Kodak

[jp]

I was just making a joke. You know like "SOB" crying shame, or maybe even Son of a Biscuit eater? But now your leading me to ask what exactly is a "TrollBlazer",....Is that motorized cart for hauling gruff billies under the bridge

That's OK. The trollblazer is saab fanboy parlance for the Saab 9-7x SUV, the nicest SUV GM ever made.

[Jay DeFehr]

Heck Jay - I'm right down the street from what's allegedly the No.1 university in the world. Most of those kids don't have 1/4 the vocabulary my Grandpa had and probably
couldn't point out Brazil on a globe. They're all techies. They can't cross the street without a GPS. Students coming in from China and India seem better educated,
even in English vocabulary. But I better step cautiously - my own wife went thru UCB.

Drew,

I don't think you know many college students, and/or you have an unrealistic appraisal of the literacy of previous generations.

Jim,

Yes, there are. I'm not sure why you'd think there wouldn't be. According to The Literacy of America's College Students, "The average prose, document, and quantitative literacy of students in 2- and 4-year institutions was signifi-
cantly higher than the average literacy of adults in the nation."

I know quite few young people, and I tire of hearing them denigrated by their elders. Every generation seems to fall into this same trap of feeling superior to their heirs, and they're always wrong. The world is more literate and better educated than at any time in history, and we have every reason to expect that trend to not only continue, but to accelerate.

[Michael Cienfuegos]

Drew,

I don't think you know many college students, and/or you have an unrealistic appraisal of the literacy of previous generations.

Jim,

Yes, there are. I'm not sure why you'd think there wouldn't be. According to The Literacy of America's College Students, "The average prose, document, and quantitative literacy of students in 2- and 4-year institutions was signifi-
cantly higher than the average literacy of adults in the nation."

I know quite few young people, and I tire of hearing them denigrated by their elders. Every generation seems to fall into this same trap of feeling superior to their heirs, and they're always wrong. The world is more literate and better educated than at any time in history, and we have every reason to expect that trend to not only continue, but to accelerate.

Jay,

If so many of them are literate and better educated, how come they can't think for themselves or even balance a checkbook? Half of them don't know basic geography. They can't balance a check book. If you listen to the news on TV, so many of these young newscasters really mangle their grammar. I have to agree with Drew.

[MDR]

Just out of curiosity how does the stupidity of today's youth and elders relate to Kodak or large format photography. I have to say I know a lot of stupid uneducated people in their late teens and a lot of stupid uneducated 60 year old people no generation has the monopoly on stupidity. Kodak's problem were not caused by the younger generation but by the greed and lack of foresight of older gentlemen. The worst filmhaters I've ever encountered ranged from age 35 to age 60. Below and above that age people either use film or were more interested in Film than the aformentioned group. Some people are more educated and some are less educated this situation has been known since the dark ages and is not likely to change in the future.

Sad news btw Kodak agree to sell its gelatine business to a food company
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/22/414...-business.html

Dominik

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'm a teacher. I see it first hand. Kids today are not as literate as kids past. Kids today are much better multi-taskers, though.

[Jim Shanesy]

Drew,

I don't think you know many college students, and/or you have an unrealistic appraisal of the literacy of previous generations.

Jim,

Yes, there are. I'm not sure why you'd think there wouldn't be. According to The Literacy of America's College Students, "The average prose, document, and quantitative literacy of students in 2- and 4-year institutions was signifi-
cantly higher than the average literacy of adults in the nation."

I know quite few young people, and I tire of hearing them denigrated by their elders. Every generation seems to fall into this same trap of feeling superior to their heirs, and they're always wrong. The world is more literate and better educated than at any time in history, and we have every reason to expect that trend to not only continue, but to accelerate.

Yes, but how do you measure it? How do you define 'literacy'? My daughter's an English major at Clemson where she's just come home from her first semester with a 4.0 average. Last year she turned me on to the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy, but when she told me she had read 1984 I asked her if she had also read Brave New World. She'd never heard of Huxley. I think they're exposed to different art and literature in school but I don't think they come away with any more than we did. Nor do I think they retain it any better.

Also, comparing 2 and 4 year college students to average adults is hardly fair if the average adult population includes those without any higher education at all.

[MDR]

I work part time in a large natural history museum and I have to say some of the most uneducated persons I'ver ever met were Phds they know a lot about their field but are simply stupid about everything else and also don't have an interest to educate themselves outside their field.
During guided tours the dumpest questions usually come from adults and they believe the TV more than say the scientiest who's been working in this field or who discovered the presented object/subject/animal. It's a sad fact that today's youth reads less books, but on the otherhand they read a lot on the internet. I also agree with Jim's posting ".... how do you measure it? How do you define 'literacy'? My daughter's an English major at Clemson where she's just come home from her first semester with a 4.0 average. Last year she turned me on to the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy, but when she told me she had read 1984 I asked her if she had also read Brave New World. She'd never heard of Huxley. I think they're exposed to different art and literature in school but I don't think they come away with any more than we did. Nor do I think they retain it any better. "
and I have to add that I believe that every generation is as stupid as the other and that their interest and type knowledge changes but overall they have the same level of intelligence. Jay is also right when he says that the average youth today is more literate than in the past (up to 1960's that is, child labour, lot's of poor, racial segregation, etc..)

Dominik

[Steve Smith]

I know quite few young people, and I tire of hearing them denigrated by their elders. Every generation seems to fall into this same trap of feeling superior to their heirs, and they're always wrong. The world is more literate and better educated than at any time in history, and we have every reason to expect that trend to not only continue, but to accelerate.

I agree. Generally, we only tend to see the bad in people and assume that as they are different to us, i.e. younger*, then they must all be the same.

* The same lack of logic is also applied to people of a different race, religion, skin colour, etc. and it's just as untrue in these cases.


Steve.

[MDR]

I agree. Generally, we only tend to see the bad in people and assume that as they are different to us, i.e. younger*, then they must all be the same.

* The same lack of logic is also applied to people of a different race, religion, skin colour, etc. and it's just as untrue in these cases.


Steve.

+1 fully agree

[Kevin Crisp]

As someone who often reviews writing samples of job applicants with advanced degrees, and reviews their actual work product after hiring, I have to agree that the ability to write clearly is in steep decline. I see writing from the highly educated that would have required rewrites of a high school student in the 1970's. Finding a good young writer these days is, unfortunately, difficult, even when the chosen profession really requires it. It is at least partially a symptom of not reading that much.

I know people have a knee-jerk "it wasn't really any better in the [insert decade]" reaction to discussions such as this, but in this case I think the observation is valid. But when you watch a KB documentary such as The Civil War or The Donner Party and listen to the letters and diaries those folks wrote after their third grade educations you realize we're probably all in trouble.