tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14338594.post5974256016109807886..comments2024-03-05T09:42:44.066-08:00Comments on Rational Rant: "Dinosaur Girl" Sounds Offsbhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05074136019151416282noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14338594.post-58846371563698960232007-05-05T03:02:00.000-07:002007-05-05T03:02:00.000-07:00Now “Dinosaur Girl” goes on to remark rather fatuo...<I>Now “Dinosaur Girl” goes on to remark rather fatuously that she enjoys “learning material I disagree with. You have to know the other side in order to effectively combat it.”</I><BR/><BR/>Classic fundie presuppositionalism. The very antithesis of a scientific approach, whereby one tests one's ideas about the world against the facts. But in the fundie universe, opinions and rhetoric are more important than facts.<BR/><BR/>(I'd say she's on the debating team. Researching opposing views so can rebut them is standard in debate preparation--but participants are supposed to be aware that debating is an exercise in rhetoric, not truth-seeking.)Arthur_Vandelayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00659697967914477025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14338594.post-62265744327088692912007-05-04T00:45:00.000-07:002007-05-04T00:45:00.000-07:00Being a valedictorian is pathetically easy in the ...Being a valedictorian is pathetically easy in the average American high school. The primary requirement is to 1) show up, 2) perfectly regurgitate the Reader's Digest Edition Educational lessons that they only have time to give you, 3) Pass a series of standardized tests featuring the above information. 4) dont piss off any Authorities.<BR/>Maybe some day they'll split up classes into the smart kids and dumb kids again, but these days they're all mixed up, so all you have to do to be a "smart kid" is learn all the stuff they're trying to teach the dumb ones.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what the effect of NCLB was supposed to be (<I>really</I> supposed to be, not whatever crap they claimed), but what it's led to is to remove the emphasis from teaching the best and brightest to making sure that the kids who cant or <I>wont</I> learn get more attention than the kids who actually ask questions and are interested in knowledge, because the ones who dont learn are now the measuring stick against which teachers are measured. <BR/><BR/>Conspiracy? Well, as anything involving BushCo, one has to wonder, especially considering Bush connections with (now) highly profitable testing companies, but I think this has been more of the usual case of trying to take the easy road out of a messy, complicated problem (like bussing). Still, you have to wonder about a policy which de-emphasizes <I>thinking</I> in favor of rote learning of a set of "approved" lessons.<BR/><BR/>That <I>particular</I> stupid, brainwashed girl may or may not be real, but there are thousands, if not millions out there <I>just like her</I>. They never question authority, something which I once would have said was the most distinguishing characteristic of being an American (ah, foolish youth...)daveawayfromhomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06237313399294302353noreply@blogger.com