Exposition-+Ying+Cong

2. “New technologies have created a situation rather unknown in human history wherein the young seem more knowledgeable than those older than them.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? (2007 EOY Exam)

I agree with this statement only to a small extent, because while the young catch on faster to these new technologies, such a situation is not virtually unknown in human history and on the overall, they have yet to surpass the older ones in knowledge.

Firstly, the young do seem more knowledgeable than their seniors nowadays because they are faster to catch on to these new technologies that allow them access to a vast bank of information. These new technologies, usually Internet-based, serves as the key to the immense online knowledge store which far surpasses that of the seniors per se. Anyone who can access this information bank will thus appear to be more knowledgeable than those who cannot. Youths are niftier in mastering these new technologies, the key to the knowledge bank, than their older counterparts due to their faster learning capabilities that accompanies any fresh and flexible mind. Thus, we see that contemporarily, there is a higher prevalence Internet usage amongst youths than in adults. The Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that in 2008, the generation with the highest percentage of Internet usage is Gen Y, those aged between 18 and 32, with an Internet-using population of 30%. The percentage of Internet-using population then progressively decline as the age group increases in age. Therefore, the young in general appear to be more knowledgeable in present times due to new technologies.

However, the notion that elders are more knowledgeable the young is not truly ingrained in the main world cultures in human history. Although respect for the elders is promulgated in the oriental culture, it has never been a hallmark belief of any major cultures that the elders are more knowledgeable. In the oriental case, respect for the elders does not necessarily translate into the belief that the elders are more knowledgeable, for the former principle is deontological, and not caused by the latter. Furthermore, youths in the West are even encouraged to challenge the authority, which conventionally stems from and symbolizes age. Thus, there has never been a continuous widespread consensus belief that the elders are necessarily more knowledgeable than the young in human history. Therefore, the situation wherein the young seem more knowledgeable than those older than them is not wholly unseen in the past.

Lastly, such new technologies only provided youths with knowledge in certain areas and of a certain nature. Knowledge is broadly defined as both theoretical and physical understanding of a subject matter, as well as wisdom acquired through experience. Knowledgeable can thus be inferred to mean both the possession of facts and the ability to process them, which in other means the quality of being well informed and intelligent. New technologies provide the young primarily with theoretical facts, with limited practical knowledge, and virtually no experience, wisdom and intelligence whatsoever. Such a circumscription of knowledge derived from these new technologies renders the newly informed young to be actually less knowledgeable than the older ones, for the latter had the benefit of age and experience and its accompanying wisdom. Therefore, specifically, youths are technically and theoretically better informed than the elders, and only in certain subject matter, while holistically speaking, the older ones are still more knowledgeable.

In conclusion, I agree to the statement only to a small extent, because while the young catch on faster to these new technologies, such a situation is not virtually unknown in human history and on the overall, they have yet to surpass the older ones in knowledge.