Exposition-+Weidong

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** New technologies have indeed enhanced the information gathering capability of young people through tools on the world-wide web such as online archives and media resources. These have indeed allowed the young to become more informative about many issues that many older generations would not have known in their youth. However, such technologies can only provide information for the young and not knowledge, which comes only when one has information together with experience in life. Hence I would agree with this statement only to a small extent and I will be attempting to elaborate on my points which are: the old have more life experiences than the young; hence they are more knowledgeable than the young, the old are also capable of harnessing the use of technology, hence the young may not necessarily be more knowledgeable than the old. Lastly, that there is no guarantee that the young become more knowledgeable just by accessing the latest technologies. First and foremost, it would be important to define what we call knowledge. Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as not only the theoretical understand of a subject, but also the expertise, and skills which are acquired by a person through experience or education. Knowledge comes from the experimentation of theories that we know of. The results of these “experiments” are the experiences we gain in life. Theory alone is insufficient as to allow one to become more knowledgeable. In order to become more knowledgeable, one needs to have undergone certain levels of experimentation and experienced through life to actually fully understand what something is. Philosophies are a perfect example in which we can see how knowledge actually works. Many young people can be exposed to the many philosophies philosophized by the great philosophers in history through intensive reading and gathering of information from the Net. However, there are times where people only truly understand what some philosophies mean when they have personally experienced it, or have experienced something that causes them to do so. This is how only when theory and experience come together can a person truly become more knowledgeable. Henceforth, we would know obviously that the older people, having lived for a longer time than those that are younger, would have significantly more chances to experiment with the theories they know of and to experience what it really means to them. They have more life experiences to build on and evaluate the theories that they know of. This, as opposed to the young who have only gained the theory and information from the Net with no experience for them to understand them, will most likely allow the old to be more knowledgeable than the young. Hence if would be apparent that technology has difficulty creating a situation where the young are more knowledgeable than the old. In addition to the abovementioned point, we should have a common understanding that technology is not only restricted to the young. The older human is also able to harness efficiently the use of new technologies to build on his existing wealth of knowledge. Technology brings about benefits to everyone, not only the young. Furthermore, the old would have accumulated many experiences in life that can enable them to overcome and barriers obstructing their way to efficiently utilize technology. Hence, both young and old alike are able to utilize the technology available to increase their theoretical knowledge. In a recent survey done by Internet market research firm eMarketer, it was discovered that as current generations of workers retire, they bring their computer-savvy, Web-surfing ways into retirement, spawning an entirely new market of internet users. Though adults over 65 still have not fully adopted the Internet use, due to the fact many had retired before online access became common in the workplace, the current generation of would-be retirees are very different. According to statistics from the US Department of Commerce, in 2003, 61% of those aged 50-64 used the internet, compared to 23.9% of those over 65. This shows that the older generations are adapting fast to the introduction of new technologies specifically the web as a source of information and entertainment. Such a example would suggest that the old are just as ready as the young to adapt to the new technologies albeit them suffering from minor problems or difficulties in trying to do so. Nevertheless, the picture put across is clear, our old are also able to utilize the new technologies to increase their source of theoretical knowledge just like what the young are perceived to do, hence when coupled with their rich life experiences, it would suggest strongly that the young would not become more knowledgeable than the old simply because of new technologies arising. Lastly, we can say that there is no guarantee that the young can become more knowledgeable simply by virtue of the existence of new technologies. They might have the facilities, the opportunities, but do they ever grab them? That is the main question this paragraph asks. The young are generally inexperienced in life, and are mostly immature at their age. The majority of the young should be considered to be immature if we speak realistically, and hence by being immature in their acts and thoughts, they would be unsure of what are their priorities. With new technologies not only providing archives of theoretical knowledge for users but also distractions that can easily attract the attention of users, the young seem to be in a rather precarious position. Since the majority of the young people in society are unable to fully discipline themselves, these distractions that come with the new technologies are able to easily divert their attention from utilizing the technologies to gain more information and theoretical knowledge. The older users on the other hand would have attained a certain level of maturity ensuring that they do what they think is right, hence we can question if the emergence of new technologies actually does increase the theoretical knowledge of our young. Statistics show that 97 percent of all American youths play video games, and all around the world we witness the rise in computer game addicts. These are testament to the fact that the young seem to be incapable of utilizing the technology available to them to their benefit, rather to their detriment. Hence, it would seem as though that the situation where the young seem more knowledgeable than those older than them is a façade. With the new technologies acting to the detriment of, rather than benefit to, the young, we can safely say that young would not seem to be more knowledgeable than the old. In conclusion, it is clear that all the assumptions of how the young can utilize the technology available to them to increase their theoretical knowledge might possibly be false. The entire proposal would seem to be rather ridiculous even if we ignore the fact that the old have more life experiences, and are slower at adapting to use the new technologies. Therefore it can be concluded that new technologies have not created a situation where the young seem more knowledgeable than the old. This would be something in which perhaps only the young can agree with.
 * “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?