Marist College Ruins the Annual List

[polly_mer]

Beloit College used to issue an annual cultural list on what the 18 year olds likely know or don't know.  Beloit used some humor.  Marist took over this year and I didn't make it through the whole list because it was so boring and focused on the least important things for real majors.

https://insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/09/marist-takes-over-mindset-list-it-changes

[Anselm]

I agree, it is pretty boring. 

[spork]

I stopped at the first bullet point.

[mythbuster]

Ok so let's make our own! 18 year olds would have been born in 2002. So I will start with.

9/11 is something that happened in the past, before they were born.

Add in folks!

[Puget]

I was in college when they were born. Now that's a scary thought. . .

This has been true for a few years now, but they have no clear memory of a time before smart phones.

[spork]

Ok so let's make our own! 18 year olds would have been born in 2002. So I will start with.

9/11 is something that happened in the past, before they were born.

Add in folks!

I would frame this as something like "The USA has been fighting the 'War on Terror' for longer than they've been alive."

[mythbuster]

I've got another one.

They have never been able to meet a friend at the gate in the airport.

[marshwiggle]

They have no concept of privacy.

[the_geneticist]

The human genome has always been sequenced (draft 2001).  Over-the-counter genetic testing has been a suggested present since they were kids.

[spork]

I've got another one.

They have never been able to meet a friend at the gate in the airport.

Yes! Love this.

Edited to add:

Google has always been a verb.

[apl68]

The Twentieth Century is entirely before their lives and therefore ancient history. 

[brixton]

The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey  has always sounded like a historic documentary.  :-)

[apl68]

The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey  has always sounded like a historic documentary.  :-)

Good one!

Now that you mention it, it is getting hard to remember what is like when "the year 2000" and "the 21st century" used to be shorthand for "futuristic."

[bio-nonymous]

I stopped at the first bullet point.

I wish I had, the list didn't get any better...

[onthefringe]

The Y2K problem seems like a quaint thing that nobody could have worried about.