On 12/17/2013 11:23 PM, David Flory wrote:
> On Dec 17, 2013, at 10:06 PM, Tony <tdale@xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>
>> That's right Dave. I will ask my 15 yo. When I was at school, I'm
>> 55, geography was well taught. Not sure about now
>
> When I was in school it was, but I'm 75 so that was quite a while
> ago. We also learned silly stuff like calculating square roots on a
> piece of paper with a pencil.
>
> Some 40 years ago I was part of a group that met to set reasonable
> requirements for graduation from High School in Calif. Despite the
> best efforts of a few of us, the group set zero requirement in the
> area of science. How can we expect to understand a world with atomic
> power and bombs with no science background?
>
> Math was the ability to maintain a checkbook, i.e. add and subtract.
> Sad, Sad, Sad. Now kids can't make change, and are lucky to know how
> to add and subtract without a smart phone.
>
I don't know about you, but I run into people my age (61) or older who
also can't maintain a checkbook (I see them discussing their accounts
with a bank official in my bank and they're complaining about how their
statement and their bankbooks don't agree).
I see people my age or older who work in stores who can't make correct
change until or unless it pops up on their cash registers.
Ignorance isn't the realm of just the young, nor is intelligence the
realm of only the older.
There are still smart youngsters amid the stupid ones these days, same
as when we were young, And there are incredibly stupid older people
among the smarter members of society.
George W. Bush is no youngster but he made incredibly stupid linguistic
gaffes while he was president. And he went to (and graduated from!) Yale!
So don't blame all young people for not being the best and brightest --
there are very smart young people just as there are very stupid old people.
And since you mention a science background and atomic bombs -- do you
really understand how they work? I don't. And I bet that most people,
even those with incredibly high IQs and multiple college degrees don't
know how they work.
And saying "you split the atom and an incredible amount of energy is
released, setting off a chain reaction" doesn't count -- anybody can
learn that from a magazine.
Tell us how that first atom is split, please?
It's so easy for older people to decry the state of education of today's
youth. People have been doing it since Socrates and most likely even
earlier. And yet somehow the human race muddles along.
I'll tell you this -- I'd rather have to deal with a youngster who is in
a good mood and happy to have a job but who might need to have the cash
register tell him/her the correct amount of change than to deal with a
60-year-old person who can make change in their heads but who are pissed
at society because they're still working a minimum wage job running a
cash register.
I am really tired of people ragging on the young -- I've had to listen
to it all my life. It irked the hell out of me when I was the victim of
it, simply because I was young. And it still irks the hell out of me
when I hear it now that I'm 61.
And after people complain about how stupid the young people are, then we
all wonder why they have such poor self-images.
--
David H. Bailey
dhbailey@davidbaileymusicstudio.com
http://www.davidbaileymusicstudio.com
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