Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah_MaxCash
So what factory does he work at that doesn't have any foreign investors? What car does he drive that he fills with fuel that had no foreign involvement at all? Just because they are ignorant to the relevance of the world to their lives does not make it true.
If I can't fit my kitchen sink then I am indeed ignorant of that and I should probably attempt to learn some handy skills. That is a personal failing of mine and not excused away. Patting them on he head and going 'it is okay you are so ignorant because you live in huge land mass' is just silly.
|
Unfortunately it seems in this day and age ignorance is a way of life for multiple reasons. Education and technology being among the biggest contributors. I have read some amazing reports on the subject. As well as having two children in school, I have learned and researched the subject for several years.
Education: While it can not be completely at fault, I think it sets precedent for everything that follows.
1. They no longer teach cursive writing in schools. What little they do write, it is all in print form. Everything else is done via computer. I know kids 17 to 20, my son included, who do not and can not sign their name. I had to fight with my son to start doing it, he insisted that nobody needs to know that and printing his name was just fine.
2. When I was growing up, you were never allowed to have a calculator in school. It wasn't until high school when you entered complex math or science classes that they were allowed. Now they are required school supply items for junior or middle schools. We were always made to do the calculations by hand, long form. They aren't taught that anymore. A machine does it for them.
3. The next biggest problem is that schools, and this goes with number 2, teach kids to rely to heavily on technology and the internet. See more on this below.
Technology:I have believed for a longtime that technology retards brain growth in areas of information retention and intelligence.
1. All cellphones have contact lists. You program in the number, associate it to a name, store or save that information, forget information. When I was a kid, before cellphones, I had all the numbers to my friends memorized as well as relatives, etc. Today most people can't tell you what their friends numbers are, they have to have their phone tell them what it is. Once my son needed to call someone but his mom had the phone and was out. I asked him what is the number, call from my phone. He didn't know. Ever ask friend for another friends number only to have them tell you, "Hold one while I pull it up."?
2. The big one, and relevant to this topic more than the rest, is the internet. The internet it a vast wealth of information, anything you need to know is there and only a few keystrokes away. When information is so easily available it becomes less valuable. For me, being raised and educated the way I was, use the internet to expand my level of intelligence and knowledge or education. But those who have been raised on the internet use it as a storage medium for information rather than using the brain for this purpose.
Why learn and retain information when it can be looked up at anytime and as often as necessary? Throw any one of todays youths into a library and they are completely lost. They can't compute that type of antiquated information gathering.It requires them to use their brains and problem solving skills to hunt down the information. Why use your brain when you have google and the internet to do all the work for you?
Dependence on the internet over traditional means of gathering information also comes with a myriad of other problems. The vast wealth of information makes people experts on everything. Why? Because I looked it up or read it on the internet. Everyone has the ability to put information on the internet whether it is correct or not. This unreliability or disinformation can lead to the degradation of facts or actual events, perceptions of life, ideals, beliefs, history, science, etc.
-----------------------------------------
Simply put, why use your brain or retain information when you have a medium other than your brain to do it for you. These things are being taught in school and is welcomed by a vast majority of the population.
Ever watch the movie Idiocracy? It is funny but scary and TRUE. It inspired me to create my avatar. Ignorance is on the rise.
