Posts by darthfader

7

Why the narrow layout?

by darthfader in

this site used to have the option of two layouts, one narrow and the other wide.

thse selection is no longer available (used to be just under the username/envelope/logout).

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darthfader

This site used to have the option of two layouts, one narrow and the other wide. Thse selection is no longer available (used to be just under the username/envelope/logout).

118

jwfacts or jwinterpretations?

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

jwfacts is a great website, but in view of the fact that "there are no facts, only interpretations", as nietzsche said, should the website be renamed jwinterpretations instead?

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darthfader

ADCMS, What does a mouse on a ball of cheese have to do with the moon? Are you implying something there?

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Survey - Do you believe in UFO's and Aliens?

by skeeter1 in

just a general survey on what & why you think of ufo's and aliens and where you are in your fade/disassociation path?.

what do you think of ufo's and aliens?.

To assume that we are the only intelligent life in the usiverse is an arrogant assumption. As Carl Sagan says, "The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."

Now I don't think we have been visited by anyone -- it's probably not likely for a number of reasons, but one could hope.

93

Scary Stuff

by Farkel in

jw
friends

today's high school students in the usa:.

less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.

she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.

darthfader

LHG, Yes I can, I rarely use it (the only time I use it is when handwriting checks) and my children use it even less. My wife enjoys the tactile process of writing and spends a lot of time with pencils/pens for her artwork.

Cursive was developed in order to communicate faster (without having to lift the pen from paper). Today, we communicate largely electronically - so typing has become the key (pun intended) means to get "words from our head" onto/into paper/computers.

Cursive = Penmanship Latin...

93

Scary Stuff

by Farkel in

jw
friends

today's high school students in the usa:.

less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.

she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.

darthfader

They have always been teaching the same "crap" there’s nothing new there -- yes the system is more "stressed" today because of classroom size, but the curriculums are the same. What is different is that we expect the teacher to teach our children without any parental support (in fact it's largely the opposite). Americans collectively treat the school system as a "free babysitter". This is not the way to encourage our youth. An interesting statistic shows that even Utah with its excessively burdened education system ($ in allocation per student is one of the worst in the nation) has some of the best students. The real reason isn't the school system, but parent's involvement in the kids’ education. That to me means that "edication is what you make of it"...

93

Scary Stuff

by Farkel in

jw
friends

today's high school students in the usa:.

less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.

she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.

darthfader

Education has always been what you make of it. Regardless of the "quality" of the teacher, motivated students will learn and grow well even in today's educational system (in fact in spite of it). The problem is that we have a "manufacturing mentality" to education -- in a world where hyper-interactive software flows with the user where it accomodates and rewards them in very dynamic ways, one can't expect a "lock step" factory method to work anymore.

Also... cursive should die... plain and simple:

http://news.yahoo.com/cursive-writing-dead-162632387.html

93

Scary Stuff

by Farkel in

jw
friends

today's high school students in the usa:.

less than 1/2 of them cannot identify the century when our civil war happened.. one in four thought columbus discovered america sometime after 1750.. one in three cannot name one right enumerated in the bill of rights.. three out of four cannot name the first us president.. two out of three do not know the length of term of a member of the house of representatives.. half cannot find britain on a map.. one out of four cannot find america on a map.. when my oldest daughter, who is now a physician was in 9th grade in this once-great state of california, i asked her about the three branches of our federal government.

she was clueless and told me she would take civics in her junior year in high school.

darthfader

I think the point Farkle is trying to make isn't about the specific facts he listed, but a general knowledge deficit in US education. This general knowledge translates into better mind by providing a wider perspective on things.

The challenge I see today, is that the "memory of facts" is less important than figuring out how to find those facts. In a time (20+ years ago) facts were not readily available, unless you went to a library and did card catalog searches etc. Today almost all of the facts of the world are available at our fingertips. Knowing these facts outright is replaced by knowing how to find them. This translates int the mind into a different conceptal model of the world. The impact of this is yet to be determined....

http://www.livescience.com/15044-internet-google-influence-learning-memory.html

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