Serendipity and Digital Generation

The relevance of the topic is determined by the growing debate about the impact of the "digital dementia" of the Zoomer generation on their ability to learn. At the same time, supporters of digitalization consider so-called multitasking (in fact – inability to concentrate) as a good thing: in their opinion, the breakthrough strategy should be provided by spontaneous innovations in various fields of knowledge (mainly in the field of information technology). The article analyzes the concept of serendipity as a property and state of personality. The approach chosen by the author is aesthetic; the problem is covered from the perspectives of pedagogy and didactics. The object of the study is the phenomenon of "intuitive serendipity", the subject is the methods of creativity development. Comparison of different types of thinking (inductive, deductive, paradoxical) allowed us to make a number of generalizing judgments. In particular, the superiority of "paradox logic" over formal logic and the role of intuition and "sense of truth" in the process of cognition. On the basis of the conclusions it is proposed to discuss the author's hypothesis of the trigger principle of learning based on cultivating a craving for knowledge, ideological immunity and the ability to independently search for and analyze information, as well as to implement it in the creative process. From primitive "pumping competencies" we should return to the development of talents (specific in definition and universal in creative content) – in this the author sees the continuation of the best traditions of national pedagogical thought. The practical significance of the study lies in the prospect of applying this method in educational institutions, which can both increase the efficiency of learning material assimilation by representatives of the "digital generation" and instill in them the skills of not consumerist, but truly creative attitude to life.