The Dark Side

In Don Tapscott’s book Grown Up Digital he refers to kids in the 21st generation as “Net Geners” and his own children as prodigies because of the knowledge they have about technology at such a young age. Although Tapscott begins with ideas on the positive impact of the technology boom, he continues with the issues with our generation that many people view as a result of the technology. Tapscott argues many points regarding the issues of "Net Geners," including the point that people in our generation are dumber because of technology. Tapscott quotes a source that says, They’re dumber than we were at their age. In this paragraph he argues that many sources say that our generation is more dumb and reckless than any other generation has been. Tapscott quotes a psychiatrist Edward Hallowell who refers to our generation as, “a shallow, distracted generation that can’t focus on anything," but he does not agree with the sources he is quoting.
Response:
I disagree with the idea that our generation is dumber due to technology. Tapscott quotes Robert Bly who says, “They don’t read and are poor communicators.” He comments that our lack of social contact makes us bad communicators and that the technology is a distraction from studies in schools everywhere. Although some of his ideas may be true, that technology can be distracting

Whatever It Takes

First semester was a blur. I don't know what I did with my time other than being bored and wishing I could just go home. It's amazing how much my mind has changed. The problems I had first semester with finding my way and getting used to being so far from home are issues that never cross my mind anymore. The idea of transferring seems ridiculous and I have more friends here that I want to hang out with than at home. My attitude has taken a complete 180-degree turn and I love it. I have dreams that I want to strive for and actually do the work to reach for. Someone once told me there are two kinds of people. There are the people who say “whatever” and the people who say “whatever it takes.” It didn’t really occur to me what this person was talking about until recently. For majority of my life I have lived with a “whatever” attitude. I have always had this laid back trait to my personality, but it’s not always good to be like that. Although I believe that everything happens for a reason, but I know now that saying “I guess it just wasn’t in the cards” is going to get me no where in life. I would do whatever it takes to achieve what I want in life, it won’t come to me and it won’t be easy at all. And frankly, I don’t really know what I want. I know one thing: I want to do music, but if that means opera, musical theatre, broadway, country? I still don’t know. I know that the direction I am headed is not easy and the attitude that says “whatever it takes” is what I will have to have to reach my goals. So I plan on doing Whatever It Takes.