While browsing through Borders, a book in the social science section caught my eye — and not in a good way. In “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30),” author Mark Baurlein makes quite a statement. Who knew that our generation’s intelligence is depressing enough not only to comment on in passing, but actually to write a 300-page book about?

Primarily, this work aims at convincing digitally engaged youngsters that their current pastimes will doom them to permanent ignorance. Apparently, if our generation (those born in 1980 and after) refuses to change, we will all “be remembered as the fortunate ones who were unworthy of all the privileges” we inherited.

Baurlein gives oodles of examples to back his belief that “Millennials” are only getting more stupid. Not all of his claims add up, such as his assertion that 18 to 24-year-olds “don’t vote regularly” because “45 percent can’t comprehend a ballot.” This conflicts with statistics from The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) that reported our voter turnout between 52 and 53 percent for the 2008 election. The author has more questionable ideas, like claiming that two-thirds of our generation is not adequately literate, though he also admits that college enrollment has jumped 20 percent in the past 10 years.

As puzzling as some of these “facts” may be, fears about the digital age’s negative effects aren’t exactly a rarity. Numerous other venues have been shouting about the travesty of technology, from Atlantic Magazine’s cover title “Is Google Making us Stoopid?” to in-depth reports by ABC News like “Will GPS Make Us Dumb?” It’s undeniable that a divide is steadily growing between the gadget-loving computer whizzes and the digitally intimidated.

What exactly does this mean for students? Are our futures, both as intelligent humans and full-time employees, in jeopardy? We have been raised with the benefits of cell phones, spell-check, PDAs and lap tops. It’s unfair for society to punish the technology-dependent monsters that it created.

I spoke with Professor Gary J. Minden of the University’s department of electrical engineering and computer science department, who assured me there’s little to fear. Rather, students need to recognize how quickly technology is changing almost every occupation. According to Minden, “You will be doing different things than those before you. The challenge is to recognize how much things are going to change in your career and learn to anticipate those changes to stay ahead.” Despite worries about the shrinking brainpower of Millennials, Minden reassured our generation, “I don’t think students are any dumber now than they were before.”

We aren’t morons — we’re just misunderstood. It has been said that the past 200 years have seen more advances than the thousand before it. With that in mind, we must remember to be patient with our elders and their concerns about our potential technology-dependence, while also lending a benevolent hand when they are struggling to set up their TiVo.

Buser is a Columbia, Ill., junior in English and journalism.