Information and the publication of knowledge have always followed the various communication media available.
Writing is the most enduring form of communication. It has changed the course of humankind, allowing for the perpetuation of the knowledge acquired throughout history. Surrounded by rules and basic principles, written communication is the basis of other forms of information, as even spoken information is preceded by a text to be read.
Despite the innovations in graphics and print quality, there is little difference between a newspaper from 1920 and a current newspaper. The same can be said for books and magazines, and especially for journals, which follow the same rules as those of 100 years ago.
Written communication has exceptional qualities and far outweighs the spoken form, since it lasts, can be revisited, can be analyzed in advance, and can be easily stored. However, it has a single defect: the time between the information and publication, represented by publishing, printing, and distributing the written material.
From the 1990s onwards, there has been a revolution in communication; telephones, which until then enabled instant spoken communication, now enable instantaneous and simultaneous written communication for many people.
At the beginning, we did not fully comprehend this immense change, but over the years we have been observing an evolution for which we are not prepared.
The speed of social networks, with their instant information, has impacted all forms of publication, and has created a generation that no longer has the patience to wait for the steps of the printed written communication, with all of its rules.
The so-called Generation Y, which emerged in the current environment of fast and straightforward technology that started in the 1990s, is essentially uninterested in our forms of information. Teaching them has been an arduous task; educating them, even harder. How to educate without textbooks or novels, how to educate without update journals, how to motivate them to write according to the rules?
Our forms of education are uninteresting, lengthy, and boring for this generation, which, within seconds, can gather themselves or disseminate information efficiently and almost freely.
This agile way of informing has serious, fundamental flaws. The main flaw is irresponsibility, because there is no trial nor previous analysis of any information: once something is publicized, it becomes true.
In the case of a scientific journal, we distance ourselves even further, because from the time the author produces his/her work, the editors assess it, the adjustments are made and the journal is sent for publication and distributed, sometimes a year goes by, an unimaginable time for Generation Y.
How do we prevent the indifference of this generation, which represents 20% of the urban population and that we are now educating?
Sociologists admit that this is a fact against which it is not possible to resist; therefore, we must adapt.
Each class will have to position itself regarding this fact. For us, educators, the most difficult task remains, as it is up to us to mold them.
In the lectures, we can "evolve" and produce more engaging classes, in which the teaching comes from the fact at hand, not from the usual presentation format. When speaking of the tibia, for example, we can start with a case of fracture, and from this fact discuss the anatomy, vascularization, and forms of treatment.
The physiology, pathological anatomy, and biomechanics will come naturally in the midst of treatment guidance.
This is the advice from the modern branches of teaching theory.
In scientific publications, we could summarize and present only the basic research points, with a tremendous loss to the depth of information, as the discussion of a study is a rich source of information.
Conceding, in my view, will destroy a secular culture that has been working, in order to embark on a new and unknown journey: that of superficiality.
It will be very odd to see RBO on WhatsApp.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
May-Jun 2016
