The Beloit College Mindset List is a list compiled by Beloit College
in Wisconsin which reflects what adolescents about to enter college
know about the world. These lists have been compiled since 1998,
and all of them can be found at

http://www.beloit.edu/%7Epubaff/mindset/


While looking it over, I realized that some of the misconceptions
of teenage conciousness they talk about are pretty interesting in themselves

For example, from the "Class of 2002" list, Reagan never
being shot, no hostage crisis, no Challenger explosion.

From the "Class of 2003" list, Yugoslavia never existing as a country.

From the "Class of 2006" list, China always having had a capitalist market economy

From the "Class of 2009" list, Ferdinand Marcos never coming to power, no FCC "Fairness Doctrine" ever existing, Wayne Gretzky never playing for Edmonton.

Thoughts on the lists?

While I'm sure they were probably written tongue and cheek and not meant to be taken too seriously, I always found them a little annoying, borderline insulting even. It's like they're lumping everyone together as stupid, acting like nobody remembers or knows anything before they were 13, which is BS. Reading these over, I always kinda get the impression they surveyed a bunch of teens (like Jay Leno does with his "streetwalking" sketches), took the occasional dumber answers and passed it off as "Hey, here's what every current 18 year old thinks!"

While I'm sure they were probably written tongue and cheek and not meant to be taken too seriously, I always found them a little annoying, borderline insulting even. It's like they're lumping everyone together as stupid, acting like nobody remembers or knows anything before they were 13, which is BS. Reading these over, I always kinda get the impression they surveyed a bunch of teens (like Jay Leno does with his "streetwalking" sketches), took the occasional dumber answers and passed it off as "Hey, here's what every current 18 year old thinks!"


You know, I dont think you guys are taking the spirit of the list as intended. It's not a "Teenagers are Stupid" list, it's stuff that happened before they were born. I remember exactly what I was doing when the challenger blew up and where I was. That's an experiance that a teenager can't have (or that I will never have in regards to JFK getting killed, or that kids born this year will have in regards to the new york/DC attacks). Sure kids today have probably played Pac Man - but in a crowded smoke filled arcade lined with dozens of other machines, dropping quarter after quarter for a few moments of video pleaure? No - that's something that only the older generation have experianced.

You know, I dont think you guys are taking the spirit of the list as intended. It's not a "Teenagers are Stupid" list, it's stuff that happened before they were born. I remember exactly what I was doing when the challenger blew up and where I was. That's an experiance that a teenager can't have (or that I will never have in regards to JFK getting killed, or that kids born this year will have in regards to the new york/DC attacks). Sure kids today have probably played Pac Man - but in a crowded smoke filled arcade lined with dozens of other machines, dropping quarter after quarter for a few moments of video pleaure? No - that's something that only the older generation have experianced.


Exactly, this is just a way of highlighting experiences more from the perspective of people who are older. 

You know, I dont think you guys are taking the spirit of the list as intended. It's not a "Teenagers are Stupid" list, it's stuff that happened before they were born. I remember exactly what I was doing when the challenger blew up and where I was. That's an experiance that a teenager can't have (or that I will never have in regards to JFK getting killed, or that kids born this year will have in regards to the new york/DC attacks). Sure kids today have probably played Pac Man - but in a crowded smoke filled arcade lined with dozens of other machines, dropping quarter after quarter for a few moments of video pleaure? No - that's something that only the older generation have experianced.


Oh I agree, there's some truth to what you're saying. It's one thing to remember an event with clarity, but they also talk about certain things "meaning nothing", or that no one would know what a Vinyl or an 8-track was. That's what I take issue with. It's like come on, they're trying to make everyone look like total brats and morons. And the ones who ARE like that make the smarter folks look bad.

These lists have been around for years, and I know it kinda p*ssed me off in the late '90s or around 2000 when my people age were in the direct line of fire. I remember the list for people born around 1980 had said "They only know Leno as the Tonight Show host". Now, I'm a year younger and I can clearly recall Johnny Carson. Yeah, it was in the end of his run, but I still knew him. This one dude I'm friends with (he was born in 1984) is actually a big Carson fan, and says he watched him all the time as a little kid. So that basically disproves it right there.

Yes, kids generally aren't hardcore participants and consumers of pop culture the way teens and younger adults are (i.e. attending concerts, going to a movie on a date, clubbing and partying). So for things along those lines, I would be more inclined to agree. I had teen babysitters in the late '80s who were living another life from me, although I still shared things like music or video games in common with them.

Meaningful memories start around the age of 4 or 5, not 13. It's not like people suddenly awaken to the world in high school.

P.S. What I find annoying aren't the lists themselves so much, it's that they're making blanket statements. No matter whom it's directed towards, that's kinda offensive. I wouldn't care if it read to the effect of "Here's some views a few incoming Freshman might have", instead of passing itself off as factual evidence for every person.

About the time of Reagan's funeral the TV stations were replaying the "Tear down this Wall!" speech from '87 - the response of one of my younger cousins: "There used to be a wall in Berlin?"

The point about Pac Man is right too - for example someone playing it on an emulator today is very different to the 10 year old playing it in the arcade in 1982 - and knowing about something from the history books etc is different to experiencing it first hand

I disagree with Marty about 5-6 being the start of a lot of memories - it's closer to 7-8 for most people - 4--6 being mainly fragments.

it's closer to 7-8 for most people.


Cool, fair enough. ;)

Topics like this have been done to death, especially on boards like this. Honestly, we could probably get thousands of people discussing it again, and some people still wouldn't reach an agreement. Let's just say everyone is different.

Personally, I'll clearly remember stuff I did when I was 6 and up 'till the day I die. 3-5 is hazier, but enough for me to get a feel for what things were like. I'll just leave it at that.