Ten reasons why we are dumber

[mbc85]

Top 10 Facts You Should Be Taught in School

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide educational evaluation of 15-year-old students. PISA is a highly respected program and enables politicians and policy-makers to examine the education system in different countries. The test focuses on reading, mathematics and science. In 2010, the results from the last series of PISA tests were released. It is clear that the United States and United Kingdom need to make some changes in the educational process.

South Korea ranked #1 in math and reading, #3 in science. Finland ranked #2 in math and reading, #1 in science. Canada ranked #5 in math and science, #3 in reading. New Zealand ranked #4 in reading and science, #7 in math. The United States ranked #14 in reading, #25 in math and #17 in science. The UK ranks #20 in reading, #22 in math and #11 in science. Students in the UK and US are not being taught the basic fundamentals of space, science, computers, disease, war and the atmosphere. This article will examine ten facts that should be taught in school.


10

i have no idea how accurate this list is or if it helps at all, what do you say?

[minorwork]

Will global warming be eased if people are dumber?

If smart people make more money than dumb people, they will have more money to spend. If more money is spent then more energy is needed for smart people than dumb people. The more energy used, the more the globe warms. It is good for the planet to have dumb people. Smart people make more, spend more, use more energy. It behooves our custodial role of the planet to make people dumb to prevent a runaway greenhouse-effect warmer globe.

To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all
people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.

[Sigma_Tau_Theta]

Will global warming be eased if people are dumber?

If smart people make more money than dumb people, they will have more money to spend. If more money is spent then more energy is needed for smart people than dumb people. The more energy used, the more the globe warms. It is good for the planet to have dumb people. Smart people make more, spend more, use more energy. It behooves our custodial role of the planet to make people dumb to prevent a runaway greenhouse-effect warmer globe.

Would the smart people be more apt at finding alternate energies?
Would the smart people be more likely to recycle?
Smart people seem to have less kids. Less people means less energy needed.

While the total fertility rate has been stable since the 90’s in the U.S., past decades witnessed substantial changes to the timing of childbearing by socioeconomic status (Martin 2000; Rindfuss, Morgan & Offutt 1996; Mare 1995; Chen & Morgan 1991). That is, women with a college degree report lower birth rates in their early or mid reproductive years and are more likely to have a child after they reach age 30

http://paa2006.princeton.edu/downloa...issionId=61711

or

Fertility and intelligence research investigates the relationship between fertility and intelligence. Demographic studies have indicated that in humans, fertility and intelligence tend to be inversely correlated, that is to say, the more intelligent, as measured by IQ tests (see the article on IQ for a discussion of the concept), exhibit a lower total fertility rate than the less intelligent. It is theorized that this trend may lead to a downward spiral in the entire population, known as dysgenics. Other correlates of fertility include income and educational attainment

Fertility and intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It would seem smarter people would be better,


You could also get "creative" with global population control. Sure China and India could stand to have an increased "accident" rate. Africa is mainly a black hole for resources. The US could stand to lose some of the Baby Boomers and some major cities, etc. There are ways to relieving the stress on the planet, some not as "ethical;" as others.

[minorwork]

Are college freshmen and women dumber now than way back in the 1930s? Seems there used to be Latin and Greek taught in high schools but now remedial reading classes are taught in colleges? What the hell is going on?
‪George Carlin - Dumbed Down Education‬‏ - YouTube

‪George Carlin - Teach your children to question‬‏ - YouTube

[Yarn]

What % of people went to highschool in the 30s? Once upon a time, only the best or best-provided-for students got to go to highschool.

At anyrate, advances in entertainment: technology, methods, and permissability of methods have caused declines in intellectual achievement that are highly substantial and wholly independent of raw intelligence.

Regardng the evolutionary foundations of intelligence and stupidity, a key component is energy consumption versus the survival benefit of IQ. The brain alone accounts for about 20-25% of the body's energy consumption. More intelligence costs more energy. Throughout human history, extending into prehistory, starvation periods were a frequent occurence. Those who consumed more calories survived these in lesser numbers. Since, for a hunter gatherer especially, intelligence is important to survival, a balancing out of intelligence, energy consumption, and I guess sexyness, and promiscuity occured.

As of today, there are pressures against too much intelligence or too little of it. Someone who is retarded is less likely to have children because being retarded makes you very unattractive. On the otherhand, more intelligent people are more responsible. Also, since they are rarer, they find it more difficult to find a suitable mate.

[Boy]

Are college freshmen and women dumber now than way back in the 1930s? Seems there used to be Latin and Greek taught in high schools but now remedial reading classes are taught in colleges? What the hell is going on?
‪George Carlin - Dumbed Down Education‬‏ - YouTube

‪George Carlin - Teach your children to question‬‏ - YouTube

I think colleges and universities have definitely lowered their standards.
Harvard Entrance Exam from 1899 Will Make You Feel Dumb | Geekosystem
I wonder how many of today's 18 year olds are able to pass that.

[barts]

I think colleges and universities have definitely lowered their standards.
Harvard Entrance Exam from 1899 Will Make You Feel Dumb | Geekosystem
I wonder how many of today's 18 year olds are able to pass that.

I wonder how many university graduates today (including me) could pass the exam?

[Angry Citizen]

Top 10 Facts You Should Be Taught in School



i have no idea how accurate this list is or if it helps at all, what do you say?

Well, I found one error, kinda:

Seasons are not caused by the Earth being closer to the Sun in the summer. They are the result of the Earth being tilted on its axis.

While true, the Earth does have an eccentricity, and that eccentricity is partially responsible for the northern hemisphere's comparatively milder summers. When the northern hemisphere is in winter, the Earth is closest to the sun, and when the northern hemisphere is in summer, the Earth is furthest from the sun.

[ALIHAYMEG]

I wonder how many university graduates today (including me) could pass the exam?

Certainly not this one!

The decreased effort to educate children over the years makes perfect sense. How much do you really need to know in order to stand at a store counter and ask, "How can I help you?"

The other incentive for the "elite class" to reserve the best education for their own kind is to maintain their "elite" status. All you need is a nation full of obedient wage slaves to keep your “hegemonic” system functioning. When people become too educated, they start understanding just how invalid many of the things you are perpetuating actually are.

Our children don't have a "graduation date", they have a "date of manufacture". The very idea of using an assembly line approach to education is absurd. Children do not learn at the same rate. Educating all ages together has always proven to be the best approach. Like everything else in our system, only what is the most cost effective and the minimum necessary is what is provided. Nothing that you are forced to do is ever fun or interesting or exiting. We need a more natural approach to education. Why stop learning after 18? Education should continue for a lifetime.

[barts]

Certainly not this one!

The decreased effort to educate children over the years makes perfect sense. How much do you really need to know in order to stand at a store counter and ask, "How can I help you?"

In support of your argument, seeKen Robinson says schools kill creativity at TED. Great post, ALIHAYMEG.

[Angry Citizen]

The other incentive for the "elite class" to reserve the best education for their own kind is to maintain their "elite" status.

Which is why I'm sure the "elite class" can pass the exam? Hogwash if you ask me. While you're absolutely right that primary and secondary education are heavily affected by monetary discrepancies, higher education is not. There is no perceivable academic difference between a large state university and a highly selective private university. The difference comes through networking and the very selection process that makes up the student body. You pay four times as much not for a better education, but so you can hang out with other people who can pay four times as much or who are smart enough not to need to. Same thing with MIT. You don't go to MIT for the classes and professors (who are often far too smart to be teaching). You go to MIT for the "I can do ANYTHING and fuck you if you think you can stop me" attitude. That's all the MIT brand name is good for.

[Muckraker]

I think colleges and universities have definitely lowered their standards.
Harvard Entrance Exam from 1899 Will Make You Feel Dumb | Geekosystem
I wonder how many of today's 18 year olds are able to pass that.

In 1899, whatever knowledge was not immediately available in your brain was pretty much unavailable - especially if you weren't in the immediate vicinity of a stocked library.

I don't need to clutter my mind with pointless trivia because I have instant access to essentially every tidbit of knowledge humans have acquired to date - providing I know how to efficiently phrase what I am looking for.

For most people the brain can only hold so much information in an easily accessible format - and that information quickly becomes inaccessible if you don't perform active maintenance. I used to know every country and capital in the world. It was useless for me to initially learn and totally pointless to maintain - especially considering I can go up against the world's best geographer and instantly provide all the information he has immediately available in his maintained mind.

Source of the Danube (originates in the Black Forest in Germany); chief rivers of Ancient Gaul (Garonne, Marne, Seine, Rhine). Who cares? I didn't have to think about it for one minute and I provided the answers - and all Gaul is to me is a word that sounds vaguely familiar. Ask an 1899 scholar something they haven't read up on yet and see how long it takes for them to provide the correct answer.

People today don't acquire and maintain trivial knowledge because there is no reason to do so. And we need to free up storage space to make room for what our 5000 Facebook friends have for breakfast.