Mark Bauerlein response to Marc Prensky

I'm a cultural conservative, Marc and Doug, so I regard the voices of the past, those who have survived the test of time, to be a steadying influence in the rush of information, sounds, images, and words that more and more threaten to overwhelm and confuse us. McCluhan's term "upheaval" I take as a warning, and the voices of the past assist in working through the "great pain" and "identity loss" that each revolutionary change brings about. Yes, the "old folks" resist the changes, while the young tend to embrace them. But that generational division, in fact, is, I would say, a healthy response. We need both sides in order to cultivate the benefits of the new and filter out the damages of the new. In fact, each group helps curtail the excesses of the other--old folks rebuke the ignorance and self-involvement of adolescents, and adolescents curb the rigidity and resentment of the elders.