"COGITO ERGO SUM"

[Cynique]

 

On May 17th Pioneer said:

"Cynique I'm suprised you don't have a degree.
You took me as a well LETTERED woman.
Especially having written columns for news papers.
But then again.....
As many of those older than me have told me for years, the education students received in highschool and even junior high back before the 60s was often superior to what they're getting in most colleges today."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is true. That's how I got hired to write a column for a newspaper. The editor who took me on, in addition to liking the letters I wrote to the paper's OpEd page, was impressed with the schools I had attended, knowing their highly-regarded reputations.

Also, I typified the zeitgeist of my era. Back then, plenty of people dropped out of college after a couple of years, moving on to the promising jobs that were available without a college degree. A lot of guys joined the military. Many women left school to get married.  My becoming engaged was a factor in my not returning to college, along with the fact that I was tired of the regimentation of school, tired of writing term papers, and cramming for exams and taking notes in lecture halls and regurgitating what my professors fed me. When I saw a chance for a new challenge I took it, like great numbers of my peers. 

"Educated" people who can't think past their nose don't view this situation as critical thinkers, too ignorant, for instance,  to realize that a huge organization like the Post Office is maintained by a variety of departments employing a broad range of workers whose duties don't consist of slinging mail bags.  But an "intelligent" person like you, is able to put things in perspective and broadens his scope of knowledge by making inquiries. 

[Pioneer1]

(I think, therefore I am)

I haven't heard that term in Latin in a while
An old girlfriend who was a paralegal and studied a little Latin used to use that phrase a lot.


I learned a while back that most people have gifts or talents (such as writing, public speaking, music, painting, ect...) that only need a little enhancement through perhaps a simple apprenticeship.
There's not need to spend a fortune on a 4 or 6 year degree.

That highly structured regimented environment you described is the very thing that beats the creativity out of so many young people when they join the academic world.
It's too left-brained.
There's not enough room to allow one's creativity to flourish.

Something I find pretty strange........

I just got through reading a book that describes how much of Asia is suffering today because for the past 40 or 50 years they've been so focused on left-brained activities like studying, test taking, science, ect....that they've lost their creativity and have looked to the West to INVENT things so that they can copy them and improve upon them.

But the problem now is because they were beating America in test scores and science for so long, the West decided about 15 years ago to push for more left-brained agenda in their schools also like standardized test scores and STEMS programs.
And that shift to a more left-brained cirriculum has led to a drought in creativity through out much of America now!

Today's academic culture does a lot to stifle individual creativity BUT if one is aware of this, then they can participate in projects that help maintain it.

....or just take LSD like Mr Jobs, lol.
 

[Cynique]

Of course, what I failed to mention is that there are others categories besides the either/or "educated" and "intelligent" ones with all of their variations.  Some people are neither.  They're just dumb.  They let others do their thinking for them.  This is why Donald Trump has such a large following.  

[Pioneer1]

Of course, what I failed to mention is that there are others categories besides the either/or "educated" and "intelligent" ones with all of their variations. Some people are neither. They're just dumb. They let others do their thinking for them. This is why Donald Trump has such a large following.

That, and Donald Trump is smart enough to speak the language of the masses, unlike President Obama the Harvard Law Professor who too often SPEAKS like one.
Trump lies and exaggerates and even speaks DOWN to the public in an insulting way (like Sara Palin with her Joe six-pack examples) , but he does it in a way that even the most simple redneck can easily understand.
People don't support what they don't understand and Democrats must learn this.
Republicans from a Federal level all the way down to the local level have DUMD DOWN the public and now they can eastily lie to them and fool them.

But speaking of dumb people........

This may sound a little "counter productive" for the good of society, but I don't believe in penalizing stupidity or laziness.

I don't believe in ENCOURAGING it, but people can't help it if they are born with low intelligence.
Ofcourse people can engage in reckless behavior like drugs and alcohol abuse as well as daredevil stunts that can cause brain injury, but for the most part intelligence is something you are born with and unless we want to be like Nazi Germany where Hitler wanted to kill off all Germans who's intelligence fell below a certain IQ level, I don't think they should be punished for an unfortunate state of intellectual being.

I've talked to those who think people of very low IQ should be held to the same standards as everyone else in society and not only work but should hold jobs like nursing assistance and work in the fast food industry.
But do you really want "stupid" people taking care of you or a loved one in a hospital when they're in a state of vulnerability and one little slip up by the nurse's assistant could cost the patient their life?

Do we really want a "stupid" person handling food that must be eaten by the public....raw meats and dairy products at fast food resturants?
I believe ONE of the reasons that there has been so many cases of food contamination in different resturants lately is because you have too many "stupid" people who can't or won't go by the established methods of washing their hands and making sure food is properly separated and refrigerated.

I envision a society where those who are between retarded and normal....so-called "stupid" people....can atleast find some simple job that doesn't put the public in danger.

But I would much rather see my tax dollars go to supporting a stupid or lazy man to spends his time dodging work and hanging out at a homeless shelter with a clean bed, bowl of oatmeal, and a piece of fresh fruit, than risking him fixing meals that people have to eat or be responsible for bathing and feeding loved ones in a nursing home......or trying to rob someone.

[Delano]

What annoys me is people that think they are smarter than me. That don't understand basic concepts, and use expert opinions yet not grasping opinion.