Quote of the Day - Thomas Sowell

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   
   "Ours may become the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous nonsense they are teaching our children. In an age of artificial intelligence, they are creating artificial stupidity."
   -- Thomas Sowell

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      k@riposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      and bringing us into Idiocracy

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   paradigmsearchposted 5 years ago

   Here is a deadly serious article directly on topic. I'll refrain from stating my own opinions and just let others gather from it what they will. The article is at https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2019 … n-collapse It told me a whole slew of things I never knew.

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   AliciaCposted 5 years ago

   What "dangerous nonsense" are teachers teaching children? I'll research the topic myself if necessary, but since you posted the quote I thought you would know what Sowell meant.

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      Kenna McHughposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      The "dangerous nonsense" is what is creating "artificial stupidity."  The definition of "dangerous" he is using is "being able or likely to do harm."
      Art, Bodyshop, Carpentry, Typing, Cursive, and Home Economics are being taken out of your schools.
      Another quote of his, "The promotion of 'self-esteem' in our schools has been so successful that people feel free to spout off about all sorts of things -- and see no reason why their opinions should not be taken as seriously as the views of people who actually know what they are talking about."

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         AliciaCposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         In my community in Canada, the local high schools teach art, home economics, woodwork, and typing (as part of an applied skills or a computer course). Whether the courses are a requirement or an elective depends on the grade level or grade levels in which they’re offered. An auto repair course and other career education courses are an option for senior students. I don't understand how that's relevant to my question, though. The quote that you shared said that teachers are teaching dangerous nonsense, not that schools are omitting certain courses.
         
         Your second paragraph is interesting. I think that encouraging self-esteem in students is important, but I agree that self-esteem shouldn’t be allowed to transition into arrogance. Students need to respect other people and their knowledge, training, or opinions.
         
         Thank you for introducing me to Thomas Sowell. I've never heard of him before. I'll read more about him when I have time.

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   Doneta Wrateposted 5 years ago

   What some people think is nonsense, others think is obvious fact, such as creation or evolution, how many sexes are there, climate change, and other stuff.

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      Kenna McHughposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Doneta, Those are great examples.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   That is interesting about Canada's high schools. Thank you for letting me know. US schools took out electives, but some states are reinstating them.

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   Doneta Wrateposted 5 years ago

   I understand that there are some high schools that have an option for the senior year of giving a years training in some trade or skill so the student can get a job when they get out of high school.  I think that is smart.  Not everyone is cut out for college.  There are many trades that can be learned in a year of two now that will give a person a good living.  Plus if a person does want to go on to college, he could take the trade learned in high school and work his way thru college.  The higher learning degrees are so expensive any more.

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   Kenna McHughposted 5 years ago

   Doneta, It takes two years to learn a trade. Electricians, mechanics, plumbers, and so forth make a decent living. 
   Today, more high school grads are going to higher education to wear a suit and work in an office. I spoke one of our city planners, and he commented that kids today don't want to work hard. They want an easy job behind a computer doing a 9 - 5 job.  Because of that, there is such an opportunity to start a career in trade business and be successful without spending a lot of money on higher education.

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   Doneta Wrateposted 5 years ago

   Kenna   I may not have remembered all the details correctly, but the high schools are enabling them to be trained in something somehow to be able to have a job when they graduate.

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      Kenna McHughposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      That is great!

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