I believe it was historian James Burke who reminded students that the invention of the printing press robbed mankind of his memory. Once written down, people no longer had to memorize entire chapters of their bibles, etc. What Rohn is describing is less about educational failure and more about technical advances. I have has much computin…
I believe it was historian James Burke who reminded students that the invention of the printing press robbed mankind of his memory. Once written down, people no longer had to memorize entire chapters of their bibles, etc. What Rohn is describing is less about educational failure and more about technical advances. I have has much computing power in my laptop today as the mainframe I used in 1976 to run the statistical analyses for my master's thesis.
I no longer remember phone numbers, because my cellphone does that for me - the same with addresses
People no longer need to be able to read maps because of GPS and Android Auto. Paper maps are obsolete. Similarly, most young Navy officers are no longer skilled in the use of Sextants to navigate the high seas. I no longer have to remember to turn the lights on in the house because they are programmed to turn on either by time or sunset.
Are all these conveniences rotting our brains? I speculated that the answer is no. The only rotting brains are the same people who graduated junior high at the bottom of their class.
Negative. What I was describing is what I described and I tend to communicate both literally and verbally with brutal precision. Rarely am I indicted for vagueness.
I still remember phone numbers because I force myself to do so. I write things down, because I force myself to do so. I read maps, because I force myself to do so. I don't need to have my lights automatically turned on, I am not that lazy and can flip a switch. It is not my projection that the society is collectively dumber than it has been in the past, there are countless studies that substantiate it. Further, all one need do is observe the populace at large to see it is so.
Technology and a paradigm shift are two entirely separate matters. I am very well versed with technology and can even explain what volatile and non-volatile memory are or what a token-ring network was. Nonetheless, I can still do long division with a pencil and paper. I can still write a comprehensive and cohesive paragraph. I speak not of the convenience technology offers, I speak of the reliance upon it that renders the user an idiot without it. That is called a paradigm shift.
What happens when the grid is attacked (and it's coming)? What happens when an EMP fries the circuits in phones, GPS, cars on the road and planes in the sky? Surely you were around during 9/11 and thousands of people were unable to contact family members because cellphone service was out and they did not know phone numbers. There are people, in significant positions in government and private industry that can not write a memo, email or any other document without "spellcheck." That, along with a myriad of other factors such as parenting (education begins at home), the things articulated in Mr. Hartmann's piece, etc. combine to make the United States among the dumbest, most illiterate societies on Earth. In fact, the United States ranks 125th in literacy rate among all countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The proof is in the pudding. Just look at the asylum that is your country and the idiots you have running it. Don't shoot the messenger.
Rohn, if you want to spend your time dotting I's and crossing T's that is your right. The technology changes I mentioned free my time for more productive activities than turning on light switches or hovering over a chart to stay on course. If my cellphone goes dead because of a terror attack or just bad weather, it is not like I have a viable communication alternative. What - smoke signals? Yes, most of us Boomers can do arithmetic with pencils, however, I can get my answer faster and more accurately with a calculator. That frees up time to do more problem-solving or something else entirely. As for literacy, OECD uses some strange criteria to define literacy which most people would limit to reading ability which is ubiquitous among US citizens over age 8.
I would grant that America is deficient in critical reasoning abilities. It is not formally taught in K-12 - not much even in Universities. Americans are also not taught basic household finance management which helps to explain why so many people with decent incomes live P2P on the cusp of bankruptcy. Banks thrive on late fees and high interest rates. But, as economist Dean Baker points out, the system is rigged to maximize the wealth of oligarchs - not the proletariat. Keeping people ignorant of how capitalism works benefits those who are not ignorant.
Lastly, in Psyche 101 in college, I learned that IQ was created mainly as a tool to determine if a child was mentally deficient and in need of special education. When you get to numbers like Thom mentioned, the numbers are of no practical use. "Really-smart" is accurate enough for laymen or psychologists. LOL
I believe it was historian James Burke who reminded students that the invention of the printing press robbed mankind of his memory. Once written down, people no longer had to memorize entire chapters of their bibles, etc. What Rohn is describing is less about educational failure and more about technical advances. I have has much computing power in my laptop today as the mainframe I used in 1976 to run the statistical analyses for my master's thesis.
I no longer remember phone numbers, because my cellphone does that for me - the same with addresses
People no longer need to be able to read maps because of GPS and Android Auto. Paper maps are obsolete. Similarly, most young Navy officers are no longer skilled in the use of Sextants to navigate the high seas. I no longer have to remember to turn the lights on in the house because they are programmed to turn on either by time or sunset.
Are all these conveniences rotting our brains? I speculated that the answer is no. The only rotting brains are the same people who graduated junior high at the bottom of their class.
Negative. What I was describing is what I described and I tend to communicate both literally and verbally with brutal precision. Rarely am I indicted for vagueness.
I still remember phone numbers because I force myself to do so. I write things down, because I force myself to do so. I read maps, because I force myself to do so. I don't need to have my lights automatically turned on, I am not that lazy and can flip a switch. It is not my projection that the society is collectively dumber than it has been in the past, there are countless studies that substantiate it. Further, all one need do is observe the populace at large to see it is so.
Technology and a paradigm shift are two entirely separate matters. I am very well versed with technology and can even explain what volatile and non-volatile memory are or what a token-ring network was. Nonetheless, I can still do long division with a pencil and paper. I can still write a comprehensive and cohesive paragraph. I speak not of the convenience technology offers, I speak of the reliance upon it that renders the user an idiot without it. That is called a paradigm shift.
What happens when the grid is attacked (and it's coming)? What happens when an EMP fries the circuits in phones, GPS, cars on the road and planes in the sky? Surely you were around during 9/11 and thousands of people were unable to contact family members because cellphone service was out and they did not know phone numbers. There are people, in significant positions in government and private industry that can not write a memo, email or any other document without "spellcheck." That, along with a myriad of other factors such as parenting (education begins at home), the things articulated in Mr. Hartmann's piece, etc. combine to make the United States among the dumbest, most illiterate societies on Earth. In fact, the United States ranks 125th in literacy rate among all countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The proof is in the pudding. Just look at the asylum that is your country and the idiots you have running it. Don't shoot the messenger.
Besides, I shoot back.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/search/research-news/3283/#:~:text=IQ%20scores%20are%20falling%20and%20have%20been%20for%20decades%2C%20new,why%2C%20a%20new%20study%20suggests.
Rohn, if you want to spend your time dotting I's and crossing T's that is your right. The technology changes I mentioned free my time for more productive activities than turning on light switches or hovering over a chart to stay on course. If my cellphone goes dead because of a terror attack or just bad weather, it is not like I have a viable communication alternative. What - smoke signals? Yes, most of us Boomers can do arithmetic with pencils, however, I can get my answer faster and more accurately with a calculator. That frees up time to do more problem-solving or something else entirely. As for literacy, OECD uses some strange criteria to define literacy which most people would limit to reading ability which is ubiquitous among US citizens over age 8.
I would grant that America is deficient in critical reasoning abilities. It is not formally taught in K-12 - not much even in Universities. Americans are also not taught basic household finance management which helps to explain why so many people with decent incomes live P2P on the cusp of bankruptcy. Banks thrive on late fees and high interest rates. But, as economist Dean Baker points out, the system is rigged to maximize the wealth of oligarchs - not the proletariat. Keeping people ignorant of how capitalism works benefits those who are not ignorant.
Lastly, in Psyche 101 in college, I learned that IQ was created mainly as a tool to determine if a child was mentally deficient and in need of special education. When you get to numbers like Thom mentioned, the numbers are of no practical use. "Really-smart" is accurate enough for laymen or psychologists. LOL
Whatever, and I am not a "boomer."
As for "capitalism" I not only understand it, I know what it is.
https://rohnkenyatta.substack.com/p/blacksulting-so-you-love-capitalism?utm_source=publication-search