I was listening to the Diane Rehm Show on Sirius on the way home this afternoon. I just love her. She's great. And she's got this great voice, too. I always picture her with a Manhattan and a ciggie, but she's more pure than that.
Diane Rehm
Anyway, a listener had emailed in a comment about and in parallel with her guest's (Barrett Seaman) book, Binge. This comment is a gross over-simplification and serious generalization. But I think that it is spot-on.
Her comment was that today's children are really more ornamental than anything else: they are [generally] well-fed, well-cared for, have scheduled activities, specified academic and extra-curricular programs in high school, and are packaged so that they are competitive for getting into college. Then in college they may begin to broaden their horizons. But not until after college (or grad school) when they actually enter society do they find what their role will be, or essentially who they are.
I think that's really interesting. And I think it is true at the large scale, generalizing today's youth. Not that I knew who I was when I entered into college. But I did manage to find myself to a large degree, and at least have a handle on my role in society, during college and graduate school. Of course, that whole Ph.D. thing turns you so psychologically inside-out that if you don't have a handle on who you are and what your role will be you're a potato. At that point you might as well run for president.
But that is not what struck me about that comment. It was the part about children being more ornamental than anything else. I think is also very true. And it is sad. Really really sad.
