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Revising the Elementary School Curriculum

Revising the Elementary School Curriculum

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Bbarr writes elsewhere: "Out of curiousity, have any of the theists in this thread ever taken a class in formal logic?"


This has led me to an idea. Why don't we teach symbolic logic to students starting in the first grade? I think that would be a wonderful idea. I think it is totally feasible and worthwhile. If students that young can master addition, surely they can master basic truth tables.

Start them out with simple stuff in 1st grade, like the NOT and OR operators. What's that, about 6 values to memorize and practice? Easy enough -- much easier than addition.

2nd grade: Throw in conjunctions. 4 more values to memorize.
3rd grade: Implication. 4 more values. How easy is this? Pretty damn easy. Surely no more difficult than multiplication tables.
4th grade: Students are ready to learn some basic rules of deduction. Easier than long division.
5th grade: Practice in basic proofs and derivations.
6th grade: Universal and existential quantifiers.

By the time the students hit middle school, they would be fully prepared to tackle proofs using first order predicate logic, being able to debate with the best among us here.

Why don't we do this?

Dr. S

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What is the spirituality here? 😉

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Originally posted by darvlay
What is the spirituality here? 😉
The word 'theists' in the quoted material, of course.

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I would start with traditional (term) logic since it can be diagrammed and visualized with Euler's Circles. And the traditional Aristotelian forms - A, I, O, E.

And the three laws of logic of course.

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I don't think America could survive if a whole generation of kids turned out just like Dr. Scribbles. 😛

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Originally posted by rwingett
I don't think America could survive if a whole generation of kids turned out just like Dr. Scribbles. 😛
He has an amazing gift to make concepts relevent in the most unusual ways.

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Originally posted by kirksey957
He has an amazing gift to make concepts relevent in the most unusual ways.
Who can forget "If you have to have rubies, then the best you can do is 2 ft. pine + rubies + 10 letters. Cost $1000. Respect = 240 props."

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Originally posted by kirksey957
He has an amazing gift to make concepts relevent in the most unusual ways.

I think a dog with worms has fewer things crawling up his arse that each of the 'wolfclan' members.

You trying to say his Pimpstick examples were relevant ?

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Bbarr writes elsewhere: "Out of curiousity, have any of the theists in this thread ever taken a class in formal logic?"


This has led me to an idea. Why don't we teach symbolic logic to students starting in the first grade? I think that would be a wonderful idea. I think it is totally feasible and worthwhile. If students that young can mas ...[text shortened]... te logic, being able to debate with the best among us here.

Why don't we do this?

Dr. S
Don't you first have to teach it to the teachers?

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Originally posted by pcaspian
Originally posted by kirksey957
[b]He has an amazing gift to make concepts relevent in the most unusual ways.


I think a dog with worms has fewer things crawling up his arse that each of the 'wolfclan' members.

You trying to say his Pimpstick examples were relevant ?[/b]
It's easy to tell you have a bug up somewhere .

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Originally posted by frogstomp
It's easy to tell you have a bug up somewhere .

Yep, blowing smoke up someone'a arse really annoys me.

Heck, thats just me though 🙂

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Originally posted by pcaspian
Originally posted by frogstomp
[b]It's easy to tell you have a bug up somewhere .


Yep, blowing smoke up someone'a arse really annoys me.

Heck, thats just me though 🙂[/b]
well as long as it helps you get the bug out.. 🙂

must be a neat trick tho,,, did you ever think of doing a carnival act.

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Originally posted by frogstomp
Don't you first have to teach it to the teachers?
Any elementary school teacher who can't rattle off the truth table for the logical implication operator in his sleep should be immediately terminated without severance pay.
I understand that this will leave us with an extreme shortage of teachers, but sometimes drastic measures need to be taken. We cannot continue to raise children who are not able to think critically.

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Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Any elementary school teacher who can't rattle off the truth table for the logical implication operator in his sleep should be immediately terminated without severance pay.
I understand that this will leave us with an extreme shor ...[text shortened]... t continue to raise children who are not able to think critically.
Like you said it's easy to learn . Maybe the teachers can learn in summer school and teach it in the fall : while it's relatively fresh in their minds.

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Originally posted by frogstomp
well as long as it helps you get the bug out.. 🙂

must be a neat trick tho,,, did you ever think of doing a carnival act.


Circus hasn't been in town for a while. Not too many gypsies where I come from. Plus clowns scare the poop outa me. Stephen Kings "IT" freaked me out for good.