The zombie generation

It was, as we all know, a very scary time. It was a time when we needed gas masks and apocalyptic pharmacies in our closets. But now, in 2009, that time is (perhaps temporarily) gone.

Though there is a greater threat of terrorism now than before we invaded Iraq, a general calm has descended upon our country. Air travel is not nearly as nerve-wracking as it once was. Taking the bus or a train also doesn't seem to faze us anymore. We've become relatively comfortable with the odds. While we know that we can't elude the terrorists forever, we comfortably hedge our bets that this plane, this train, this tall building won't be the fatal one - that in the end, everyone we care about is going to be OK.

Our growing resistance to fear is normal. Fear stirs quickly, and then, with time, we get over it. Israelis haven't stopped taking buses, and eventually, vacationers won't think twice about hotels in India. But I propose that while people have generally always been able to distance themselves from disasters and go on with their lives, our generation and future generations will do so to an unprecedented degree.

Mass media, which was supposed to bring us closer to the world around us, is in fact drawing us away from it.

We have been brought up with an accessibility to media unparalleled by any other generation. Tom Alderman has called our generation the "ADD Generation," making the case that mass media has propagated ADD behavior among all of us. It is the qualification of a culture of channel-changing and multitasking, which results in more information piling onto the same highway, only to get backed up in bumper-to-bumper mental traffic.

I agree with Alderman that our generation is exhibiting especially ADD-like behavior, but I would take it yet a step further. The reign of 24-hour news and the emergence of the blogosphere are taking the media in a direction that is unintentionally coupling accessibility with redundancy.

The terrorist attacks in India deservedly became a media obsession last December, but the constant coverage had a curious effect. Eyes, once transfixed, became bored. We began to see the attacks as just another atrocity, one we could add to the towering heap of horrific things that had preceded it. So we got bored and sought a new story of interest. How did the media respond? They recognized our boredom and satisfied our need for fresh news. The same goes for the current financial crisis, the coverage of which has been pounding through our heads like a bad Phil Collins song, and we've grown about as tired of Henry Paulson as we have of "Sussudio." And now the country's most-respected journalists are thinking more about Ponzi schemes than national liquidity vulnerabilities.

The feedback is normal, understandable and human. But regardless, our old news is becoming old too early, and we gorge all of it, swallowing rather much, digesting rather little.

That's why this apparent calm is going to persist among those our age and younger - even as they age and enter the workforce. Media bombardment has trained us to get on with our lives faster than ever before and has given us a resistance to its poison, a protective shield.

Despite everything there is to fear, our generation - more than any other - remains calm. There is a terrorist threat, and there is a cause for immense concern. Our economic situation has all of the makings of a national disaster, but until those we know personally lose their jobs and until we are fighting on the streets for odd jobs, we will insulate ourselves from the fears we really should harbor.

Our society is on the brink of tremendous change - and that's not just a campaign slogan. We are the Zombie Generation, and we will cling to apathy, living our lives as if business were usual, even if it isn't. If terrorists are looking to inspire fear to advance a political agenda, the Zombie Generation will prove a strong adversary. And while the media can be credited with producing an apathetic survivalism, our indifference to the world makes us a bit less human. Mass media will save us all from fear and panic, but will we be worth saving?

Peter Zakin is a freshman from New York, N.Y. He can be reached at pzakin@princeton.edu.