Science and Technology : "U.S. has the worst education system known to Science"

skuderjaymes · Jul 5, 2012

Each1teach1 · Jul 5, 2012

skuderjaymes said: ↑

Michios arrogant but correct statement about the system was on point but the reason it would collapse is not because the H1b1 is taken away but because the govt has long stepped back the initiative of creating home grown intelligence. They no longer teach how to think and do for self in school but continually create and produce a worker class. Michio will sit up there and talk that crap about forgetting google and silicon valley all the while forgetting that AMERICANs created it!! Not foreigners and NONE of them had post graduate degrees!! In fact two Jobs and Gates were college drop outs!

chuck · Jul 5, 2012

As Grace Lee Boggs reminds us: (Ms Boggs is a former school teacher etc. and a lifetime activist--who is in her nineties):

The U. S. public schools were/ or are becoming a pain, i. e., because they teach obsolete skills, so they aren't always that relevant to anybody helping and praying to land a job/paying decent wages etc., in our this techology obsessed present day reality...

umbrarchist · Jul 5, 2012

I have been suggesting this story to teachers for a while.

Omnilingual (1957) by H. Beam Piper
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/03/scientific-language-h-beam-pipers-qomnilingualq
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/308/omnilingual
http://librivox.org/omnilingual-by-h-beam-piper/

I finally got one to respond. He is in Australia.

Just finished listening to the radio story. This is science gold! I will go back and read the text but quite enjoyed the experience of listening to the audio version. Fascinating how they found their Rosetta stone upon the walls of a classroom. Now we need to to unpack the story so that we can use it in the classroom, perhaps first by writing up a teaching guide that builds upon the history and science ideas. I think what also works is that the author has kept it quite believable, clearly drawing upon how scientists really work rather than popular fiction. Thank you for sharing this.

I find it curious how he emphasizes CLASSROOM rather than SCIENCE. And then thinks it needs a teaching guide. Hugo Gernsback was emphasizing science fiction for science education 80 years ago.

Not only is science fiction an idea of tremendous import, but it is to be an important factor in making the world a better place to live in, through educating the public to the possibilities of science and the influence of science on life which, even today, are not appreciated by the man on the street. ... If every man, woman, boy and girl, could be induced to read science fiction right along, there would certainly be a great resulting benefit to the community, in that the educational standards of its people would be raised tremendously. Science fiction would make people happier, give them a broader understanding of the world, make them more tolerant.
— Hugo Gernsback

Editorial, Science Fiction Week (1930). In Gary Westfahl, Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction (2007), 166.

http://rollingsreliable.com/tag/vegetarian/

skuderjaymes · Jul 5, 2012

Each1teach1 said: ↑

Michios arrogant but correct statement about the system was on point but the reason it would collapse is not because the H1b1 is taken away but because the govt has long stepped back the initiative of creating home grown intelligence. They no longer teach how to think and do for self in school but continually create and produce a worker class. Michio will sit up there and talk that crap about forgetting google and silicon valley all the while forgetting that AMERICANs created it!! Not foreigners and NONE of them had post graduate degrees!! In fact two Jobs and Gates were college drop outs!

[soapbox]

Listen.. Science/Technology and Nationalism cannot coexist. Especially not American Nationalism. Silicon Valley is far more than Apple Computer.. and Microsoft is not in Silicon Valley.. Their are a ton of technology companies that create products and services and technologies that most consumers have no direct knowledge of.. Cisco Systems is arguably the most important company in Silicon Valley.. and Cisco.. on the technology side.. is a mix of people from all over the world.. The executive/sales side however is lily white.. and if you ask about it, they'll tell you quickly that the Sales side is a social job and Sales people/executives should look like the customer. Which of course is just a way of keeping white control.. and White control is the only American thing about Silicon Valley. Believe me.. Dr. Kaku is not being arrogant when he says that the American Academy.. and American Industry would collapse without so-called "Foreigners". And that is an absolute fact. And also believe me when I say that those people in Silicon valley would not defend and promote you as adamantly and patriotically as you are defending them.. Not on the basis of your nationality.. or your ethnicity.

I worked as an Engineer in one of silicon Valley's largest companies.. and it was invigorating.. it was intellectually stimulating.. their were conferences and events related to technology going on everywhere.. I would be sitting in the cafeteria next to the people that authored the books on my bookshelf. And everyone was so accessible and open and communicative and challenging.. everyone seemed to be probing everyone else for knowledge and information... for news.. etc.. And I learned more in the informal education system of my company and through conferences in the valley than I did in all 12 of my years of education in the school system.. Every company was so focused on innovation.. and every individual was so focused on whatever they were working on that that was all anyone talked about.. The coolest person was the smartest person.. the guy that held the patent for this.. or that wrote that book.. It was an environment that worshiped applied intelligence. Technology was actually the culture.. on the technical side.

On the sales side though.. Money ruled.. it was all about numbers.. business.. market share.. convincing companies to select our product over our competitor product.. and that was less interesting for me.. but it was still interesting because the innovation from the technical side bled over onto the business side and what you got was a kind of business-engineering that sought to revolutionize business processes.. And in this area is where you saw the American leadership. This is where Steve Jobs fits in.. and John Chambers (Cisco systems).. and Larry Ellison (Oracle).. on the business side.

so let me reiterate.. Science/Technology and Nationalism cannot coexist. Especially not among black people. All that does is hold us back.. We have to be about collecting knowledge and experience from whoever has it.. that's the only way forward. There's no way this section of this board could exist without the contributions of many many people from many different places in the world all applying their genius to creating something new.. and all human.

[/soapbox]

-peace.