Texting makes us stupid

This article by Niall Ferguson, "Texting Makes U Stupid" skipped my notice when it first appeared in Daily Beast (9/11/11). I would have missed it again this time around had it not been called to my attention by Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Anyway, it's still a hot button issue, so better late than never. Abstract The good news is that today’s teenagers are avid readers and prolific writers. The bad news is that what they are reading and writing are text messages. According to a survey carried out last year by Nielsen, Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 send and receive an average of 3,339 texts per month. Teenage girls send and receive more than 4,000. It’s an unmissable trend. Even if you don’t have teenage kids, you’ll see other people’s offspring slouching around, eyes averted, tapping away, oblivious to their surroundings. Take a group of teenagers to see the seven wonders of the world. They’ll be texting all the way. Show a teenager Botticelli’s…