I don't care whether you call yourself a member of generation Y, Z, or a "millennial," you are in my eyes, like myself, a member of the Google Generation. Please note that this should not be confused with the "The Google" Generation, as those people are very different and probably need our help. Being a member of the Google Generation, we have at our fingertips (you know, the part of your hands that touch the keyboard) more access to more information than ever before, so let's use it.
We grumble to ourselves and our peers throughout high school and college that we were never taught to do taxes, or apply for a loan, or balance a budget. We laugh at the state of an education system where young girls can't find the clitoris, but can show you how to put on a condom. We question why we don't know what state lies directly below Delaware (it's Maryland) and then continue to suck at the geography questions of bar trivia. To an extent, it isn't our fault, really. The education system sucks, and we suck at bar trivia a little more because of it. However, the education system can't be changed by one single angry bar trivia patron, or even a whole bar trivia team, no matter how clever their name is. For those of us old enough to attend bar trivia, it's also probably too late to go back to high school and demand a better semester of personal finance, health class, or geography. What we can do instead is Google.
Yes, this is a call to action, albeit a very small action - typing only burns about 41 calories per half hour. Google it! You've heard it a thousand times from just about everyone, and just about everyone is right. We have a wealth of knowledge just a few keystrokes away. We can get directions and translate and define and synonymize, and for every dictionary definition Google can spit out, it can give you a hundred links to videos and articles about anything you've ever wanted to know, and probably more than a few things you didn't. What I'm trying to say is, seek that which ye hath not been taught. Once upon a time, I, too, did not know how to file taxes, or where my clitoris was. But through the magic of searching the internet I was able to find all that, and more! More and more I find myself complaining about something I wish I was taught, and each and every time I remind myself that I'm responsible for my own education.
As a member of the Google generation, I know complaining about my lack of knowledge is just wasted energy because in the time it takes me to talk crap on my high school history teacher, I can ask my phone all about the Alamo, and then remember what it tells me. For every politically charged Facebook post I see that makes me question some insanely high statistic, I can pop open a new tab and fact check that shiz in less time than you can say "orange toupee." So please, just Google it.
The truth is out there.
