For most people, when they think of a college student, they immediately think that they are lazy, inconsiderate, and very immature. I guess I could easily put a lot of students I've met and myself into any or all of these categories, but I have never really considered myself to be ignorant, or uninformed. When we are taught history, it usually stops at the Great Depression or WWII. Very rarely will we learn anything beyond that point, and this is simply because anything beyond that point isn't really considered "true history," considering that our grandparents were most likely alive during that time, and in no way would we want to offend them by learning about what they went through as children in history class.
When we think even more beyond that point, like in the '70s and '80s, when our parents were alive, that is still not considered a part of "true history." But, it's in the past isn't it? So, why don't we ever learn about it? A lot happened in those years that we have clue about, but why do we need to know those things? How would it benefit us?
When I worked in retail, there was an older couple that came in, and they used a $100 bill. To me, it looked old, and I had never seen a $100 bill that looked like that, and when I looked at the date it was from the '70s. So, I said, "No wonder this didn't look familiar! It's old! It's from the '70s!" I got the death stare from the old lady who handed it to me. She immediately said, "It's not old! I was born in the '40s! Do you think I'm old!?" I held back from saying, "yes," but it got me thinking. Is the '70s really considered a long time ago? It was 40 years ago, and to me that seems like a long time, but to most of our parents and grandparents it's not at all.
So, my point is, why don't we learn about any of these things? Why haven't I seen a $100 bill from the '70s before if it's not considered "old?" This list really lead me to believe that maybe teens my age are that ignorant, and maybe we haven't experienced the same things that our parents have, but why would we need to? Who cares if teens only know "Fergie" to be a pop star, and not the princess? Why does it matter if Jay Leno and David Letterman have always been on different TV channels?
Personally, I don't view it as a big deal, and we know what we need to in order to survive our generation. There is no need to know about the things on that list, because if it's changed then it's probably not a big deal anyway. We still know about the Soviet Union, and events like Watergate. Isn’t that enough? Just because we are growing up in a different generation, doesn't mean that we are any different from our parents when they were our age. Well, except for the fact that we have cell phones and Facebook now. And, we have better hair!
I really agree with what you said about learning history. Why dont we learn about what happened only a couple decades ago instead of learning about shit from hundreds of years ago? I have no idea its a good point you brought up.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog. The personal story about the old lady and the 100 dollar bill was humorous, and thank God we do not have hair like our mothers!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that we do need to learn more about the recent history, but still learn about the older history too!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and that there are no things we really need to know about the list.
ReplyDeleteLmao. Great blog post. Your point about "who cares?" on a lot of subject is a great one. Because really, we know what we need to. Pop culture history and such is kind of a silly thing in the first place anyway. (Btw, my dad was born in 48 :P)
ReplyDeleteDude, you pretty much hit it spot on. I was a little luckier since I had parents that really do a lot of talking about the "good ol' days," but it really is sad just how ignorant our generation is. They really don't change how it is now, but it is kinda cool to learn about just what it was like back in the '70s. O, and ftr, my parents are both in their mid 50s.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the history thing. I already know tons upon tons of information about history from long ago, but once you hit about the 50's and beyond, I don'r really know anything.
ReplyDeleteYour story about the 100 dollar bill got me remembering about when I had a 20 dollar bill from the 70’s and when tried to use it at Casey’s they had to look at it for a while before she excepted it, and she looked like she had even grew up in the 70’s.
ReplyDeleteLOL i enjoyed your story about the old lady! I agree with you about the history thing as well. I also agree with Joey's statement of not knowing anything from the 50's and beyond
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of history is learning about Constantinople. We learned about it last year in World History.
ReplyDeleteI agree with learning about history. If there are people alive who lived through those times then people don't really consider it history unless it was something really important, like 9/11.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I enjoyed how you really questioned the list. I feel the list is more for older professors who are suck in there generation and need to become familiar with there future students. You should know whats on the list, you did live through it lol. I like your point on History, when does it become true history?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about it not being a big deal if we dont know history from hundreds of years ago. I dont see how it would affect us now in the present.
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