The Metropolis

Generation Y problems solved #1: I'm overeducated for my job and slowly going stupid

Kathryn Bromwich | Wednesday 30 January, 2013 11:24

Introducing a new service where Snipe soothes or solves problems of the mind, especially the tender, confused minds of Generation Y, which have grown up into a world they never made and can barely comprehend. First up, a letter we made up ourselves. Submit genuine, personal mind problems to us in the comments, on Twitter or at [email protected].

Dear Problem Solver,

I’m afraid that the daily grind of a repetitive and unchallenging 9-5 job is rapidly destroying the brain cells so assiduously cultivated during two decades of relentless education. It’s got so bad that I can no longer justify wearing a beret and striking a pose of erudition. Is there any way I can rectify this decline?

Yours concernedly,
A Millennial

Ah, Millennial. Remember when you knew things? Every day at university you learned something new, and although you were still a lowly ignoramus compared to most other people there, at least you were doing something about it. You were progressing.

Now, except for the lucky ones who are continuing their studies or whose job involves learning new and interesting things, those days are gone. Hour after hour is spent sitting at your desk, doing some sort of admin or market research. The commute is endless, stressful and cold. By the time you get home it’s dark, you’re hungry, and your housemate is drumming loudly in the next room. At the weekend you have to contend with hangovers, weekend papers, and the lure of dicking about on the internet. The last thing you feel like doing is brushing up on your Russian or reading some Adorno. How then, Millennial, to keep your brain alive?

Use your lunch! Here are some things you can do to keep stupidity at bay during your lunchtime, for which all you need is your desk and some earphones:

Read things online: You probably do this already. But do it well. Check out TLS, McSweeney’s, literary magazine Five Dials, the New Yorker, The Quietus, 3AM Magazine, Ready Steady Book, or read classics on Gutenberg or Bartleby. Linguists can keep up with the news on Le Monde or El País.
Do some MOOCs: aka Massive Open Online Courses. Miss lectures and seminars? Coursera and edX offers classes given by professors at universities such as Brown, Columbia, Princeton and Stanford on topics that include film, science, classics, economics and history. You can also watch UCL lectures online.
TED talks: If you can get past the smug self-satisfaction of the unbearable yuppies on there, there are some genuinely interesting talks on running, orgasms, and spaghetti sauce.
Go for a jog: not only will you get oxygen and sunlight into your system, but you can listen to interesting things as you pound the streets. For example…
Listen to podcasts: Some of my favourites are Nigel Warburton’s Philosophy Bites and Bioethics Bites, which offer in-depth but accessible discussions with leading philosophers. Also: short stories in the New Yorker Fiction Podcasts, the BBC Modern Writers Archive, and the Guardian’s increasing podcast selection.

As a bonus, your boss may also assume you’re working through lunch.

Follow Kathryn on Twitter @kathryn42 and check out her blogs – Stuff White Brits Like and London Scrawling.

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