COLUMN: Our toys and the games we play

From Yoni Slonim's, "Ink Blots," Fall '97 From Yoni Slonim's, "Ink Blots," Fall '97Avoid contact at all means! Go your own way and take care of your own business seems to be the slogan of our times. For years, the pundits (who surprisingly are a generation or two older than those they criticize) have said that Generation X children and adults did not care about the world around them. Quickly a groundswell of backlash erupted from those who actually knew the youth being discussed. It wasn't that they, we, were apathetic. To the contrary, America's next generation of leaders had learned from the extravagance and mistakes of their elders. We were projected as a caring bunch without the fanfare of the boomers. We reach out, helping in our communities while at the same time trying to earn money and receive an education. The tables had been turned. Not only were the Generation Xers "good," they were good in spite of the many stumbling blocks being placed by their elders in their path. America's youth lives in a far more complex environment, their defenders argued. Not only is a decent education becoming more difficult to come by, but the incentive, the promised returns are dwindling before their eyes. And yet, they persevere. Where does that leave us? "Yay!" one could proclaim. If you are under 30, you win. "We are better" is a very weak argument, indeed. Not that the previous generation was any better -- they seem to be projecting their own failures on to their children. When did this become a game to win or lose, of whose better than whom? Neither generation has "won." That there is even such a blame-game going on suggests that there really are problems that are being avoided -- namely, those each generation claims to be solving. The current up-and-comers are carrying on many of the mistakes of their parents. It's as though the soccer moms and dads have passed on more than their genes. The disintegration of community, which was helped along by the advent of TV and other modern entrapments, has continued on an accelerated pace. Computers and the Internet are the end of any chance we, as a country, had at salvaging the vestiges of communal life. Not surprisingly, this was the same argument advanced by baby boomer's parents against the TV. Yes, the Internet, video games and TV have contributed to the disintegration of American social life. The ability to interact with each other on a personal level has become difficult for many outside of their machines. A basic example: most of us find it easy to honk at an offensive driver. But, when this so called offender steps out of his car in response to the honking we become petrified. It was easy when you could separate yourself from the real situation. Now the stakes have been raised. We fear that human contact will come into play. Stretching the metaphor many feel comfortable living in their closed cars. It is reasoned this feeling of alienation from one's direct surroundings will only become worse with the passage of time. Those who would suggest turning back the clock and reviving the ways of the past face a daunting battle. To wit, try weaning some of your friends off of their modern toys. Instead, maybe we should start looking at what really constitutes a community. Can't some of the computer interactions be a new wrinkle in our definition of community? We lose a lot of the personal contact of the past but do we not gain in other ways? I am the first to say computers and their use are way overrated especially the role they can play in education. No matter how you slice it, they still need to be programmed by someone first. They can not reason. Nuance is not part of their vocabulary. That said, there is no need to act like Luddites fearing every change as an enormous threat. The fight will continue over how much of a role these modern machines will have in our daily lives. Maybe instead of saying "in my day, we?" as an insult to those younger than us we will be able to say it a proud participant in the creation of something wonderful.