Comments on: Are We Getting Dumber As A Nation? http://lifeontheroad.com/2009/05/21/are-we-getting-dumber-as-a-nation/2636.html Discussion and opinions about the trucking industry Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:57:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Linda Sunkle-Pierucki http://lifeontheroad.com/2009/05/21/are-we-getting-dumber-as-a-nation/2636.html/comment-page-1/#comment-3926 Linda Sunkle-Pierucki Mon, 25 May 2009 01:38:56 +0000 http://lifeontheroad.com/?p=2636#comment-3926 Everett-if your granddaughter was homeschooled until the eighth grade, then she got all the basics she'll need to ace high school-and college! Congratulations on a great couple of grandkids! Everett-if your granddaughter was homeschooled until the eighth grade, then she got all the basics she’ll need to ace high school-and college! Congratulations on a great couple of grandkids!

]]> By: Everitt Mickey http://lifeontheroad.com/2009/05/21/are-we-getting-dumber-as-a-nation/2636.html/comment-page-1/#comment-3924 Everitt Mickey Mon, 25 May 2009 01:12:20 +0000 http://lifeontheroad.com/?p=2636#comment-3924 Hmmmm......well my grandkids WERE homeschooled until about Jr. High. Hmmmm……well my grandkids WERE homeschooled until about Jr. High.

]]> By: Linda Sunkle-Pierucki http://lifeontheroad.com/2009/05/21/are-we-getting-dumber-as-a-nation/2636.html/comment-page-1/#comment-3915 Linda Sunkle-Pierucki Sat, 23 May 2009 15:23:24 +0000 http://lifeontheroad.com/?p=2636#comment-3915 You're right Everett-kids are NOT getting dumber, at least not in terms of intelligence. But they are in terms of actual reasoning ability. And it's the fault of our institutions. Kids have instant access to all sorts of information these days-but the test scores show they dont know how to evaluate it or extrapolate a supposition from it. I do some on-line question-answering thing for a company that will remain nameless-and who pays such a pittance they are losing my services: they answer any question "texted" to them. I do homework constantly. Most questions are from the 13-25yr old crowd. I know it's homework because they put in the exact question they are asked on their homework-I can c/c/p it and find the exact question-and the answer online from the canned curricula all these teachers are using. I answer questions that obviously come from pharmacology students and medical students-now, I'm afraid to go to a new, young doctor. Did he cheat his way to a medical degree using his cell phone? A friend of mine-Asst Prof-says she's appalled at the fact her students feel cheating is fine and the real goal is to get the answer, not know the material. One University sophomore told her he couldnt be expected to know those big words-they were specific to his major, by the way. Vocabulary? It all comes out of Urban Dictionary. They cant begin to spell anything-not even close. Because they cant sound a word out, they might get the first letter right and the rest is gibberish-you have to figure it out from the context. They use technology but dont understand the basic principles behind it. Consequently, they cant problem solve. They also cant read a complicated paragraph. Cant understand that spell-check may give them a wrong spelling due to context. They do trigonometry in the fifth grade- but they never learn their multiplication tables (and I mean never-its not taught anymore)-they dont have the math proficiency to estimate a rounded answer from a column of triple-digits three figures long. They cant make change-because they dont have the basic understanding of numbers to count 'up'. They all have cell phones-but cant read the manual (I do it for them-constantly). Case in point: a kid-maybe 15yr-old-asked me the other day for the answer to 7X28X2. I check the history-first question was, where could she get the 'morning after' pill. second question: what does (obscene ghetto-slang word for perverted sex act-some of their favorite questions, by the way) mean. And she cant figure out a relatively simple multiplication problem. Ethics: I get all sorts of questions like "how can I get so-and-so's password for his **** account?" "Can the police find out who I am if I use *69?""Give me (some rock star, movie star, rapper's) cell phone number"-they ask the same question over and over even though you tell them it's unlisted. And they firmly believe all knowledge is available online so why should the ever bother to learn it-they can just look it up. I could go on and on forever about the gaping holes in their basic knowledge. But the problem isnt the kids themselves-its our institutions. There's a good reason why they keep having to lower the standards on testing so they pass. And a reason why we cant graduate engineering students in this country from among our own bright kids. They may be extremely bright but they cant function in the real world because they were never taught the basics so they could think for themselves. It's why so many people nowadays home school. I'll PO everyone here whose wife or sister is a teacher-but our education system sucks! They're doing our kids a real dis-service and crippling them for life! And its not even the teacher's fault-its the screwed-up curriculum they're forced to teach. God save us from whole-word, look-see reading and fuzzy,new math! You’re right Everett-kids are NOT getting dumber, at least not in terms of intelligence. But they are in terms of actual reasoning ability. And it’s the fault of our institutions. Kids have instant access to all sorts of information these days-but the test scores show they dont know how to evaluate it or extrapolate a supposition from it. I do some on-line question-answering thing for a company that will remain nameless-and who pays such a pittance they are losing my services: they answer any question “texted” to them. I do homework constantly. Most questions are from the 13-25yr old crowd. I know it’s homework because they put in the exact question they are asked on their homework-I can c/c/p it and find the exact question-and the answer online from the canned curricula all these teachers are using. I answer questions that obviously come from pharmacology students and medical students-now, I’m afraid to go to a new, young doctor. Did he cheat his way to a medical degree using his cell phone? A friend of mine-Asst Prof-says she’s appalled at the fact her students feel cheating is fine and the real goal is to get the answer, not know the material. One University sophomore told her he couldnt be expected to know those big words-they were specific to his major, by the way. Vocabulary? It all comes out of Urban Dictionary. They cant begin to spell anything-not even close. Because they cant sound a word out, they might get the first letter right and the rest is gibberish-you have to figure it out from the context.

They use technology but dont understand the basic principles behind it. Consequently, they cant problem solve. They also cant read a complicated paragraph. Cant understand that spell-check may give them a wrong spelling due to context. They do trigonometry in the fifth grade- but they never learn their multiplication tables (and I mean never-its not taught anymore)-they dont have the math proficiency to estimate a rounded answer from a column of triple-digits three figures long. They cant make change-because they dont have the basic understanding of numbers to count ‘up’. They all have cell phones-but cant read the manual (I do it for them-constantly). Case in point: a kid-maybe 15yr-old-asked me the other day for the answer to 7X28X2. I check the history-first question was, where could she get the ‘morning after’ pill. second question: what does (obscene ghetto-slang word for perverted sex act-some of their favorite questions, by the way) mean. And she cant figure out a relatively simple multiplication problem. Ethics: I get all sorts of questions like “how can I get so-and-so’s password for his **** account?” “Can the police find out who I am if I use *69?”"Give me (some rock star, movie star, rapper’s) cell phone number”-they ask the same question over and over even though you tell them it’s unlisted. And they firmly believe all knowledge is available online so why should the ever bother to learn it-they can just look it up.

I could go on and on forever about the gaping holes in their basic knowledge. But the problem isnt the kids themselves-its our institutions. There’s a good reason why they keep having to lower the standards on testing so they pass. And a reason why we cant graduate engineering students in this country from among our own bright kids. They may be extremely bright but they cant function in the real world because they were never taught the basics so they could think for themselves. It’s why so many people nowadays home school. I’ll PO everyone here whose wife or sister is a teacher-but our education system sucks! They’re doing our kids a real dis-service and crippling them for life! And its not even the teacher’s fault-its the screwed-up curriculum they’re forced to teach.

God save us from whole-word, look-see reading and fuzzy,new math!

]]> By: Everitt Mickey http://lifeontheroad.com/2009/05/21/are-we-getting-dumber-as-a-nation/2636.html/comment-page-1/#comment-3913 Everitt Mickey Sat, 23 May 2009 04:53:34 +0000 http://lifeontheroad.com/?p=2636#comment-3913 Are we getting dumber as a nation? Short answer...no. I have two grandkids who can prove it. I have multiple acquaintances whose kids prove it also. Some are almost frighteningly bright. The incidence of "child genius" is increasing. Normal kids know more today than ever before. Any individual, almost anywhere, almost anytime can find out just about anything. Google is your friend. Our institutions, however, are stupid. As I mention in a post of my own. They are.... "Bug-Frikin Nutz". Insane. They haven't yet emerged into the twentieth, much less the twenty first, century. They're still operating on medieval principles. Why are we just now noticing? High Speed, ubiquitous information exchange. i.e. "it happens....and almost instantly...anyone who cares to know....does". Consequently the stupidity of our major organizations is becoming obvious. Are we getting dumber as a nation?

Short answer…no. I have two grandkids who can prove it. I have multiple acquaintances whose kids prove it also. Some are almost frighteningly bright. The incidence of “child genius” is increasing. Normal kids know more today than ever before.

Any individual, almost anywhere, almost anytime can find out just about anything. Google is your friend.

Our institutions, however, are stupid.

As I mention in a post of my own. They are…. “Bug-Frikin Nutz”. Insane. They haven’t yet emerged into the twentieth, much less the twenty first, century. They’re still operating on medieval principles.

Why are we just now noticing?

High Speed, ubiquitous information exchange. i.e. “it happens….and almost instantly…anyone who cares to know….does”. Consequently the stupidity of our major organizations is becoming obvious.

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