... It looks so wrong!

 

Except the person who told me he used his cellphone for a watch didn't even have it on him. I'm wearing a watch right now that needs to be wound. That's right, no battery.

[ExiledInIllinois]

What I find mind-boggling is that none ever feared a Russian missile strike. Anyone remember the Cuban missile crisis, 'duck & cover' drills and crawling under your school desks (as if that would save you from being instantly vaporized by a thermo-nuclear bomb blast), air-raid shelters/sirens, or "This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System - in the event of a real emergency, you would have been informed the location of the nearest nuclear fallout shelter..."

 

Yes. Only in kindergarten (Vietnam...1973)... I asked why we are doing this. I still remember what the teacher said: "In case the communists bomb us."

 

 

Our sump pits below the lock... Where all the wiring goes under the river used to be doubled as "air raid" shelter... The place was built in 1960... They had the "air raid" placards and everything. Just a few years ago they were removed and gonna get tossed... I saved a couple thinking that they were kinda cool! I tried to convince them to leave them in place... No avail!

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

What I find mind-boggling is that none ever feared a Russian missile strike. Anyone remember the Cuban missile crisis, 'duck & cover' drills and crawling under your school desks (as if that would save you from being instantly vaporized by a thermo-nuclear bomb blast), air-raid shelters/sirens, or "This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System - in the event of a real emergency, you would have been informed the location of the nearest nuclear fallout shelter..."

 

An interesting thing to me regarding my generation is that, despite an attack on America actually being accomplished, the level of fear and paranoia compared to your generation (based on stories my parents have told me) is remarkably lower. I wonder why. Not trying to make any point, just really wondering why. I can't ever remember feeling afraid, and I think most of my friends echo that sentiment.

[Chef Jim]

An interesting thing to me regarding my generation is that, despite an attack on America actually being accomplished, the level of fear and paranoia compared to your generation (based on stories my parents have told me) is remarkably lower. I wonder why. Not trying to make any point, just really wondering why. I can't ever remember feeling afraid, and I think most of my friends echo that sentiment.

 

You had to be there.

[ExiledInIllinois]

"fonts"? I find it a shame that beautiful way of writing has passed into history. If the US declaration of Independence was written today it would look like my phone bill.

 

No it wouldn't it would be mechanically done in a similar way. Yes, the little things would disappear... The bottom line is that it would look "too perfect."

 

Do we pine for the days of illuminated print? Maybe... But Guttenberg brought so much to the table that we totally forget about the monks copying works by long hand.

[bbb]

"fonts"? I find it a shame that beautiful way of writing has passed into history. If the US declaration of Independence was written today it would look like my phone bill.

 

Is Linksfiend the only person on this thread who gets my jokes?

[Jim in Anchorage]

An interesting thing to me regarding my generation is that, despite an attack on America actually being accomplished, the level of fear and paranoia compared to your generation (based on stories my parents have told me) is remarkably lower. I wonder why. Not trying to make any point, just really wondering why. I can't ever remember feeling afraid, and I think most of my friends echo that sentiment.

Because the USSR is not shipping missiles to Cuba, nor is their premier taking off his shoe and pounding it on the desk at the UN screaming "we will bury you" Very different times.

I lived next to camp Pendleton California 1957-63 and even as a baby I knew there was a lot of war tension.

[ExiledInIllinois]

An interesting thing to me regarding my generation is that, despite an attack on America actually being accomplished, the level of fear and paranoia compared to your generation (based on stories my parents have told me) is remarkably lower. I wonder why. Not trying to make any point, just really wondering why. I can't ever remember feeling afraid, and I think most of my friends echo that sentiment.

 

 

You are an "Echo Boomer." That generation was insulated from their parents "fear." That is what good parents do... Why duplicate the stress.

 

[bbb]

Because the USSR is not shipping missiles to Cuba, nor is their premier taking off his shoe and pounding it on the desk at the UN screaming "we will bury you" Very different times.

I lived next to camp Pendleton California 1957-63 and even as a baby I knew there was a lot of war tension.

 

Exactly, I was born in 1962 and I really figured the world would be over by now. Nuclear annilihation seemed to be a given, just a matter of when.......And, I was growing up 20 years after a war where something like 50 million people died. The odds were pretty much that if something were to happen, you'd be going down.........9/11 was horrible, but we still know that our chances of being a terror victim are astronomical.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Exactly, I was born in 1962 and I really figured the world would be over by now. Nuclear annilihation seemed to be a given, just a matter of when.......And, I was growing up 20 years after a war where something like 50 million people died. The odds were pretty much that if something were to happen, you'd be going down.........9/11 was horrible, but we still know that our chances of being a terror victim are astronomical.

 

Really?

 

It is all how you are raised. Not calling fault to anybody... My parents and certainly not me ever bought into that BS. It happens, it happens. I did catch the tail end... But my siblings were born in the early 1960's and they feel exactly how I do. My parent's lived through the Great Depression, just like mine did... They got older and raised a family thorugh the 1960's and didn't by the hype.