If knowledge is power, shouldn't that make us the most powerful generation thus far? Yet, as of October 13th, in the United States our top five Google searches are as follows: the Cubs, the Steelers, the Mets, Steve Spurrier (SC football, in case you didn't know who that was), and Taylor Swift.
I won't discredit people's interests because I love T-swift and football as much as the next person, and baseball is an All-American past time. But I will not excuse the fact that not one of our top 20 google searches reference a worldly matter. Apparently, the knowledge we seek concerns "why did Adam Levine shave his head" and "why is playboy going to stop publishing nude photos." Evidently, irrelevant rumors and access to naked women take precedence over the democratic debates taking place tonight or the joint effort put forward over the last five days by the United States and Afghan ground troops to shut down al Qaeda training bases.
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Call me crazy, but I think information on those seeking to lead our country and the well-being of our troops should take some sort of precedence.
There are five things that I wish our generation would do.
1. Use your phone for more than Snapchat.
Did you know that the tiny rectangle you hold in your hand is literally a pocket-size connector to endless amounts of information? With the touch of a button you can know anything you want. If you're feeling really lazy, you can just ask Siri and she'll find the information for you. Mind=blown. Our phones are attached to our hand. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could harness all that potential? In between the tireless quest for knowledge, you can even take a tweet break! Could it get any better than that?
2. Stop speaking about things we don't know about.
Please, don't tell me you are deciding between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, that is like saying you are trying to decide whether to use motor oil or milk to make a cake. They aren't even close. If you don't know what you are talking about, don't talk about it. I promise your silence won't be nearly as offensive as the uninformed statements you are spewing. Our generation likes to spout their opinions just to be a part of something. We have this burning desire to be the authority on everything. But imagine the weight lifted off your shoulders when you allow yourself to say, "Honestly, I don't know." It’s a lot more effort to try and remember what your dad said about the deficit at dinner three years ago than it is to sit back and listen.
3. Just because you aren't clued in doesn't mean you never will be.
I am not saying you shouldn't participate in conversations over things you don't know about. By all means, soak up the knowledge from those around you. You should ask questions, ask why they feel that way about a particular topic, and go home and educate yourself by reading as many articles as possible. Just because you read one doesn't mean you have read them all. You will feel so much more power when you realize how you are expanding your mind. You will never know everything, but you can always learn more.
4. Don't fall for bias.
Everyone has a bias, including news stations. Don't limit yourself to one source of information. Allow your mind to be open to all the opinions around you. Once you have seen all sides, you will feel more confident in forming your own opinion. This is important because it allows us to take pride in our views, because we fabricated them ourselves. We took the information we tirelessly sought out and formed an opinion. We are not a regurgitation of information communicated to us in order to support political propaganda. As a generation, our minds are strong and we should use them as we see fit.
5. Take the power you have and use it.
Your voice is not powerless because you are only in your 20s or even younger. Do something that allows you to contribute to the world with your enlightened spirit and strong mind. Vote in the next presidential election for a candidate you have spent the last year following; educate your coworkers when they don't understand a customer's cultural difference; encourage others to become their own beacon of knowledge.
Our generation has become so backward. The fact that we have immediate access to anything we want to know has made us take knowledge and experience for granted. As a generation, we have so much potential to make a difference. We can change lives and pave pathways we never thought possible. Informed members of society make informed decisions that ultimately lead to a better nation. If we can change the world, why shouldn't we? Isn't this the story you want to tell your children, or will you proudly tell them how you binge-watched "Keeping Up with the Kardashians?"
Knowledge can be so many things. It is power, it is fearlessness, it is hope, and it is a future. If we as a generation decide to harness it, we will be unstoppable. A wise teacher once told me that our generation has the power to become one of the worst or the greatest the world has ever seen. Being the latter starts with you.
