My Generation X

Rongina Driggers

Adam Bush College Unbound

Writing Sample

September 10, 2012

                                        Generation X and The Rapidly Developing Technological Mind

     "They took the credit for your second symphony. Rewritten by machine on new technology,  now

 understand the problems you can see. Oh-a oh" 

The English rock band Buggles sang a famous song for a generation. My generation. A song in which we embraced the quickly growing new technology of the 1980's. The technology of the TV from bunny ears to cable. From radio to video. Videos showing your favorite artist performing the very song you loved from the radio. You can now VIEW that song. You can see it being sung at the same time while listening. Amazing! The Walkman changed the way we listen to music. As a young teen, that was ALL I wanted to do!  There was a boom of technological growth in the computer age from office computers to home computers which eventually lead to laptops, notebooks and smart phones. Generation X is what they call my generation. I am proud to be a member of that unnamed generation, that raggedy and mismatched group of misfits. We hacky sacked and slammed danced our way through our teens and dreamed of the future. 

Generation X-ers where fortunate to see such a change. I can remember when my mom bought our very first Beta machine. OH MAN! We could now watch movies at home? FAR OUT! A New age shift in the way we communicated with each other and entertain ourselves. Video Killed The Radio Star generation. Kindle killed Borders generation and Beta killed the drive in generation.

We, as advancing educated people, can not be blind to the ever changing technological times. However, I agree with Nicholas Carr most days because I'm a historian and nostalgic at heart. I love real books and my 35mm cameras. I find it so ridiculous that I say I like these things but there was a time when they didn't exist either. It makes me laugh.

In Carr's essay, he talks about the changing times of information and data, quick reads and blogging and the notion that our cognition might not keep up with it all. Mr. Carr's essay starts with a great quote from a famous movie and later list research and other quotes from educated men and woman including quotes from world renowned Socrates. Socrates explicitly stood against the idea of the written word. Saying the written word will kill the spoken word and in the end kill the man. I was fascinated by the history he spoke of and the trials and tribulations of the people involved during that time. Just Fascinated! I enjoyed reading about Socrates very much. I found myself wanting to search Google to learn more about the history and came to the realization that Carr was right! That I have become lazy and impatient!

Carr stresses his point saying, "The Net has become the universal medium."  And he's right. I have often found it difficult, frustrating and bothersome at times to have to go and search ,in a book, flipping through the pages, to satisfy a seemingly simple question. Now history can prove that I had existed in the days of encyclopedias and have used them for school projects. History can also prove that it wasn't that long ago that I used the public library to borrow hard copy books and videos to entertain myself and two young daughters.

 How soon we forget. Today I ask myself, "Where will I begin if I wanted information without the use of my laptop?" I don't have encyclopedias in my house. Gee, the last time I saw a set of these books I was 10 years old. I don't go to the library anymore. Why should I? My source for information should I want it can be discovered with a touch of a button, right at my finger tips.

Last night I screamed at my computer screen with discuss and bitterness in the back of my throat. In real life I am an advocate for the simple life. I want to be grid free! I own free range chickens and an organic garden! I follow the creed that is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! How can I be addicted to the artificial mind that is Google? Surly this must be a joke. After reading Carr's essay I had a conversation with my family on this very topic. 

My daughters think the article Carr wrote is, "Silly".  My middle daughter Taylor asked, "Then how are you going to find what you're looking for?" And she's right too!  It's true, in this day and age to keep up with technology we must go forward. In Carr's ideal world, we would have to go BACK to the past to find what we're looking for and to further our education. As romantic as it sounds it's time consuming. Todays technology has outgrown those days. We must allow our brains to evolve to keep up. We must set our minds to trust in own bodies to grow with the vast changing unknown.

Now, I can understand the concern Carr has with computers. Thinking they might take over and start having 

feelings and such. But that's just movie magic. I can understand his nostalgia and his feelings about our minds becoming robotic and letting go of all naturally emotional control but, that's not going to happen. Carr quoted James Olds who said, "The adult mind is very plastic. breaking old connections and forming new ones." Just imagine the possibilities!

 My body and mind has the ability to work as a healer, communicator, processor all in one. I want to exercise my mind more. Challenge myself, work harder. Imagine where we can go. I never in a thousand years thought I would be able to see the video for Video Killed a radio Star on a cellular, hand held, smart phone when I was ten years old. Never in my lifetime! How amazing! I want to feel as brave and smart as Steve Jobs was. He was a genius! I want us to grow as humans. Not to be stifled in my mind. I don't want to ever forget where we came from but I sure as hell don't want a mental block either and forget where we're going. 

"In my mind and in my car

 we can't rewind we've gone too far.

Video Killed The Radio Star"

Rongina Driggers

Preschool Teacher and Amateur Photographer

September 2012