2012-08-31                        John W         John W's previous articles

  Generation E 

We talk about Generation X (people born from about 1960 to about 1980), Generation Y (early 80s to early 90s) and Generation Z (early 90s to present)

All three groups, together with many groups before them, 
can also well be called Generation E, where E stands for Entertainment

For this is what we have become: people with a craving for entertainment

Not a craving for learning or knowledge or information.
But a craving for entertainment

So our young people and many older people are hooked on entertainment machines.

So our students are increasingly hard to motivate by any approach that is not entertaining

So our newspapers and TV news services have followed a downward trend to sensationalism

Serious news doesn't sell. Doesn't attract buyers/viewers/internet users

The media people's mantra is "entertain or perish"

All of which means that fewer and fewer people take an interest in world affairs or serious local issues

For those of us who are Christians, salt of the earth folk, Generation God, what can we do? We also are affected by this dumbing down of society. We Christians are losing our saltiness as our minds are flooded with excessive entertainment

How can we stand against the tide?

One thing we can and must do is try to keep fit mentally, by making a conscious effort to follow the serious issues of our day and of our Church. Make an effort to read scholarly articles rather than sensational articles. Watch quality TV programs - especially documentaries and world news programs. If we still buy newspapers, buy quality papers rather than sensational ones

See: Allegory of journalistic decline by Jonathan Green (ABC)