Student, to me:

Dude, my generation’s acid is like your generation’s acid…on acid!

And you thought “OK, boomer” was a cutting generational comment. The comment came up (in case you were wondering) during a discussion of Martin Seligman’s critique of psychopharmacology in his book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being (pp. 47-48). I don’t remember the exact route by which we went from anti-depressants to acid, but whatever it was, it had a well-conceived pedagogical purpose. “Two drugs diverged in a wood,” etc.

The same student described Seligman as “what happens when you cross Bob Ross with Gene Simmons.”* Frankly, I’m impressed that college students of the current generation know who Gene Simmons is. Contrary to common complaints, they do know their history. Though I don’t remember whether the student was referring to Seligman’s appearance or his theory, it strikes me as an astute (if hard to unpack) comment on the theory.

*Second student: “Don’t drag Bob Ross into this! I love Bob!”