In middle school, when it was too cold outside, my friends and I would find entertainment with a card game during recess. Our favorite game to play was Bullshit. The game provided an outlet where we could freely lie and deceive in the sake of winning, essentially, one-up one another.

But as I grow older and survey my surroundings, it seems that my generation is continually playing a game of Bullshit. Our parents lived in an age when news outlets served as the herald of undisputed truth. We, however, have grown up in an era where information must be taken with a grain of salt. As gossip is continually packaged and spun to make news, we are forced to consort other avenues in the pursuit for truth.

Much of my generation, though, is reluctant to embark on this journey. Complacent in relying on parents to dictate our lives, we don’t question established mores. Instead we spend our time struggling with our self-inflicted need to measure up to our peers. We are a generation that is more concerned with appearing to have figured it all out, rather than actually doing so. We lack the necessary perspective to decipher what is true and, consequentially, what is real.

It is perspective, no matter how right or wrong, that paints many different portraits of truth and reality from which we can freely pick and choose. Without perspective, we refrain from questioning the hallow columns holding up the society in which we live. Instead, we build to it by adding layers of superficiality through narrow perceptions that remain unquestioned. Without a clear idea of what makes up truth and reality, however, we walk around wearing a shroud of cynicism.

And the Internet only encourages and intensifies this shallow world. Despite our skepticism and discontent for the world around us, though, we’ve become a new, extreme set of self-absorbed egomaniacs. Online social networks, like Facebook and MySpace, have made it easier than ever to draw attention to every petty detail of life via updated profile or uploaded picture. Life is instantly validated with every new endeavor alerted to our social network via News Feed.

This quick and easy process of bragging has increased selfishness while allowing us to further evade perspective. It was once necessary to physically interact with others in order to boast. The Internet, though, has made this connection process obsolete. At least when a friend told of a new job or boyfriend in person, subtle body language could justify or negate our innate skepticism. Now, through the powers of technology, a simple congratulatory wall posting hides an ever-growing desire to yell bullshit.

Julia Pflaum