I don’t think it’s so terrible that people forget the name Hitler, but remember King’s. We should better remember victims of violence, and not the perpetrators. Churchill’s life is thought to be mythology by a staggering number of British children. I think it has to do with how long ago it was. Even though it was within the lifetime of millions of people on earth who are still with us, the generations mostly on the Internet have no first hand experience with anything to do with World War II, let alone anything from before the 1970s.

Now I’m feeling really not young. Every time I play with the kids I’m told to “pick up the sniper rifle, stay in the back and try not to shoot me this time.”

Yeah, but how many people of our parents’ generation could works their way through even the EASIEST levels of Halo III?

Alain:

The capacity to distort any issue into confirmation of one’s own ideological bias is truly a gift.

Also, I’m willing to bet my Dad was right when he muttered ‘kids these days’. I think there aren’t that many ‘not young’ people who could name, without prompting, the Japanese cities that were nuked or the year of confederation. At the very least, there would be some awkward pauses.

I know you (and me) are too damned old to believe that Robert.

The current generation of younglings seem to care more about their myspace profiles than the world around them.

Why? History has little value in our society.

What’s even worse than total lack of knowledge is the snippet of fact that becomes national mythology. The whole “Canadians burned down the White House” type silliness for example.

A little knowlege can be a dangerous thing too.