The IYP Project

IYP (pronounced “eep”, if you're feeling playful) is an acronym, standing for Intelligent Young People. The purpose of the project is to get young people to think and discuss about various different issues, both those considered by older folks and some that aren’t. The idea is to show how talented, insightful, and interesting younger people are.

The “what” of IYP will solidify more as it develops, but the next biggest question is, “why?” There are a few reasons. At the time I am writing this, I am 21 years old, almost 22. I feel that I am old. When I look at the work being done by people younger than I am, it seems that I am far less accomplished than they are. One of the reasons for IYP is to show just how much this younger generation has done and can do. And yet, many older people, including me (sometimes), often ignore or dismiss the ideas and opinions of younger people. So another reason for IYP is to get an idea of what and how this section of the population thinks.

Now, when I say I want to know about young people, I don’t mean in a general sense. Generalizations about the thought level and capabilities of this demographic are all over the place. What cell phone or soft drink company hasn’t hired public relations people to find out what your age group likes and wants? No, I have my prejudices and suspicions already, and I expect to change them regardless of how the IYP project turns out. What I want to know is how individual people that are younger than me (or even around my age) do and think. Websites like deviantART have shown me a slice of this world and encouraged me to start IYP.

I will admit that it seems selfish to ask for participation in IYP for what could be described as my own amusement. However, there are three different things I can think of that I would do with the materials generated by the IYP project. The first is self-serving: starting and maintaining this effort will be something of a hobby of mine, and more participation can make the job easier. Second, IYP serves itself: the more material there is, the more discussion and other materials are generated. The third action is more sinister. If I find that topics covered by IYP are relevant to discussions in other arenas (such as political web forums), I might post there saying something like, “you so-called pundits think you’ve got all the answers, but you’d be surprised to hear some intelligent alternatives…,” mentioning or omitting (as I feel appropriate) that the people who came up with those alternatives are half the age of these self-declared experts.

Before you go thinking I’m just out to steal your ideas, I think I should tell you how I believe the IYP project would work. Basically, I would write short essays on anything from new developments in bioengineering to the debate over prayer in school, from a new international trade policy to shoe design, or even a work of art (assuming you consider that shoes aren’t art). By way of a response, people could leave comments on the page dedicated to that essay. New topics could be introduced in one of three ways: (1) me writing them, (2) someone emailing me and asking me to write about them, or (3) someone emailing me an essay of their own and me posting it on the site. Naturally, anyone who deserves credit would get it – I’m not looking for fame and I have no reason to steal your ideas. Which brings us to me (or anyone else) referencing IYP in other arenas. Any general mention of a discussion (like “check out what these people think”) should link to the relevant topic discussion, whereas a specific quote (like, “soandso123 raised an interesting point in the IYP board:”) would mention the poster unless they requested not to be quoted (either specifically in that post or generally in a signature). I’ll say it again: it is not my intention to represent anyone else’s ideas or work as my own. I believe in credit where credit is due. I also would only quote material from my comments pages (public domain material) and it seems to me that I would be so proud in doing so that I would then make a post in that same page telling what and where I just quoted.

Discussion threads are, I hope, not the only thing IYP will deal with. I encourage linking to personal pages, especially those that showcase accomplishments (like deviantART), and other pages that are interesting or relevant to the topic. In addition, if enough interest is generated, I can easily see hosting VoIP and/or chat conferences for live discussion, debate, or conversation. I think this sort of communication is a great thing… after all, it’s this sort of thing that inspired me to put up IYP.

What if IYP fails? That is, if no one really seems interested or if all I get are joke posts, what would I do? Well, honestly, that’s OK too. The last thing I want is this to feel like work. I know you guys have lives and I wouldn’t want you to give up anything to make my projects successful. I’m already convinced that the generation younger than me is (to quote myself) “talented, insightful, and interesting,” and if nothing else comes of IYP, that’s still a success for me.

Thanks in advance,
Edward C. Schneider


Post Script: I took some time out to let this piece sit before I posted it. Reading it again, it sounds like I only want to hear from people younger than myself. That’s just not true. I encourage anyone who wants to participate in the IYP Project to do so. I admit that I personally am more curious about the opinions and accomplishments of people in the 17-21 age group, but IYP isn’t just for my own amusement anyway. After exploring deviantART a bit more, I realize that the contributions of my contemporaries and seniors would be very interesting as well. Also, in the time between my writing the original essay and my posting it, someone came up with the idea that I should record myself reading these essays out loud, like a speech, and posting that on deviantART, too. Oratory was never my strong suit, but then again neither was composition. I think I’ll leave that idea in the “maybe” pile along with the live discussions.