Originally posted by mrstabbyThis is all true.
It's a symptom of a lack of interest in the world around them and general ignorance.
Interesting that many Americans spout that their country is the best in the world when they don't seem to know a lot about other countries.
But you didn't make a practical argument why Joe Stockboy and
Sally Secretary should care for their economic well being.
Nemesio
Originally posted by ZahlanziI agree that education is a great thing. I also agree that being a well-
there is nothing great about being an underachiever. you're saying that if people enjoy not knowing, it is ok. well it is not ok. it is not ok to walk into a room full of people talking and instantly feel dumb. you will say that information does not make a person smart. well, no, it doesn't, but what smart person would be content to be an ignorant rock?
...[text shortened]... e we watch wrestling or soaps on tv instead of reading a freakin book and get some education
rounded individual is a great thing.
I personally find it equally lamentable that most people don't know where
Israel is and most people can't tell the difference between Beethoven
and Bach or between Michaelangelo and Picasso. Can you?
But, you haven't provided an argument for why 95% of the population
would benefit financially (which, if you recall, was the argument stated
by the president of National Geographic) from knowing where Moscow
is.
If you can provide it, I'm all ears. I'd love to believe it. But I don't. I
don't think the vast majority of people anywhere would benefit economically
from knowing any of that stuff.
Nemesio
Originally posted by agrysonthat's stretching the point, i think. a computer tech should not be worrying about indonesia. that is the job of a global materials analyst, or of a buyer, and i would expect that there are not many of those kinds of people in the world, as compared to computer techs.
It's not just about travel, it's about hearing of a major event, and being able to judge its effect on your life. My example of the computer technician, all he does is fix computers, by your logic, he doesn't need to know about geography for his everyday life, but if for instance, he heard of a tsunami or sars outbreak or something in say, indonesia, by havi ...[text shortened]... (though that can be handy too), but at least be able to point out India on a map of Asia.
so we're back to the non-necessity of knowledge extraneous to one's specific domain.
Originally posted by mrstabbyYes. Americans are so stupid. Most of us still know it as Stalingrad. Man are we stupid, we would be so much better off if only we knew they now called it, umm... Hold on a second.... Gimme time... Its coming...
It's a symptom of a lack of interest in the world around them and general ignorance.
Interesting that many Americans spout that their country is the best in the world when they don't seem to know a lot about other countries.
I embarassed myself here by ragging on someone for not knowing that Iraq was in Africa.
Foot in mouth, I was quickly corrected .. Asia Minor.
Geography like Biology, Art or any other subject will interest some students and bore others.
Inner-city schools will bring the score down bigtime. Many/most of those kids take pride in being ignit, it's a badge of honor. Any student that makes the rest look bad will be .. er, ah,.. brought into line.
I always found Geography interesting myself, but hated anything to do with science, language or advanced mathmatics.
Make it interesting and they will pay attention.
Originally posted by Nemesioif nothing else, being a well rounded individual gives you an edge at a job interview. having general knowledge of something proves you have a thirst for learning and would do well at any task because you have other skills as well. a lawyer that visits other clients at their firms would have a bonus if he can fix cars, speak other languages, know a bit about the country the client is from and so on.
I agree that education is a great thing. I also agree that being a well-
rounded individual is a great thing.
I personally find it equally lamentable that most people don't know where
Israel is and most people can't tell the difference between Beethoven
and Bach or between Michaelangelo and Picasso. Can you?
But, you haven't provided an arg ...[text shortened]... of people anywhere would benefit economically
from knowing any of that stuff.
Nemesio
people like to socialize. and most people don't play spin the bottle at parties. therefore they must have conversations, therefore they must find a common topic of interest. if one of them is a lawyer and the other is a computer programmer and they are all stone ignorant, then chances are they will bore each other in turns, because they don't have any other knowledge other than what their job requires of them.
knowledge is power, not a single knowledge is useless.if you know that water boils and releases steam and if it is in a sealed container it releases pressure then you will be careful when you open that pot because it might blowup in your face.
Originally posted by jammeri am not for teaching geography, science math in schools or at least not make them a part of the score you use to get into colleges. school should be about preparing someone for a job. after school we are all responsible for better ourselves with books and other.
I embarassed myself here by ragging on someone for not knowing that Iraq was in Africa.
Foot in mouth, I was quickly corrected .. Asia Minor.
Geography like Biology, Art or any other subject will interest some students and bore others.
Inner-city schools will bring the score down bigtime. Many/most of those kids take pride in being ignit, it's a badg ...[text shortened]... h science, language or advanced mathmatics.
Make it interesting and they will pay attention.
the problem is that if a person learns to be a computer programmer, there is no chance in hell they will like english literature when they are forced to do book reviews and memorize poems and stuff. sure you could make them interesting but knowledge shouldn't be shoved down ones throat.
Originally posted by zeeblebotThat's assuming he's in a large company that has such people with such jobs, I'm talking about the small business who don't have people to take care of such things. But fair enough, another example...
that's stretching the point, i think. a computer tech should not be worrying about indonesia. that is the job of a global materials analyst, or of a buyer, and i would expect that there are not many of those kinds of people in the world, as compared to computer techs.
so we're back to the non-necessity of knowledge extraneous to one's specific domain.
Say I work flipping burgers, I'm a concientious individual who cares about global warming or something. I know that the burgers I flip and eat come from Brazil. I hear on the radio that Argentina has had a breakout of CJD. If I didn't know about them being neighbours, I'd pull in and have me a big mac. If I knew they were neighbours, which I believe I should, I'd maybe hold off for a few weeks until I saw how bad this cjd thing was.
Of course the examples I came up with may be a little weird or whatever, but surely you can see that it's little things like this that become important, and that surely there's plenty of examples that are less dramatic, I'll think of a few more on my way home.
Just one question, if you had the choice between
-knowing for yourself where a country was in relation to another
and
-depending on the news to always show you a map
which would you prefer? If it's the former, great, you've answered your own question, if it's the latter, well, it doesn't really matter what I say anyway then does it?
Originally posted by NemesioIf money is the only concern then it isn't necessarily massively important.
This is all true.
But you didn't make a practical argument why Joe Stockboy and
Sally Secretary should care for their economic well being.
Nemesio
Then again there's a lot more to life than money. Wouldn't life be a lot easier if people had a better knowledge and understanding of the world around them? People are less fearful of what they understand.
Originally posted by MerkYou could probably do the same survey for a lot of countries and get similar results. I'd be interested to see the results of such a survey.
Yes. Americans are so stupid. Most of us still know it as Stalingrad. Man are we stupid, we would be so much better off if only we knew they now called it, umm... Hold on a second.... Gimme time... Its coming...
Originally posted by mrstabby..
If money is the only concern then it isn't necessarily massively important.
Then again there's a lot more to life than money. Wouldn't life be a lot easier if people had a better knowledge and understanding of the world around them? People are less fearful of what they understand.
"Wouldn't life be a lot easier if people had a better knowledge and understanding of the world around them? People are less fearful of what they understand"
..
Not to mention our solar system? or galaxy.
Don't forget the universe.
We'll discuss infinity in the next chapter, after that it'll be advanced BS .. God v Nothingness, sub titled 'Do You Matter?'
For now, exactlly where the hell IS Islamabad?
need to calabrate the lazer sights
Originally posted by jammeryou don't need to know where exactly is islamabad, just be able to locate it in less than a minute on the map. you don't need to know the way in wich einstein got to e=mc2 just what it means.
..
"Wouldn't life be a lot easier if people had a better knowledge and understanding of the world around them? People are less fearful of what they understand"
..
Not to mention our solar system? or galaxy.
Don't forget the universe.
We'll discuss infinity in the next chapter, after that it'll be advanced BS .. God v Nothingness, sub titled 'Do You ...[text shortened]...
For now, exactlly where the hell IS Islamabad?
need to calabrate the lazer sights
Originally posted by Bosse de NageSo, for a small portion of the economic community (which I acknowledged earlier), it is relevant.
The world is flat, Nemesio.
It might be to somebody's political advantage to know where the countries their jobs are being outsourced to are. For example.
But why would Sally Secretary or Charlie Stonemason care if the world is flat? How does this
benefit either of them economically?
(Remember, that was the claim made by the President of National Geographic.)
Nemesio
