Back in 2013, I posted about Beloit College’s Mindset List. Beloit College, a liberal arts and science college founded in 1846 on the Wisconsin frontier, created the “Mindset List” in 1998. It was initially intended to remind faculty to “watch their references” during their lectures. But, the List provided a good marker as to the separation of knowledge that occurs yearly.
Old folks like me like to sit around and remind this younger 
generation at every opportunity we get that they have it easier than us. But that’s not quite true because the world they grew up in is very different from the one my generation grew up in. Our worlds are very different and we always need to keep that in mind.
Beloit College published the Mindset List until 2018, when the List moved to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. And I, for one, am glad this valuable resource is still being published.
Originally, the Mindset List only applied to faculty. However, it can be very useful when talking across a generational divide to others. In short, when using a reference, the speaker should postulate that for his audience something has “always been” or “has never been.”
For example, for the graduating class of 2025 the following is an “has always been” or “has never been:”
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Freddie Mercury (Queen), Walter Payton (Chicago Bears), John Lennon (The Beatles) and Princess Diana have always been dead.
- Vladimir Putin has always been in charge of Russia.
- Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird have never played Basketball.
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Frank Robinson, Lou Brock and Brooks Robinson have always been in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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Bill Gates has never been the CEO of Microsoft.
- Amazon and Google have always existed.
The Marist 2025 College list is here. The Marist College Lists for classes 2019 – 2027 is here. Good luck to the Class of 2025.
