Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574348493483201758.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

by tokenadult • 17 years ago

5 6 17 years ago

online.wsj.com

gruseom• 17 years ago

This is an opinion piece that manages to go from start to finish without offering the slightest grain of evidence that its claim is true.

andymism• 17 years ago

The WSJ op-eds seems to be full of articles like this lately. Writers like this forget that these patterns repeat themselves.

Grammophones, swing, big band music, rock and roll, TV, rap music, and now iPhones.

Who's next in line to suck up all the potential of our youth?

c-m• 17 years ago

The adult generations have complained of the lack of virtue in their 1-2 successor generations probably for the past few millennia (in European history, going back at least to ancient Greek/Roman times) - enough written evidence has survived the times. What is qualitatively different from the "usual" stereotypes with this complaint here is the alleged deficits in face-to-face communication. But I agree with the caveat of lacking evidence.

OTOH, among (supposed?) adults, with the widespread use of email and "digital media" I have been observing an apparent decline in the quality of written work and correspondence (and I'm not (just) talking about rudeness and lack of etiquette in email), and also a lack of attention to refinement in oral communication, at least in business. But maybe this is just an instance of the stereotyped perception of a general decline in standards of excellence (and aspiration).

xsmasher• 17 years ago

Plato:

Then, as I was saying, our youth should be trained from the first in a stricter system, for if amusements become lawless, and the youths themselves become lawless, they can never grow up into well-conducted and virtuous citizens [...] I mean such things as these:--when the young are to be silent before their elders; how they are to show respect to them by standing and making them sit; what honour is due to parents; what garments or shoes are to be worn; the mode of dressing the hair; deportment and manners in general. You would agree with me?

tokenadult• 17 years ago

This is an opinion piece that manages to go from start to finish without offering the slightest grain of evidence that its claim is true.

I will grant this entire criticism of the article (which nonetheless seems to address an issue I have observed in real life, interacting with people I know in person) but point out to your kind response that this makes the article much like most blog posts. It was a guest opinion article (by a college professor who has known college students over a generation) rather than a news story by a journalist or a research report by a scientist

http://norvig.com/experiment-design.html

but I think it suggests entrepreneurial opportunities. Actual science on this issue with carefully gathered evidence would be interesting to see.

darien• 17 years ago

"The next time they face a twenty-something who doesn't look them in the eye, who slouches and sighs for no apparent reason, who seems distracted and unaware of the rising frustration of the other people in the room, and who turns aside to answer a text message with glee and facility"

It seems to me that any intelligent (aspergers aside) capable young person would be able to establish the cause and effect relationship between their actions and other people - REGARDLESS of how many days of their lives they've spent communicating through a computer. The point is whether they care enough about their effect, not whether they are ignorant of it.

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues

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