The Self Authoring Mind Doesn't Feel Good, So What Good is It?

There's been a lot of talk about this being the stupidest generation. I think it's true that the difference between this generation of young people and previous generations may be over stated. My concern is that the true difference will be manifest when the current population of young people reach adult hood but a smaller proportion of the population than ever before makes the transition from the Socialized Mind to the Self Authoring Mind, a stage in transformative learning that turns people from adolescents to adults.

I believe that the information technologies that promote the view that all information is only as important as the network/hive-mind deems have made it harder than ever to learn how to have an articulated world view as an individual, not beholden to past traditions or always appealing to authority in perpetual, unreflective reaffirmation of social norms. Texting, social networking, user ranking, and the general ease of selectively consuming only the information that supports one's existing prejudices may be retarding the transformation of plugged-in youth from their hyper-socialization to critical mindedness. Already there are few popular examples of adults who think like adults on which these youths can model their development and self assess their progress.

A lot of thoughtlessness may be in store for those of us who have to live in the world that these youths are building to accomodate the preferences they've developed in their extended adolescence.