As the holiday season climaxes families will be coming together. It is inevitable that some relative will tell you to put away your phone and then give you a seemingly infinite spiel on how technology is ruining this generation, and people used to actually talk to each other. While these relatives are focusing on a few facts, they are ignoring many others that are just as, if not more significant.

First, technology has transformed learning from memorizing to understanding. Teachers know that students can just look up trivial facts on their phones almost instantly. As a result the curriculum focuses more understanding and applying rather than memorizing. This also proves to be harder than the curriculum of previous generations, because applying information is often more difficult to master.

Second, the world has become more connected from technology. This has allowed for the new generation to be the most accepting and most well rounded yet. It is also somewhat ironic that previous generations criticize this factor, given the extreme amounts of racism and ignorance they have displayed in the past.

Do not, however, accost your relative for criticizing your use of technology. Instead listen politely and know one day that this young generation and technological advances are the future.