I vaguely recall this book. Isn't it essentially an update of the cycles hypothesized by Herodotus (5th century BCE) in The Histories?

Well, I am not familiar with The Histories, so I don't know. But its thesis is that it takes four generations for society to die off and forget the wisdom of its forefathers and so things tend to go in four generation cycles. A person's grandfather and grandchildren are in the same phase of the cycle.

_________________
Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

First, thank you Aidoneus, I’m glad I read the post to the end because I also wanted to post that Hesiod quote

and It’s a downwards spiral, I think: same phase, one level lower.

Greetings, Tom

_________________
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

Many cycles seem to exist: personal, generational, societal, maybe even cosmic.

As is the generation of leaves, so to of men:
At one time the wind shakes the leaves to the ground
but then the flourishing woods
Gives birth, and the season of spring comes
into existence;
So it is with the generations of men, which
alternately come forth and pass away.
- Homer, The Illiad, Book Six

Well, that's obviously a typo. But I am talking about people who don't even know the difference between their, there, or even they're.

_________________
Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Obviously. As was "a slightly sophisticated grammar..." Next time use a write-it-for-you app and that sort of thing won't happen.

_________________
Patience, grasshopper.

Great example of Muphry's Law.

{For emoji, see previous note.}

The pen is not as sharp as the computer, which deleted Mr. Whipple's files, so he squeezed a cretin so hard in his disappointment that he saw stars, while the jellyfish partied like bunnies.

Right?

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I am reminded of this XKCD:

(hidden for size)

Having read numerous non-fictional books, I've often wonder how many ideas have really stuck in my head and how deep the thoughts were evolving about these ideas, with respect to the time invested into reading the words conveying them.

I am quite sure that the art of book writing will not be looked back upon as our peak of information transfer. While there will be little quibbling over the amount of such transfer today, I argue that even its depth will improve, once we have wielded these new instruments.

For more good stuff about the deficit of (symbolic) language and the vanishing days of pen & paper as the interface, read Bret Victor (worrydream).

So true!

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

"Reading rots the brain."
-- Schopenhauer

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

A personal attack? I don't consider it one. My mother used to work as a copy editor, and for a few years she marked up all the errors in my essays before I turned them in. As a result, I have passable grasp of written language, though I do overuse commas, especially if I don't stop to edit my writing. I'm also a few years too old to use text speak: I use periods and complete sentences even texting (but my elders don't: http://xkcd.com/1083/).

What I object to is, to repeat myself, the ahistorical and self-serving character of the comments (see Herman's post for some evidence). There's no definitive way to settle the issue, but for every anecdote or trend you cite, I could offer an opposite one. Did you know that teen pregnancy is at its all-time low?

Again, give it time. Someday, the kid who is sitting around listening to "dubstep" will be posting on a message board about how the kids these days have no respect or sense. And just like today, it will be bullshit (in the technical sense).

Let me leave you with something amazing and fun.

_________________
Occupy Babel!

I'm sure that youth adapts better to the challenges of its time than elders, in all times.
I'm also quite sure that the art of full sentence writing in proper grammar and spelling is one that elders are generally better skilled at. This is mostly because that art shows a diminishing value in our times.
Youngers are impressively better at making videos or multitasking (aka not paying attention), for example.

Progress is not linear. Some virtues and skills may have to come back.

No? It seemed like it to me after you introduced a defense of younger generations. The discussion concerned the societal changes that have been driving weaker students into colleges, not how much better the top students used to be in some glorious past. I suggested that the trend of pushing to enroll everyone into college has met with so much success primarily owing to the loss of middle class manufacturing jobs. I knew many kids at my school who went straight into the steel mills during the 1960s. (Of course, many others had musical, athletic, or some other talent that they pursued.) Since the mid-1970s, U.S. Steel Gary Works, for example, produces just as much steel but with one-tenth the workforce. I don't think that I am an elitist. I do think that those who insist that everyone should try to get a college degree are misguided, at best, or simply shills for the for-profit colleges that have sprung up across the U.S. (Edit: See this WSJ article for changing employment: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/how-americ ... /?mod=e2fb)

As for how much better, or maybe more civil, public discourse was in America's golden past, I would refer an interested reader to Richard Rosenfeld's American Aurora. American Aurora is a reprint of substantial portions of the Philadelphia Aurora newspaper, which was published from 1794 through 1824 by Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache (d. 1798), and William Duane. Even the most casual perusal will dissuade the reader of any image they may harbor of polite "drawing room" mild discord among the general voting population. In my opinion, reading this old newspaper will do more for understanding the political battle between Adams and Jefferson than any 10 academic tomes put together.