# Beloit College Mindset List for Class of 2016 just released **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274 "2012-08-22T15:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/1 "2012-08-22T15:15:42Z")
Submitted for your amusement and edification, the Beloit College Mindset List for Class of 2016 was just released. It’s at their website at: [http://themindsetlist.com/](http://themindsetlist.com/) From the preamble: “They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room.” The most important item is: 30. There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/2 "2012-08-22T15:24:14Z")
I’ve got a problem with #6: > [@](#): > > 1. Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. Bauds? Bauds?! Really? No one’s talked about speed in bauds in two decades. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/3 "2012-08-22T15:28:00Z")
I didn’t really find any of them particularly insightful or mind-blowing. Now when the list has stuff like ‘The NYC World Trade Center never existed in their lifetime’ or ‘flying cars have always been powered by cold-fusion’… ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/4 "2012-08-22T15:39:24Z")
I’m kind of embarrassed that a college graduate wrote that list, let alone a college professor. It reads like they pulled up the wiki article for 1994 and added “There’s always been…” in front of each item. And you can tell the author is a million years old: There’s always been Aleve! Robert Osbourne has always been on Turner Classic Movies! ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/5 "2012-08-22T16:16:19Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I’m kind of embarrassed that a college graduate wrote that list, let alone a college professor. It reads like they pulled up the wiki article for 1994 and added “There’s always been…” in front of each item. Yeah, doing this every year means that whoever writes it has to somehow come up with something that distinguishes it from the same list for the previous year… But not a lot change in just one year, especially when we’re talking about kids not remembering stuff which gives at least 4-6 years of leeway for being “too young to remember” something that technically existed or was standard within one’s lifetime. It’d be better to do this every 10 years; every 5 tops. Like a HS reunion type of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/6 "2012-08-22T18:16:39Z")
Wow. Incoming college freshmen were born the year I was an incoming college freshman. That’s…wow. Crap. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/7 "2012-08-22T18:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > A quarter of the entering students already have suffered some hearing loss. Big deal. We had loud headphones in the 70s, too. They were groovy. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/8 "2012-08-22T21:34:32Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Wow. Incoming college freshmen were born the year I was an incoming college freshman. That’s…wow. Crap. The fact that most of them really don’t remember the Clinton administration is what got me. ---
**Author:** ![Jenova\_Tokka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea5d25/32.png) [@Jenova\_Tokka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenova_Tokka)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/9 "2012-08-22T21:43:35Z")
Kurt Cobain always being dead for them was the one that really made me clutch the pearls. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/10 "2012-08-22T21:52:10Z")
I find these lists entertaining, but ultimately useless. At some point, it’s inevitable–my parents didn’t grow up with television, but I did; my grandparents didn’t grow up with radio, but my parents did; my grandparents didn’t grow up with slavery, but my great-grandparents did (although they were in Wisconsin and the Indian Territory [later Oklahoma] at the time, but they grew up during the slavery period). Entertaining? Sure. And that’s the extent of it. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/11 "2012-08-22T23:17:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > A quarter of the entering students already have suffered some hearing loss. > > Big deal. We had loud headphones in the 70s, too. They were groovy. they were closed and used indoors. the kids use buds outdoors and need to drown out that sound. that’s why their ears are bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/12 "2012-08-22T23:17:36Z")
> [@The List](#): > > Astronauts have always spent well over a year in a single space flight. That’s ridiculous. As far as I know, only Valeri Polyakov ever spent ‘well over a year’ in space at once. > **[List of spaceflight records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records#Ten_longest_human_space_flights)** > > Records and firsts in spaceflight are broadly divided into crewed and uncrewed categories. Records involving animal spaceflight have also been noted in earlier experimental flights, typically to establish the feasibility of sending humans to outer space. > The notion of "firsts" in spaceflight follows a long tradition of firsts in aviation, but is also closely tied to the Space Race. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and the United States competed to be the first countries to accomplish... Number two on the list of longest spaceflights is the only one other than Polyakov to even break 365 days. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/13 "2012-08-24T23:38:46Z")
“41. Good music programmers are rock stars to the women of this generation, just as guitar players were for their mothers.” ummm… I guess this generation will be all too familiar with sexism huh? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/14 "2012-08-25T01:12:25Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > That’s ridiculous. As far as I know, only Valeri Polyakov ever spent ‘well over a year’ in space at once. > > [List of spaceflight records - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records#Ten_longest_human_space_flights) > Number two on the list of longest spaceflights is the only one other than Polyakov to even break 365 days. I don’t think it means any single astronaut. Just means that there is always somebody up there. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/15 "2012-08-25T01:58:28Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Wow. Incoming college freshmen were born the year I was an incoming college freshman. That’s…wow. Crap. Wow. Incoming college freshmen were born the year before I turned 30. That’s…wow. Crap. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/16 "2012-08-25T02:12:40Z")
I suspect that these lists don’t give kids enough credit. I can’t speak for THIS year’s college kids, but I also looked at [the list for people born in 1980](http://themindsetlist.com/lists/2002/) and even though I was born a few years AFTER that, when I was 18 I was still aware of many of the cultural references that list refers to. For example: I knew about Reagan being shot, the Challenger exploding, what Pong was (even played it once), and what a broken record was. My family had a black & white TV when I was young. If by “beige” he means those light brown M&Ms, yes, I remember those and I do recall the blue M&ms being a novelty. We did NOT have cable when I was young. True, many kids my age did grow up watching cable (hence why my fiance has fond memories of Nickelodeon shows I never watched), but I wouldn’t say that it was uncommon for people to have just the basic TV channels when I was a kid. I knew about catchphrases like “Where’s the beef?” and “Who shot JR?”. I remember Johnny Carson being the host of the Tonight Show. I remember styrofoam McDonald’s containers. I not only have heard of the bands Kansas, Boston, Chicago, America, and Alabama but I’ve also heard songs from them. Sure, it is good to keep in mind that some kids may not understand things that happened when they were young or shortly before they were born, but I think many kids are savvy enough to be aware of these events. It’s not like people stop talking about major historical events right after they happen. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/17 "2012-08-25T02:21:47Z")
I imagine they’re eagerly awaiting the 2020 list when they can say “The Beloit College Mindset List has always existed”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/18 "2012-08-25T02:30:10Z")
The biggest difference between me and my younger brother was that Scappy Doo didn’t exist when I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/19 "2012-08-25T03:23:30Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > If by “beige” he means those light brown M&Ms, yes, I remember those and I do recall the blue M&ms being a novelty. 😕 Why would they even include that in a list about people born in 1980? Tan M&Ms went away in 1995, so they were teenagers when it happened. I was born in 198_8_ and I can remember it (my dad and I voted in the phone poll, in fact). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274/20 "2012-08-25T03:53:32Z")
They do not say “dial” a telephone number. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beloit-college-mindset-list-for-class-of-2016-just-released/632274.md?page=2)