The Class of 2018 Mindset List is upon us and we’ll soon be scrutinizing its items and examining media reaction. But first, we’re going to compare it to our own Beloit Mindlessness List.

We generated the list using the same method that Messrs. McBride and Nief do:

Without any assistance from or knowledge about anyone in the Class of 2018, we wrote a list about a bunch of things that happened roughly 18 years ago with some additional items based on lazy stereotypes and trivia of interest to us. Nobody checked it for accuracy or comprehensibility.

Last year we, predicted around 20% of the Mindset List in ours, but this year we had only six seven items in common. (In the each pair, the Mindset List item is listed first, then ours.)

Among those who have never been alive in their lifetime are Tupac Shakur, JonBenet Ramsey, Carl Sagan, and Tiny Tim.

For this generation of entering college students, born in 1996, Tupac Shakur, JonBenét Ramsey and George Burns have always been dead.

We got two of their four, but I’m surprised they went with JonBenét Ramsey. The BML usually lists dead celebrities on its “never been alive” list; this is the first murdered child I’m aware of.

On Parents’ Weekend, they may want to watch out in case Madonna shows up to see daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon or Sylvester Stallone comes to see daughter Sophia.

27. Madonna has never performed a song worth listening to, but she might show up to parents weekend. Peter Frampton might be there too.

Kids of celebrities born 18 years ago is a Mindset List mainstay. It doesn’t matter if they are actually going to college this year.

16. Hong Kong has always been part of China.

 6. Hong Kong has never been a British colony.

The Mindset List usually includes some 18-year-old international event that most 18-year-olds probably know nothing about.

23. Hello Dolly…cloning has always been a fact, not science fiction.

9. Scientists have always been cloning sheep, but cloning humans has always been illegal.

Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996.

35. Yet another blessing of digital technology: They have never had to hide their dirty magazines under the bed.

29. Thanks to federal courts, smut has always been legal on the Internet.

In 1996 federal courts began striking down indecency provisions of the Communications Decency Act.

47. Everybody has always Loved Raymond.

21. Everyone has always loved Raymond—the Ray Ramano character, not the Perry Mason actor, who has never existed.

Everybody Loves Raymond premiered in 1996

Starting later today, we’ll be scrutinizing the Class of 2017 Mindset items, and we invite the Mindset team to do the same to ours. And as we claimed in the introduction to our list:

Even if the Class of 2018 Mindset List isn’t identical to ours, they are equally valid, accurate and useful. So feel free to mix and match items as you choose.

UPDATE: Here is another one:

6. Celebrity “selfies” are far cooler than autographs.

19. Their parents went to photography studios; they take selfies.