Reference Points

Each August since 1998, Beloit College in Wisconsin has been issuing the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural issues, events and people that have shaped the lives of students who are entering college. It was originally created to remind faculty members that they should be sensitive to using dated references that their students would not understand.

I have experienced this phenomenon when I am talking with members of the younger generation, which nowadays includes a whole lot of folks since I have reference points that probably make no sense to many generations. This is driven home when I use a colloquial remark like “that’s cool” or “that’s far out” or reference a TV show from the 50s or 60s. While those terms or references might make sense to fellow baby boomers, they are generally lost on anyone under the age of 50 to 60.

I have also seen this dated reference issue at work whenever my wife and I play the board game Trivial Pursuit Collector’s Edition with our adult children, and they don’t know the answers to many of the questions because the reference points  are 20-plus years old. Our children comically refer to it as the “old fogies’” edition!

We each have our own reference points established by our interaction with friends and other contacts, and by the cultural and historical events with which we have grown up. We need to remember this when we interact with others. What makes perfect sense to us may be a complete mystery to someone with different reference points.

Today’s entering freshman class was born 18 years ago (1993). Here are just a few of the things that distinguish them. If you would like to see the complete Mindset List, click here.

• There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway
• Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents
• The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports
• They “swipe” cards, not merchandise
• There have nearly always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded U.S. Navy ships
• Amazon has never been just a river in South America
• Refer to LBJ and they might assume you’re talking about LeBron James
• Women have never been too old to have children
• The Communist Party has never been the official political party in Russia
• “Yadda, yadda, yadda” has always come in handy to make long stories short
• Music has always been available via free downloads
• They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe: Michael who?
• Grown-ups have always been arguing about health care policy
• Nurses have always been in short supply
• Refugees and prisoners have always been housed by the U.S. government at Guantanamo
• PC has come to mean personal computer, not political correctness