Thread: Standards of Education..

No, you can not blame television for the 20 second attention span.. The rubbish you let them watch might have more impact...

and then, 'How do I know aliens are not real ?' Oh please... Dig deeper. We have NO evidence whatsoever of such. Saying nothing of the probable...

I know this. Where have you been ? and then, 'People have different truths'.. NO. There is only one truth. Peoples interpretation of it changes.

Ignorance is on the increase. We have more information available to us than Ever before.. yet choose to ignore it..

Ignorance should be in decline. Yet and but.. It spreads like a cancer. and the end result could be our undoing.. Anarchy..

I am encouraged by advancements in technophobia. The modern TV is also your computer.. but a smaller slice of humanity has common sense.

and I worry about some of you... No. the fact that we do this, is testament to progress..

As a aside - I have always been worried that the IQ test was loaded against logic.. To follow this thought, . Look at a native tribesman.

No maths skill, no education, fail all attempts at communication. Can not do IQ test..

Yet he is the one that can support his family, and survive the weather and prosper.. who's so bright ?

It might not be us.. Turn the power off, we're stuffed. What am I on about ?

We do not teach common sense., or how to learn, or why we should...

Originally Posted by astromark

No, you can not blame television for the 20 second attention span.. The rubbish you let them watch might have more impact...

To be fair, there is good material on TV...try the History, Science & Discovery channels for example...although these channels also have a certain level of biasness...

Originally Posted by astromark

and then, 'How do I know aliens are not real ?' Oh please... Dig deeper. We have NO evidence whatsoever of such....

As any scientist should know, a lack of evidence doesn't mean that 'it' doesn't exists. (And we all know that some scientists will defend the theories of those that pay them.)

Originally Posted by astromark

I know this. Where have you been ? and then, 'People have different truths'.. NO. There is only one truth. Peoples interpretation of it changes.

Bingo! The Truth has no agenda, people do!

Originally Posted by astromark

I am encouraged by advancements in technophobia.

I love this sentence...and may just steal it... BTW, what advancements has technophobia made, in your opinion.

Originally Posted by astromark

As a aside - I have always been worried that the IQ test was loaded against logic.. To follow this thought, . Look at a native tribesman.

No maths skill, no education, fail all attempts at communication. Can not do IQ test..

Yet he is the one that can support his family, and survive the weather and prosper.. who's so bright ?

It might not be us.. Turn the power off, we're stuffed. What am I on about ?

We do not teach common sense., or how to learn, or why we should...

The real (in my opinion, at least) problem lies in 'the people' allowing 'the government' to take over 'our' responsibilities. About 50 years ago, California decided that it would be ok to let students use calculators in math classes. For whatever reason, I was asked my opinion. I thought it a bad idea because the students would not learn how to do the basic steps needed in order to advance their 'knowledge'. Within 5 years most of the students didn't know the theories behind simple math.

I will try to explain the use of technophobia.. [ and maybe I did want to say technology's..]. I have just viewed a little u tube entry entitled 'Glass' and it is just a promo and is not yet real...

It showed a house with all sorts of 'new' electro technical gizmo's.. which might be closer to real than I think...

and that some little glass like ipads could simply be placed on a surface and whamo.. the whole counter top lights up like PC screen.. the fridge door,

and the cars sat nav., included.. windows that dim and are connected to your alarm clock.. all impressive use of much technical advancements..

The want for technical one-upmanship = technophobia. Accepting that my interpretation of this language is unique.. unequalled and mine. [ and wrong.. ]

That my view of things is both dyslexic and born out of China until I was 27. No English before that.. I make allowances, can you ?

When I still struggle to be understood its because I can be wrong, or just plain thick... I can not blame my education.. there was very little before 27.

I am now 59 so can not see major changes pending to my standards.. achem ! ...

Some years ago it occurred to me that "kids these days" have missed out on something that was available to me as a boy.
Their toys and most of the things around them cannot be easily taken apart, cannot be easily fixed when broken, because they're mostly plastic and tiny electronics. When I was young I took things apart to find out how they worked. I learned to fix broken things - wood, metal, electrical and electronic.
What I was learning was that I could DO something about it - whatever it may be.
Perhaps younger generations have a more difficult time learning that they can be effective.
Learned Helplessness is Debilitating!

Originally Posted by TaoZero5

Learned Helplessness is Debilitating!

Here here! I like that one and can't agree more.

Along the lines of what Astromark stated regarding natives...We, as society, are losing even basic survival skills. Math?!? Ha! How about the guy who is 2 hours late for work because he has to have AAA(auto insurance services) come and change his flat tire in his own garage.

Here's my input: At 12 years old, I was learning BASIC (computer programming). I also built a stereo out of junk parts. I also made a 14 ft bullwhip out of lamp chord so I could be like Indiana Jones. Okay, I was a strange child, and with the exception of BASIC, the skills I'd learned have proven absolutely useless today.

Today's average 12 years old can post to facebook on their smart-phone. Aaaand that's about it.

Who's better prepared for their future?

It's laziness and selfishness on behalf of the parents. When a millage increase for public education will result in a $5 increase on property taxes, they vote it down. Stick a $400 cell phone in their kids' hand instead because it's a better baby-sitter than the teachers are.

Preaching to the already converted is a wast of time, but its very comforting to find some agreement with my point.. thanks.

Just to add salt to this wound; I watched my grandson turn off a computer game that required him to slow down and problem solve...

Yes I was disappointed.. and let the moment pass without comment.. As a child. Problem solving was a game in itself... I would seek them out.

We do seem to have lost that with this 'I want it Now' generation... can it be put right.. Because if we do not fix this quick we die..

Being able to survive and adapt to whatever, has been how humanity rose out of the forests, and climbed down from the trees....

If nature throws humanity a curve ball. Can we adapt again.. A ice age, a meteor strike, or both ?

I watch riots in London and see global economies failing... can we teach our offspring how to live...

To fish and farm. To grow food and build sheltered dwellings.. survival.

Look at me... rambling on and shouting from my soap box.. Sorry folks.. Its just the mood. Blame the gloomy weather.

My point about education and educating is a good one.. but I am clear we are to blame and we should try to put it right.

and once again, sorry for the rant.