missionblvd.com

So much so, that we’ll lie, deny, defray, divide, dissemble, distract–anything, but acknowledge our ignorance.

We’ll invent whole arcologies of myth, just to assauge our fears of the unknown.

We’ll indulge in fantastic conspiracies–black helicopters, secret government plots, illuminati, masons, mormons–to give light to things we don’t understand.

We’ll deny plain and simple facts to hold onto the tissues of faith that paper over the gaping holes in our traditions and societies.

* * * * *

Whew.

“We all live in secret fear of our own ignorance.” Matt Gillespie of Reason magazine and reason.tv rolls out this bon mot right at the end of the bonus video on the page holding his interview with Mark Bauerlein, the author of The Dumbest Generation, in which Mark asserts that our always-on-demand instant-worldwide communication and attention-mongering is unhealthy for the teenage ego, providing enough constant distraction that there is no room for the epiphany that sparks the individual’s evolution into “the adult life”.

Matt’s quote is right at the end of the second video, where Mark answers questions from the home version of “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?”, and as they are discussing the premise of entertainment of the show–Mark had never seen it–Matt reminds us that it’s entertaining because of our common secret fear of our own ignorance.

Clearly, Mark’s an elitist who thinks everyone needs a college education in order to be “a full adult.” Considering his position as a teacher, it’s not surprising that he has direct and possibly cynical insight into the generation that he speaks so highly of.

Still, it seems we hear this noise all the time. Fifty years ago–rock and roll. Forty years ago–pot and drugs. Thirty years ago–television. Twenty years ago–video games. Ten years ago–the internet. Today–web 2.0. But always the same message: “These kids, they’re frickin’ idiots. And it’s all because of [insert demonized totem here].”

Don’t get me wrong: no doubt, any of these things, in excess, without balance, will lead to an imbalance in the individual’s life. (This isn’t really the crime it’s made out to be, but that’s the topic of another post.)? And I deeply vibe with the point Mr. Bauerlein is making, eloquently, with passion and great analytical depth. I have encountered the very same self-absorbed stupidity–it isn’t fun.

It is difficult to admit, but I have to say that I am ignorant of most of the rest of the world’s perspective on things–I know mostly how *I* see things, and head-pounding stupidity is not something I identify with, so it is difficult to watch in action.

That ignorance leaves me vulnerable to perceive it as part of a greater set of actions and to ascribe motivations. It is all to easy to leap to conclusions to satisfy the ignorance. My inclinations are towards sensing an arbitrary extension of adolescence, implemented by church, school and state, and maintained by media. It is all too easy to tack together an explanation to cover up the hole in my knowledge–to simply leave it open turns it into a distraction. Yet, these new insitutions and their mythic, pervasive engines of disruption, they build their own markets, and they validate adolescent need better than anything that has come before. Mr. Bauerlein’s real point is what we’ve always known: the technologies that serve us, alienate us from the things they serve. He’s just tacked it together under a modern version of the “stupid kids” trope.

“Them kids are stupid” is as common a refrain as “The sky is falling”. Get over it. Kids are stupid. It’s in the job description.

* * * * *

We all live in secret fear of our own ignorance.

Lookit what I found on google streetview:

Hoo!? Sho’ nuff, dat’s me an’ Sunshine, upwards of a year or so ago (as we guess by the clothes in the picture). I’m surprised I didn’t see the cameras, as I’ve spied the camera cars before–it’s possible that they’re now camoflaging the cars for some obscure reason or another (maybe to not get the finger I definitely would have given the cameras had I seen them…).

Oh yeah. Go check out the updated OBReal.com site–it’s very web 1.0–and order a t-shirt!? Please?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 6:38 pm and is filed under blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.