I was just reminded of the Mindset List at http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/ from Beloit College, started in 1998 to remind professors of what references would be outdated; first of all here's the list for my entering college class (2007): http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2007.php
...although I object to item 19 because I have been able to find "return" (the Mac uses it instead of "enter" on the main part of the keyboard)

Now here are the highlights from the 2014 list: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014.php

Quote :

"1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive. 2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail. 8. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities. 12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry. 16. Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways. 19. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone. 20. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed. 27. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive. 28. They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day. 32. Czechoslovakia has never existed. 46. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station. 55. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties. 64. The U.S, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely. 68. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S."

There's plenty of good stuff, but I kept it to less than a fifth of the whole list.

8/17/2010 4:19:35 PM

The only thing i sign in cursive is my signiture.

I don't get #8.

I pray #16 is not true.

I really do not remember #27 computer not having CD-Roms except for my elementary schools computer lab.

8/17/2010 4:47:22 PM

i remember computers not having hard drives

8/17/2010 4:51:37 PM

When my nephew was born back in 03 I remember thinking that he would never rewind anything.

Sure, crap will still have a "rewind" button, but it will just be a vestigial word.

8/17/2010 4:56:41 PM

Quote :

"I don't get #8."

american with disabilities act is a fairly recent thing

8/17/2010 5:04:55 PM

Some of those are pretty bad. But I have to admit, I was terrible at cursive when I was taught it. For a while I used it for my signature but eventually that became the largely unrecognizable jumble of curves that you see when your doctor signs a prescription pad or a celebrity signs an autograph. After the "I" of my first name none of the rest is recognizable as script.

And why would it be otherwise? The only time a teacher even let me write assignments in anything other than print was during cursive lessons.

---

I understand #2 a little. I never use snail-mail unless required to do so, and if I can use a text message or a phone call I will. To me this has less to do with e-mail being "slow" and more to do with the fact that people often don't reply in a timely manner.

I think #12 should be true for people quite a bit younger than the class of 2014. Nobody on this board saw "Dirty Harry" in theaters originally. Most of us have seen one of the films he directed there, though.

I don't even think #32 is true. I am constantly hearing people of different ages refer to the Czech Republic as "Czechoslovakia." If this has finally gone out of common usage then I am happy.

27 is laughable. I remember the first time I used a computer with a CD-ROM I was enthralled with how powerful it was. Ditto the internet, which I don't think I ever used until I was 9 or 10.

Quote :

"i remember computers not having hard drives"

Me, too -- the first computer I used was an old Kaypro that could only run on floppy disks (real floppy disks, as in ones that were actually floppy)

8/17/2010 5:23:31 PM

Amusing lists, but they seem to be written from the standpoint that kids won't remember a single moment in time before the day they graduated highschool

8/17/2010 5:37:17 PM

The use of the term "always" in a lot of them does bother me, yeah. But if your goal is to tell instructors what to expect, it makes sense. For someone who has grown up in a world with a lot of Korean cars, crime shows about DNA fingerprinting, CD-ROMs, etc., it's probably necessary to point out that these are in fact recent phenomena.

What really worries me are some things omitted from the list. I suggest we start additions:

76. Nobody in the class of 2014 saw Jurassic Park in theaters. This does not bode well for ethics in genetic engineering.

77. MTV has never shown any music. How confused must these kids be if "Music Television" is, in reality, a bunch of reality shows about whores?

78. On that note, they think reality TV is normal.

8/17/2010 5:47:12 PM

77a. the History Channel is nothing but sensational reality shows

8/17/2010 5:48:16 PM

Touche. I remember when it was called "the Hitler Channel"

8/17/2010 6:02:01 PM

Interesting list. And speaking of unsettling perceptual shifts across generations ([old], I know): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38517684/from/toolbar

Quote :

" Plagiarism lines blur for students in digital age 'It's possible to believe this information is just out there for anyone to take' By Trip Gabriel At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site’s frequently asked questions page about homelessness — and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author information. At DePaul University, the tip-off to one student’s copying was the purple shade of several paragraphs he had lifted from the Web; when confronted by a writing tutor his professor had sent him to, he was not defensive — he just wanted to know how to change purple text to black."

8/17/2010 6:05:12 PM

Quote :

"The first computer they probably touched was an Apple II; it is now in a museum. "

I must be confused.... but I didn't know apple II's were popular in the late 90s....

8/17/2010 6:28:42 PM

Quote :

"Me, too -- the first computer I used was an old Kaypro that could only run on floppy disks (real floppy disks, as in ones that were actually floppy)"

holy shit, someone else had a Kaypro?

8/17/2010 6:51:45 PM

Interesting stats on texting:
http://www.geekologie.com/2010/08/a_voice_where_were_going_you_d.php

8/17/2010 8:06:58 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=502096

8/18/2010 1:39:27 AM

Is this list really meant to refer to college students?

I know they're just trying to make professors realize the sorts of things that have become social norms/are no longer social norms, but some of these "always" items seem to be severely underestimating the historical knowledge of college students, particularly with regards to music and film history...

For example, I'd say Eastwood is still easily more famous for Dirty Harry/westerns than any of his recent directing moves. Especially since it's unlikely that all freshmen of 2014 will have seen most of those new films, and they're not really referenced often, while it's still not incredibly uncommon to see or hear a reference to Dirty Harry or one of his westerns. Also, being a highly-quotable actor with a distinctive voice and speech pattern is a shade more notable and easily-remembered than being a director on various movies that don't have all that much in common...

Also, In response to GrumpyGOP, people don't need to have seen something in theaters for it to be a known aspect of pop culture. They'll still have seen Jurassic Park at least once, as well as things like Jaws, Star Wars (the originals), and most other super-famous blockbusters.


Then again, since this is meant to be the 2014 list, I just might be overestimating the children of the 2000s. The existence of the internet has made it so that popular culture and subcultures change even more quickly, but I'm still inclined to think that the generally smarter/more-well-educated members of society (college students... yes, this is a generalization, some are still dumbshits) would have a decent grip on pop culture history by the time they enter college... hell, the flip-side to the internet's existence is that older pop culture stuff is even easier to access and that less-recognizable cult films and indie music get more exposure.

[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 4:49 AM. Reason : .]

8/18/2010 4:38:46 AM

Quote :

"I remember when it was called "the Hitler Channel""

What is it called now? The bigfoot riding a UFO through a haunted house channel?

After reading the portion of the list that's posted here I realized that I've probably only used the CD-ROM drive on my computer to load the OS, then I never used it again. Now it's either Steam or mounting an iso to install a program and flash drives have replaced burnable CDs/DVDs.

I remember when computers had cassette players. 5.25 floppies were pretty popular and I remember when 3.5 floppies first started to appear.

Quote :

"9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall"

I always fall asleep before you get to that part. 2001: A Space Odyssey is like my own personal ambien pill... and this movie has been out for over 40 years. Not sure where they were going with this one.

Quote :

"50. Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps. "

We've still got the 'normal' toothpaste tube. I guess we're still in the stone age of tooth care.

Quote :

"58. Beethoven has always been a dog. "

I would have put more money on the people graduating in 2014 not ever having heard of that movie. It came out before they were born and it's not like it was such a classic that it transcends generations.

Quote :

"67. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court. "

She hasn't?


[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 8:40 AM. Reason : -]

8/18/2010 8:17:25 AM

^^I don't think this list is meant to be taken literally. The "always" items surely refer to the impression the last two decades have given to kids.

8/18/2010 8:39:41 AM

The History Channel is where one goes to watch entertaining "documentary" series with 10% fact and 90% sensation/dramatic music and cliffhangers before commercial breaks.

8/18/2010 8:43:16 AM