YOYO-ISG 100418 The net generation, unplugged

[Ivy yw]

Dear all

Pls write down your summary or essay based on the article The net generation, unplugged
http://www.economist.com/science-techno ... d=15582279

b,regards
ivy

[Michael-liu]

Hi, All

There is a sentence in the article I don't quite understand.

"The authors argue that young people like to use new, digital ways to express themselves: shooting a YouTube video where their parents would have written an essay, for instance."

這裡" where their parents would have written an essay" 是指什麼樣的 YouTube video 呢?


Michael

[Georgia]

這裡的 where 不是關代，所以不是指前面提到的 video。
他是用來表達對比意味； while也可做此用法，對比意味更強。

所以句子意思是說，年輕人現在用一些數位平台表達自我，像是拍一段影片放到 Youtube，而他們上一代的父執輩卻通常是藉由寫篇文章表達自己的想法。

[Michael-liu]

Wow! Georiga, you are really good!!

I checked the dictionary and hereby confirm you are correct


Where
4. used to say that one person, thing, opinion etc is different from another

Ex: Where others might have been satisfied, Dawson had higher ambitions.]


We usually see "while" in this kind of sentence structure. No wonder I didn't understand it

Thanks

Michael

[IVY]

Consensus : general or widespread agreement; majority of opinion
ex: Following the international practice" has become a general consensus

Give rise to: to cause something to exist, happen or occur
ex: Don't do that,it may give rise to endless troubles

Abound : to have something in great numbers or quantities
ex: Wildlife abounds in the forest

more than meets the eye
There is more to somebody/something than meets the eye.
某人某物比眼見的更為複雜

[Kooper]

Consensus : general or widespread agreement; majority of opinion
ex: Following the international practice" has become a general consensus

a consensus on sth
to reach a consensus
Ex: Could we reach a consensus on this matter? Let's take a vote.
There is a consensus among xxx that ...
Ex: There is a consensus among teachers that children should have a broad understanding of the world.
The consensus among xxx is that ...
Ex: The general consensus in the office is that he's useless at his job.
缺乏共識: the lack of consensus (on sth); fail to reach a consensus (on sth)

[Kooper]

steer clear of sb/sth: to avoid sb/sth unpleasant or difficult

Ex: British politicians tend to steer clear of religious topics.
Ex: If you're a beginner, steer clear of resorts with reputations for difficult skiing.

to generalize about sb/sth: to make a general statement about the whole of a group/thing

Ex: You can't generalize about a continent as varied as Europe.
Ex: It's difficult to generalize about the kind of people who come on these courses.
Ex: It's hard to generalize about Cole Porter because he wrote so many great songs that were so varied.

[IVY]

The article refers to individuals born from 1980 to 2000 called “Digital Natives” who grew up with digital technology. With the fundamental and significant technology revolution, they are surrounded by digital media to a large extent. However, the term “Digital Natives” has being discussed in terms of education, work, and politics.
People who hold affirmative opinions think “Digital Natives” creatively express themselves in a digital way which is different from previous generation. Through internet, such as Facebook or Youbute are popular among the younger to deliver and share their personal thoughts, experiences and political beliefs. Educators and employers are even encouraged to learn the generation’s language to communicate with them and throw away their own conventional thinking.
Are all youth digital natives? The opponent thinks that it’s inappropriate to frame one group roughly, because it does not take economic, geographic, and demographic factors into account. Even within “Digital Natives”, each of them has varying degrees of access to digital technologies. In fact, most of them are superficial. When it comes to politics, young people are not the major group getting involving in political activities. Although the digital technology becomes more important for society, it’s unnecessary to regard the younger as a special population because of the rising impact of technology. On the contrary, learning styles shaped by the digital approaches might be harmful for them.

[Kooper]

It is often too simplistic, sometimes misleading, to generalize about a whole generation by a single idea. On the other hand, we cannot deny the fact that human society is striding into an era of being “whole digital.” The argument of this article, in essential, comes down to the very differences between pointing out a trend and simplifying behaviors of a single generation.

The purposes of the books the author is arguing with are mainly to draw people’s attention to the coming trend. Pioneers, or in other words extreme cases, are singled out by these observers as examples in an attempt to better demonstrate the shift. There is no doubt that the transformation is taking place. After all, with novel media to communicate and interact with the world, how could people nowadays act the same as their forerunners? The truth would be, however, that these pioneers picked in the so-called trend books can merely epitomize the trend, not people of his generation as a whole.

While criticizing that younger generations are only being “digital” and being politically active with token gestures, the critics quoted in the article inevitably leave me an impression that they’re scrutinizing the digital natives from the perspective of outsiders - the non-digital natives – and from the old-school standards they were educated to live up to. The question is, given the innovative features of digital revolution, are these standards still applicable?

[chiron]

Wow! Georiga, you are really good!!

I checked the dictionary and hereby confirm you are correct


Where
4. used to say that one person, thing, opinion etc is different from another

Ex: Where others might have been satisfied, Dawson had higher ambitions.]


We usually see "while" in this kind of sentence structure. No wonder I didn't understand it

Thanks

Michael

Can it be short for "whereas" in spoken Englsih?

BTW, how are you Georgia, good to see you on forum again!!

[jacksonwang]

The net generation, has given rise by digital technologies, see the world in different way and deal things with different approach.
In school, this generation is no longer taught with designed educational system. In order to catch up with them, mentor need to learn new things. However, learning in different way in net generation might cause counterproductive, they easily fail to recognize cognitive differences.
In job field, employers should response for their preference and need instead of traditional command and control for this generation. Some people so-called digital natives only have skin deep familiarity with digital tools when it comes to social or political potential.
In politics, digital natives use their technological expertise to campaign on social issues, to be activism supporting the opposition, but they are doubted shallow because they’d like to broadcast activism instead of political engagement. However, internet also offers a platform for political expression for people living under repressive regimes.

[chiron]

Guys:
1. Can anyone explain what does this sentence mean: unlike those of us "a shade older"...?
2. I feel the title kind of meaningful, what's the function of "unplugged" used here? How do you interpret it?

[Good Word]
weigh in (ph.) to bring in one's weight, metaphorically speaking, to bear on an issue / 參與; 衡量
Ex: Management gurus, meanwhile, have weighed in to explain how employers should cope with this new generation’s preference for "collaborative working".

[Excerpt]
Government-controlled internet-access providers in Belarus, for example, provide servers full of pirated material to keep their customers happy.
-->Isn't it exactly what Chinese goverment do? Quite interesting viewpoint!

A recent study by the Pew Research Center, an American think-tank, found that internet users aged 18-24 were the least likely of all age groups to e-mail a public official or make an online political donation. But when it came to using the web to share political news or join political causes on social networks, they were far ahead of everyone else.
-->Can't agree anymore. To say is always eazier than to do. Will this generation finally become a new kind of "brainy" human being by telling their actions on internet this virtual world and that would be enough to give them satisfaction/hallucination of having already done? In short, can thinking and saying/writing replace action?

[Extended Question]
In your opinion, what quality should the real "digital native" have?

Sorry, I'm too tired to compose my conclusion. I will directly express it in tomorrow morning's meeting.

For Ivy, thanks for picking up such a meaningful article.
For Timothy, it's said about 90% webpages on internet are based on English. So, at least, you don't have too much problem in accessing them.

[Sherry Liao]

Net generation, those born somewhere between 1980 and 2000 when digital tools and internet had been well developed and popularized, usually give people an impression that they are endowed with talent for digital technology and are used to thinking and performing in a digital way. As a matter of course, there are always suggestions in educational, political and economic spheres that the world should develop a new way to cater to this new generation: for instance, to use digital tools, to emphasize on collaborative working and to give constant feedback.

However, there is more to this than meets the eye. Some experts in technology-related fields who have much contact with those "digital natives" suggest that most of them are not as proficient in technology as we might think. Also, a recent study showed that internet users aged 18-24 tended to comment on the internet and were most unlikely to take difinite measure to support their political standpoint. Furthermore, it is imprudent to make a sweeping generalization that this is a "new" generation who are so different from the rest of us, as variations exist in ages and regions and they should be taken into consideration.

[Sherry Liao]

a shade: slightly
Ex.: Don't you think those trousers are a shade too tight?
Ex.: The journey took us a shade over/under three hours.
Ex.: Our new car cost us a shade more/less than we were expecting it to.

debunk: to show that an idea or belief is false
Ex.: His claims were later debunked by fellow academics.
Ex.: The writer's aim was to debunk the myth that had grown up around the actress.
Ex.: His theories have been debunked by recent research.

counterproductive: achieving the opposite result to the one that you want
Ex.: Sending young offenders to prison can be counterproductive.
Ex.: Improved safety measures in cars can be counterproductive as they encourage people to drive faster.
Ex.: Increases in taxation would be counterproductive.

[Sherry Liao]

Pioneers, or in other words extreme cases, are singled out by these observers as examples in an attempt to better demonstrate the shift.

This sentence doesn't make sense to me. Would you care to elaborate?