Mildly interesting
-
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
@Jolly said in Mildly interesting:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
@Horace said in Mildly interesting:
I assume coding will enjoy the same appreciation and comprehension among adults who learned it as kids, as algebra does.
See, okay, that's the thing. There are two schools of thought about education:
- The "prepare kids to be marketable" camp. These people, like Klaus perhaps, think education poorly prepares kids for the kind of skills they'll need out in the world: coding, financial literacy, managerial and communication skills.
- The "prepare kids to live meaningfully" camp. These people, like me, think education poorly prepares kids to have thoughts and perspectives, and the training required to share them: through writing, music, the arts.
Spend fifteen minutes looking into the curricula around the U.S. and probably the western world for that matter. Both camps are right in their assessment. Which begs the question of just what in the fuck are we doing in the schools?
Why can't we have both?
Fine by me. Seems insane, though, that we have neither.
We do have both. Well, the public school district in my area has both. Language, art, music, history, STEM (including computer science), economics, business, etc. are all available as classes and as after school clubs. From what I’m seeing here, I think our younger generation will do just fine.
-
@Axtremus said in Mildly interesting:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
@Jolly said in Mildly interesting:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
@Horace said in Mildly interesting:
I assume coding will enjoy the same appreciation and comprehension among adults who learned it as kids, as algebra does.
See, okay, that's the thing. There are two schools of thought about education:
- The "prepare kids to be marketable" camp. These people, like Klaus perhaps, think education poorly prepares kids for the kind of skills they'll need out in the world: coding, financial literacy, managerial and communication skills.
- The "prepare kids to live meaningfully" camp. These people, like me, think education poorly prepares kids to have thoughts and perspectives, and the training required to share them: through writing, music, the arts.
Spend fifteen minutes looking into the curricula around the U.S. and probably the western world for that matter. Both camps are right in their assessment. Which begs the question of just what in the fuck are we doing in the schools?
Why can't we have both?
Fine by me. Seems insane, though, that we have neither.
We do have both. Well, the public school district in my area has both. Language, art, music, history, STEM (including computer science), economics, business, etc. are all available as classes and as after school clubs. From what I’m seeing here, I think our younger generation will do just fine.
Your endorsement is the best evidence there is that something is terribly wrong.
-
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
See, okay, that's the thing. There are two schools of thought about education:
The "prepare kids to be marketable" camp. These people, like Klaus perhaps, think education poorly prepares kids for the kind of skills they'll need out in the world: coding, financial literacy, managerial and communication skills.
The "prepare kids to live meaningfully" camp. These people, like me, think education poorly prepares kids to have thoughts and perspectives, and the training required to share them: through writing, music, the arts.I don't think at all that the primary purpose of schools is to make kids "marketable". When I say "coding", I don't mean "program web pages". I mean it in the sense of "get a new perspective on the world". That's not the way coding is taught, but it should. It's a way of thinking. The fact that it can also be used to instruct silly machines isn't what's interesting about it.
-
@Klaus said in Mildly interesting:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Mildly interesting:
See, okay, that's the thing. There are two schools of thought about education:
The "prepare kids to be marketable" camp. These people, like Klaus perhaps, think education poorly prepares kids for the kind of skills they'll need out in the world: coding, financial literacy, managerial and communication skills.
The "prepare kids to live meaningfully" camp. These people, like me, think education poorly prepares kids to have thoughts and perspectives, and the training required to share them: through writing, music, the arts.I don't think at all that the primary purpose of schools is to make kids "marketable". When I say "coding", I don't mean "program web pages". I mean it in the sense of "get a new perspective on the world". That's not the way coding is taught, but it should. It's a way of thinking. The fact that it can also be used to instruct silly machines isn't what's interesting about it.
Yeah, that's fair. I just think it's funny that regardless of how one views the purpose of education, chances are good you're not too happy with the system at present.
Coding is indeed a good thing to learn. It can be a good intro to logic and reasoning, in a way in which the logical "experiments" you run can be immediately tested.
-
A 150 ft. Iceberg passing through Iceberg Alley near Twillingate, Newfoundland, Canada. A great view for your morning coffee.
-
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
-
@George-K fascinating movie. “My octopus teacher”. I assure you, you will never be able to look at an octopus again without this movie coming to mind.
-
@bachophile said in Mildly interesting:
@George-K fascinating movie. “My octopus teacher”. I assure you, you will never be able to look at an octopus again without this movie coming to mind.
Yes. We talked about it a while ago - I think @Horace , being the misanthrope (or whatever the term is for an octopus hater is) that he is was not impressed.
I enjoyed it however.
I may have mentioned Sy Montgomery's book, The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness in that thread. It's a great read with lots of insights that are amplified in that movie.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
-
@George-K said in Mildly interesting:
@bachophile said in Mildly interesting:
@George-K fascinating movie. “My octopus teacher”. I assure you, you will never be able to look at an octopus again without this movie coming to mind.
Yes. We talked about it a while ago - I think @Horace , being the misanthrope (or whatever the term is for an octopus hater is) that he is was not impressed.
I enjoyed it. I think @Mik didn’t.
That’s the worst gaffe you’ve made since you attributed my original thought that gender reassignment would be judged historically as lobotomies are, to some random article you read.
Education is extremely important.
-
In 1960, David Latimer planted a tiny garden inside of a large glass bottle and sealed it shut. He opened the bottle 12 years later in 1972 to add some water and then sealed it for good. The self contained ecosystem has flourished for nearly 60 years.
For those who are wondering how this is even possible: the garden is a perfectly balanced and self-sufficient ecosystem. The bacteria in the compost eats the dead plants and breaks down the oxygen that is released by the plants, turning it into carbon dioxide, which is needed for photosynthesis. The bottle is essentially a microcosm of earth.
https://biologicperformance.com/sealed-bottle-terrarium-garden-watered-once-53-years/
-
@Copper said in Mildly interesting:
In 1960, David Latimer planted a tiny garden inside of a large glass bottle and sealed it shut. He opened the bottle 12 years later in 1972 to add some water and then sealed it for good. The self contained ecosystem has flourished for nearly 60 years.
For those who are wondering how this is even possible: the garden is a perfectly balanced and self-sufficient ecosystem. The bacteria in the compost eats the dead plants and breaks down the oxygen that is released by the plants, turning it into carbon dioxide, which is needed for photosynthesis. The bottle is essentially a microcosm of earth.
https://biologicperformance.com/sealed-bottle-terrarium-garden-watered-once-53-years/
Steve Bannon tried that with humans in it.
It’s always something.
-
@Copper said in Mildly interesting:
In 1960, David Latimer planted a tiny garden inside of a large glass bottle and sealed it shut. He opened the bottle 12 years later in 1972 to add some water and then sealed it for good. The self contained ecosystem has flourished for nearly 60 years.
For those who are wondering how this is even possible: the garden is a perfectly balanced and self-sufficient ecosystem. The bacteria in the compost eats the dead plants and breaks down the oxygen that is released by the plants, turning it into carbon dioxide, which is needed for photosynthesis. The bottle is essentially a microcosm of earth.
https://biologicperformance.com/sealed-bottle-terrarium-garden-watered-once-53-years/
There is something similar to that called the "Ecosphere". I had one for a long time, until I was moving it from a house (which was cold) to the hot outdoors and and it cracked open.
