Wow, people are clueless.

Post #252,860 by inthane-chan 4/21/06 10:23:39 AM Reply	Wow, people are clueless. I had this little joke going after my brother's wedding, that the reason I didn't get lucky was that at the wedding there was a serious lack of women who met the following three criteria: 1. Within 7 years of my age. 2. Single. 3. Did not look like Helen of Troy. The whole joke, of course, is that while Helen of Troy may have had a face that launched a thousand ships, she's been dead for several thousand years, and anybody who looks like her I should stay FAR away from. Something like 50% of the people I told this joke to had NO idea who Helen of Troy was. This includes a large segment of people who actually saw that forgettable film "Troy" when it came out... /me bangs head against wall repeatedly. When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #252,874 by imqwerky 4/21/06 11:33:13 AM Reply	Prolly your obscure sense of humor had nothing to do with it Yeah,yeah, I know...you're going to hurt me in July :-P I'll be ready for ya, big guy! Grin, Amy Stop looking at my signature!
Post #252,876 by folkert 4/21/06 11:37:38 AM Reply	You are not Helen of Troy... But Amy of Texas. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #252,878 by imqwerky 4/21/06 11:39:53 AM Reply	ROFLMAO! Stop looking at my signature!
Post #252,888 by ben_tilly 4/21/06 11:55:35 AM Reply	An Amy of one! I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #252,886 by inthane-chan 4/21/06 11:52:21 AM Reply	Nope. I have no problem with having an obscure sense of humor. OTOH, I knew who Helen of Troy was when I was six. While I would not expect others to have parents who were so in love with Greek mythology as mine, I DO expect that they could make it through 12 years of public school and come out with SOME fracking knowledge of what is arguably one of the greatest legends in the world... Or maybe that's asking too much of todays nintendo-eloi... When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #252,910 by danreck 4/21/06 3:00:23 PM Reply	Observations I'm taking graduate level classes. I was in an online Ethics class (has static board like IWETHEY for discussion forums). I write, "this argument reminds me of some of the classic debates brought up on the nature of forms between Plato, Socrates and Aristotle" (under the crazy idea that Ethics is a subset of Philosophy, etc...) where I then proceeded to make my actual point. Cyber silence ensues. Finally, "could you post some links?". To what, I'm thinking? So I post links to point I'm making. "No, the nature of forms... Aristotle, Plato, etc." Okay, so I'm thinking that a basic understanding of Philosophy and the old dead Greek dudes might be a pre-requisite to studying Ethics, like maybe understanding what a byte or a hard disk is to studying Computer Science... WRONG! You now want Helen of Troy? That's a fairly Spartan idea? Just a few thoughts, Danno
Post #252,911 by inthane-chan 4/21/06 3:08:58 PM 4/21/06 3:09:09 PM Reply	I'm quite aware of what passes for "education" these days... Edited by inthane-chan April 21, 2006, 03:09:09 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #252,916 by jbrabeck 4/21/06 3:26:08 PM Reply	Local TV station did series on edukajion Asked a group (individually) of foreigners who were 1st 5 US presidents. All answered correctly. Asked US HS students. Most were able to correctly identify Lincoln as the first US president.... A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
Post #252,917 by Another Scott 4/21/06 3:46:14 PM 4/21/06 3:46:36 PM Reply	Ok... I'd flunk that little test. I'd get 3/5. How old were the foreigners? How old were the HS students? When is American History taught in HS there? I don't recall having to memorize the US presidents when I was in school (but that was a long time ago). Cheers, Scott. (Who agrees there are problems with US education, but being unable to recall random facts at the drop of a hat doesn't bother me. I know how to look them up. Now, people who can't see logical problems in an argument, well...) Edited by Another Scott April 21, 2006, 03:46:36 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #252,918 by jbrabeck 4/21/06 4:00:39 PM 4/21/06 4:04:40 PM Reply	Same age groups ; HS Jr & Sr. (11 & 12th) While I agree on questioning the value of memorization vs knowing where to look, it did show that there is a learning deficiency. I might not get the first 5 presidents, but I do know that Lincoln was NOT the first president. And Lincoln was named by three of the students that were questioned. Granted, this could have just been sensationalization of the problem for ratings sake, but still... Lincoln as the FIRST president? A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright) Edited by jbrabeck April 21, 2006, 04:04:40 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #252,919 by Another Scott 4/21/06 4:16:11 PM 4/21/06 4:28:02 PM Reply	Well, he was the first Republican president, so ... ;-) And, actually I would have gotten 5/5, but #4 and #5 would have been guesses. There's also the issue of the groups interviewed. E.g. I'd expect foreign students in the US to do better than the average US HS student; similarly I'd expect US HS students visiting England to do better than the average English HS student on English history. (I may be wrong about that though.) Why? The foreign students likely have more interest in the country they're visiting than someone who grows up there, so they would take the time to learn more about it. Cheers, Scott. Edited by Another Scott April 21, 2006, 04:28:02 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #252,939 by ben_tilly 4/21/06 6:15:35 PM Reply	Not supported by my experience US students in Canada were apathetic about Canadian history. However, that said, in my graduating class every American knew the Canadian national anthem by heart, and very few of the Canadians did. Make of that what you will. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #252,942 by ChrisR 4/21/06 7:40:47 PM Reply	Well, if you're a foreign student... ...it could probably be surmized that you are either very academic or have a rich daddy. Either way, the statistics would be skewed since the foreign student is likely to be more educated and more well-travelled.
Post #253,207 by CRConrad 4/24/06 6:52:29 AM Reply	No, you're obviously not. Or at least, you weren't before... ...you posted the post that started this thread. As can easily be deduced from the head-banging exasperation you displayed there -- or from the fact that you attempted to tell such an (over-)erudite joke in the first place. (But if you meant, in the post I am replying to with this, to indicate what you'd learnt since starting this thread, then you may of course be perfectly correct.) HTH! [link\|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode\|Christian R. Conrad] (I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.) Yes Mr. Garrison, genetic engineering lets us correct God's horrible, horrible mistakes, like German people. - [link\|http://maxpages.com/southpark2k/Episode_105\|Mr. Hat]
Post #253,217 by inthane-chan 4/24/06 9:50:14 AM Reply	I meant THESE days. As in currently. I expected people from my generation to at least have a clue. I obviously hoped for too much. :P When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #253,273 by CRConrad 4/24/06 3:59:36 PM Reply	I could'a told ya that, kiddo. All ya had to do was ask. ;^) [link\|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode\|Christian R. Conrad] (I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.) Yes Mr. Garrison, genetic engineering lets us correct God's horrible, horrible mistakes, like German people. - [link\|http://maxpages.com/southpark2k/Episode_105\|Mr. Hat]
Post #253,293 by inthane-chan 4/24/06 5:47:08 PM Reply	Right. The next time I have expectations about $RANDOMSUBJECT, I'll immediately e-mail you and wait for a response. This should be about every thirty seconds, hope you've got a good secretary... :D When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #252,896 by a6l6e6x 4/21/06 1:02:05 PM Reply	Reminds me of a couple of girl-watchers who would audibly rank the attractive girl in sight in milli-Helens. Alex When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
Post #252,905 by Andrew Grygus 4/21/06 2:20:53 PM Reply	To the best of my knowledge . . . . . the milli-Helen was invented at USC (University of Southern California (alt. University of Spoiled Children)) sometime earlier than 1962 which is when I first encountered it. The USC football team is the Trojans, of course. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #252,924 by a6l6e6x 4/21/06 4:46:45 PM Reply	Well, that makes sense. Can't remember where I heard that first. Alex When fascism comes to America, it'll be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis
Post #252,946 by boxley 4/21/06 8:14:12 PM Reply	there is a football team named after condoms? Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #252,988 by Andrew Grygus 4/22/06 12:53:13 AM Reply	No, it's the other way around. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]

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