Dear Susan Jacoby: Call me a naive idealist...I'm certainly calling you an elitist snob!

Over the past few decades there has been a mass influx and integration of different technology and media into our world. As a current college student, I walk across campus and it is a rare occasion that I find someone who is not talking on a cell phone. Should I be at the RAC, I’ll find MTV-U being broadcasted over every television. When I go to class, a large percentage of students are using their laptops, myself included, to take notes and to also connect to the Internet through wireless servers putting immense amounts of information at their fingertips. In short, it is essentially impossible to avoid one’s daily dose of media and technology; however, the question at hand - and the question being posed by many - is should we be worried for our nation’s future? Has “easy-access information” overload taken a toll on our work ethic as a society? Are the technologies available to us ultimately making way for “generation sloth”? Has our nation reached an intellectual stand-still? In all honesty, and you may call me idealistic, there is no need for such worry.

In her article “The Dumbing of America” Susan Jacoby writes, “Dumbness, to paraphrase the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has been steadily defined downward for several decades, by a combination of heretofore irresistible forces. These include the triumph of video culture over print culture…” (Jacoby) Jacoby has a valid point, video culture has certainly triumphed over print culture; she points out the proportion of 17-year-olds who read nothing unless required to do so for school more than doubled between 1984 and 2004; however, she later states she cannot prove reading for hours in a tree house, something she used to do when she was 13, creates more informed citizens. (Jacoby) Jacoby is trying to argue something she admittedly cannot prove. The article continues with similar sentiment; Jacoby truly does believe we are facing a crisis. She asserts technology is fostering ignorance in our culture and it is leading us to a dismal future. I beg to differ.

As is human nature, with progress also comes resistance: Plato feared writing would inhibit human memory capacity, the church criticized the printing press because they wanted to protect and be the sole interpreters of the "word of God." Throughout time, and especially in the past 150 years, every new technology has evoked some form of criticism. (Gardner) Jacoby’s argument is reminiscent of this kind of criticism, and though there is validity to her argument, I believe her anathema toward these new technologies stems from misjudgment of the future.

Howard Gardner has a different take on the subject. In his article “The End of Literacy? Don’t Stop Reading” he states, “Let me suggest a third possibility: Literacy – or an ensemble of literacies – will continue to thrive, but in forms and formats we can't yet envision.” (Gardner) Gardner takes a stand against dualistic thinking. He is asserting that since we have no idea what the future holds we may as well embrace the media present, and rather than focusing solely on the pro and con dichotomy that occurs simultaneously with the integration of new media, we must “triangulate.” We must “bear in mind our needs and desires, the media as they once were and currently are, and the media as they're continually transforming.” (Gardner)

As media transform and spawn new media, drastic cultural changes do occur, the majority of them being positive. In ancient Egypt, papyrus replaced stone as a writing medium leading to increased literacy, the development of script writing, and a more democratic system. The development of written language was met with opposition and scrutiny as stated above, yet we could not picture ourselves without such a system. All these developments in communications media caused great change, and though some may have not been well-received, through the course of time these changes became accepted as positive; it just takes a transitional period.

So enough with the pessimistic, elitist attitude; our culture has not yet lost its intellectual spark. Yes, print culture is in decline, but it isn’t something that will ever be completely lost. Our world is in a transitional period; we are still getting accustomed to mass media. This, however, by no means implies we are getting dumber. There is much time before us. We must accept the inevitable integration of new media and embrace the cultural changes that will accompany them. Step forward with a positive attitude and an open mind. After all, a bad attitude never got anybody anywhere.

Works Cited
Gardner, Howard. "The End of Literacy? Don't Stop Reading." The Washington Post 17 Feb. 2008. 2 Mar. 2008 .

Jacoby, Susan. "The Dumbing of America." The Washington Post 17 Feb. 2008. 2 Mar. 2008 .

Peace, Love
Evan