@thebird55: That reminds me: When my sister was a teacher, she walked past a classroom where she heard a teacher referring to “World War Eleven,” when the teacher really meant, World War II.
You just made me think of a trick I learned in sixth grade.
Have someone write down a 4 digit number. Example: 3581. Subtract 2 from it, and paste it on the front. Result: 23579. Write this number down, off to the side. Now have the person write down another 4 digit number, directly under the first one (so they be added together later). Let’s say they write 4729. Under that, you write down digits that equal 9 when added to the digit above. In this example: 5270. Have them write one more number under that, and you repeat the process. If you add all the four digit numbers together, you will now get the five digit number that you wrote off to the side.
Not all people can know the same things! In this days people are considered to be ignorant, when they are not so good in computering, but no one is considered to be ignorant, when he is not able to play the piano! This is hard work too, and you must train hours and hours to be able to play it well!!
To me, intelligence means knowing something about a broad breadth of areas. As well as having the ability to draw connections between those areas of knowledge. -————IMO there are many well-schooled people out there who are not very intelligent. Also, many very intelligent people that don’t happen to have much formal education.
Apparently, looking around, yes…remaining ignorant is a right, one that many cherish. Note the careful choice of only facts that support one’s chosen worldview.-Once heard an interesting definition of intelligence, and will share it for your consideration. “Intelligence can be defined as merely the ability to survive in one’s environment.” For instance, some might consider a Wall Street Lawyer more educated/intelligent than an African Bushman. However, put that lawyer in the African bush and see how long he survives. Conversely, put that Bushman in the wilds of New York City…he might not survive either. Yet both are intelligent in their respective environments.-This implies that education ought to be at least specific to one’s environment. For some, that is their immediate neighborhood or vocation. But I personally feel that the planet (indeed, the universe!) is our environment, so a good education covers it all.
Intelligence isn’t everything. Persistence in doing a task, especially a boring one (and all tasks get boring after a while), is what gets things done. Took me a long time to realize this because the society has a tendency to glorify intelligence like it’s a big deal.
I have an IQ of 141. My husband of 16 years is a plumber with average IQ. He has a steady job and steady income. He works hard even when it’s cold or wet or gross. I haven’t found a job that I can stand yet.
Good thing I married my husband. I would have starved to death otherwise. I guess I was smart there.
Frankly my own take is that competent teachers are being forced out of the system by the system. Parents abuse them if they teach kids the “wrong” stuff, don’t allow them to do exactly what they want, or criticize them in any way. The system is shackled by a religious zealots, bureaucrats, state and federal budget slashing, and an increasing zero-tolerance policy that punishes the good kids along with the bad.
Anyone who stays in is either a martyr, a fanatic or otherwise unemployable. The ones who actually give a darn are forced out.
To throw in my two cents: I think we’re seeing an increase of teachers who are teaching subjects they aren’t really trained in. A lot of history teachers aren’t actually trained historians – they’re the English teacher who has to pull double duty because the school can’t afford to hire a separate teacher for the job. I also know that many teachers don’t get to build their own curriculum or teach to the student anymore . . outside people make the curriculum and teachers have to teach to the test.
The bottom line is that being in right place at the right time means more than any other factor.This was demonstrated in the Signal Corps 1960s – when the man that BOTTOMED the class made E-4 fourteen months before the man that TOPPED it. Due to different assignments.(Both enlisted same day7!)
@NabuquduriuzhurSpeaking as a teacher, I can honestly say that the Three R’s are only about 1/3 of education, if that. Every time I hear a politican talk about wanting to “go back to basics” I want to scream! What about programming? What about physical education (the best way to combat child obesity)? What about ethics? What about art (important because it makes people think) ? Most importantly, what about childhood apathy, which Calvin here epitomizes. Too many students today think that the Internet makes reading, books, and education in general obsolete. Nothing could be further from the truth, but they believe it wholeheartedly. Worse still, they believe everything they see online (regardless of who has posted it) is the Gospel truth. They say they don’t, but studies have shown that they do!
There’s a lot more to education than the “Three R’s”, but most people don’t realize it.
Honestly, the money problem in our education system is far more complicated than that. It’s true, we are spending a considerable amount of money on our schools, but where the money ends up is a different matter. Through the years I’ve spoken with lots of school workers (having a few in the family too) and the consensus seems to be that much of the funding gets wasted and doesn’t reach the teachers or the students. School administrators (on the higher end) can make a very large income and there seems to be no end of special employees that all soak up funding. Stupid choices get made too . . . my old high school decided it was of paramount importance to put a brand new tv and dvd player in every classroom, but failed to replace the pathetically outdated books that the students couldn’t even take home because there wasn’t enough to go around. I don’t know if you can really compare teachers and students from 50+ years ago since so much has changed . . . 50 years ago did we even know how we ranked scholastically with the rest of the world? To be truthful, I know I learned a lot when I was in middle school that I probably have forgotten. It was information and skills that I didn’t use regularly so I lost them.
On a side note, take the chip off your shoulder . . . a college degree neither grants intelligence nor ignorance . . it’s only purpose is to open doors.
A few of some of my favorite “ignorance” quotes . . . hope no one minds all my multiple posts tooooooo much!
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.”- Wayne Dyer(American self-help author & motivational speaker)
“People’s ignorance really pisses me off. Stupidity is when you can’t help it — ignorance is when you choose not to understand something.”- Sarah McLachlan(Canadian musician, singer, & songwriter)
“Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don’t know and I don’t care.”- Jimmy Buffett(American singer, songwriter, author & businessman)
It is interesting that separation of church and state is well recieved, but how about separation of school and state? If there were compulsory church attendance laws, there would probably be a national revolt. There is a free market in religion, in which people themselves decide what place of worship they want to go to, if at all. How about a free market in education?
when people say that they hate math, but use it everyday like calculating grocery bill, distance-time-speed on their commute., etc…when girls say that they hate biology, but like flowers, dogs, cats, etc,,,
People are truly foolish if they think kids today (and teachers) are more poorly educated than in the past. Go spend some time volunteering in schools, and speak from experience rather than from hearsay and internet stories. The fact is benchmarks have consistently risen, and kids are doing work in younger grades that used to be reserved for later grades. High schoolers are doing course content that a generation or two ago would have been college material.Is there anything more ironic than to speak from ignorance about education?
My time was wasted with french crammed down my throat. It could have been used for maths and science instead. Now I am weak in both areas and have to look up answers instead of being able to compute them for myself. While team sports in gym were an utter waste of time, at least I had the habit of exercising instilled in me.
Linux0s almost 12 years ago
There’s no ignorance like stubborn ignorance.
alviebird almost 12 years ago
The subjects I disliked the most I now find fascinating.
arye uygur almost 12 years ago
@thebird55: That reminds me: When my sister was a teacher, she walked past a classroom where she heard a teacher referring to “World War Eleven,” when the teacher really meant, World War II.
margueritem almost 12 years ago
Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise
alviebird almost 12 years ago
You just made me think of a trick I learned in sixth grade.
Have someone write down a 4 digit number. Example: 3581. Subtract 2 from it, and paste it on the front. Result: 23579. Write this number down, off to the side. Now have the person write down another 4 digit number, directly under the first one (so they be added together later). Let’s say they write 4729. Under that, you write down digits that equal 9 when added to the digit above. In this example: 5270. Have them write one more number under that, and you repeat the process. If you add all the four digit numbers together, you will now get the five digit number that you wrote off to the side.
ratlum almost 12 years ago
Corner Gas tv series .I dont know what you dont know,Calvin could make use of this in his frame of mind .
Vandal00 almost 12 years ago
I was a math whiz when I was a kid, and didn’t really care for other subjects. Inevitably, English and writing ended up becoming my forte.
orinoco womble almost 12 years ago
My cousin Jim has a college degree and he’s still ignorant. A strong enough will can do it, Calvin. Just ignore anything you don’t want to accept.
rentier almost 12 years ago
Not all people can know the same things! In this days people are considered to be ignorant, when they are not so good in computering, but no one is considered to be ignorant, when he is not able to play the piano! This is hard work too, and you must train hours and hours to be able to play it well!!
Hobbes Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Click here: Non Sequitur (December 17, 2009)
Hobbes Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Click here: Peanuts (November 27, 1958)
Hobbes Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Click here: Peanuts (February 15, 1965)
Hobbes Premium Member almost 12 years ago
From the second month of Peanuts:Click here: Peanuts (November 22,1950)
Hobbes Premium Member almost 12 years ago
From the seventh year of Peanuts, when Linus was still too young to go to school:Click here: Peanuts (October 13, 1957)
ewalnut almost 12 years ago
Ignorance can be very expensive.
suzleigh almost 12 years ago
For those who haven’t checked yet, the Sunday strip is now available.
IndyMan almost 12 years ago
All of this is above my level of knowledge, I find simple arithmetic a challenge.
PoodleGroomer almost 12 years ago
Do you want fries with that?
Pump 5 is on for the red car.
rshive almost 12 years ago
To me, intelligence means knowing something about a broad breadth of areas. As well as having the ability to draw connections between those areas of knowledge. -————IMO there are many well-schooled people out there who are not very intelligent. Also, many very intelligent people that don’t happen to have much formal education.
crmetarick almost 12 years ago
I was curious, wanted to learn but was poorly taught. In the end it didn’t matter.
comics almost 12 years ago
“Omnia disce, videbus postea nihil esse superfluum.”
Vonne Anton almost 12 years ago
Apparently, looking around, yes…remaining ignorant is a right, one that many cherish. Note the careful choice of only facts that support one’s chosen worldview.-Once heard an interesting definition of intelligence, and will share it for your consideration. “Intelligence can be defined as merely the ability to survive in one’s environment.” For instance, some might consider a Wall Street Lawyer more educated/intelligent than an African Bushman. However, put that lawyer in the African bush and see how long he survives. Conversely, put that Bushman in the wilds of New York City…he might not survive either. Yet both are intelligent in their respective environments.-This implies that education ought to be at least specific to one’s environment. For some, that is their immediate neighborhood or vocation. But I personally feel that the planet (indeed, the universe!) is our environment, so a good education covers it all.
Poollady almost 12 years ago
Ignorance and apathy – Don’t know, don’t care!
Puddleglum2 almost 12 years ago
I want to know everything I should know.
William Bednar Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Well, it’s official! Calvin is a Repulican!!
meihong almost 12 years ago
Intelligence isn’t everything. Persistence in doing a task, especially a boring one (and all tasks get boring after a while), is what gets things done. Took me a long time to realize this because the society has a tendency to glorify intelligence like it’s a big deal.
I have an IQ of 141. My husband of 16 years is a plumber with average IQ. He has a steady job and steady income. He works hard even when it’s cold or wet or gross. I haven’t found a job that I can stand yet.
Good thing I married my husband. I would have starved to death otherwise. I guess I was smart there.
bigbadwolf49 almost 12 years ago
Stupidity can’t be helped, but ignorance is a choice (and therefore the real stupidity)
Number Three almost 12 years ago
You have a right to remain silent, Calvin.
LOL… Joke.
I got tired of learning the same stuff day after day too but at least I wouldn’t forget it.
xxx
lindaf almost 12 years ago
Frankly my own take is that competent teachers are being forced out of the system by the system. Parents abuse them if they teach kids the “wrong” stuff, don’t allow them to do exactly what they want, or criticize them in any way. The system is shackled by a religious zealots, bureaucrats, state and federal budget slashing, and an increasing zero-tolerance policy that punishes the good kids along with the bad.
Anyone who stays in is either a martyr, a fanatic or otherwise unemployable. The ones who actually give a darn are forced out.
calvinsfriend110 almost 12 years ago
Ignorance is bliss.
BluePumpkin almost 12 years ago
To throw in my two cents: I think we’re seeing an increase of teachers who are teaching subjects they aren’t really trained in. A lot of history teachers aren’t actually trained historians – they’re the English teacher who has to pull double duty because the school can’t afford to hire a separate teacher for the job. I also know that many teachers don’t get to build their own curriculum or teach to the student anymore . . outside people make the curriculum and teachers have to teach to the test.
Jaddis almost 12 years ago
Ignorance is the mother of adventure
tuslog64 almost 12 years ago
Many great things have been done by people too stupid to realize that what they were attempting was impossible!
tuslog64 almost 12 years ago
I’ve known people that were “educated beyond their intelligence”
tuslog64 almost 12 years ago
The bottom line is that being in right place at the right time means more than any other factor.This was demonstrated in the Signal Corps 1960s – when the man that BOTTOMED the class made E-4 fourteen months before the man that TOPPED it. Due to different assignments.(Both enlisted same day7!)
gorbasche2 almost 12 years ago
Statistically, aren’t HALF the people of the world below average intelligence? That means one out of every two people you see is an idiot.
rentier almost 12 years ago
You can learn and learn and learn, always there will be something you don’t know!
cookies333 almost 12 years ago
You have to make it interesting Calvin!
TELawrence almost 12 years ago
@NabuquduriuzhurSpeaking as a teacher, I can honestly say that the Three R’s are only about 1/3 of education, if that. Every time I hear a politican talk about wanting to “go back to basics” I want to scream! What about programming? What about physical education (the best way to combat child obesity)? What about ethics? What about art (important because it makes people think) ? Most importantly, what about childhood apathy, which Calvin here epitomizes. Too many students today think that the Internet makes reading, books, and education in general obsolete. Nothing could be further from the truth, but they believe it wholeheartedly. Worse still, they believe everything they see online (regardless of who has posted it) is the Gospel truth. They say they don’t, but studies have shown that they do!
There’s a lot more to education than the “Three R’s”, but most people don’t realize it.
khpage almost 12 years ago
I was always really good at mathematics until I got to addition and subtraction….
BluePumpkin almost 12 years ago
Honestly, the money problem in our education system is far more complicated than that. It’s true, we are spending a considerable amount of money on our schools, but where the money ends up is a different matter. Through the years I’ve spoken with lots of school workers (having a few in the family too) and the consensus seems to be that much of the funding gets wasted and doesn’t reach the teachers or the students. School administrators (on the higher end) can make a very large income and there seems to be no end of special employees that all soak up funding. Stupid choices get made too . . . my old high school decided it was of paramount importance to put a brand new tv and dvd player in every classroom, but failed to replace the pathetically outdated books that the students couldn’t even take home because there wasn’t enough to go around. I don’t know if you can really compare teachers and students from 50+ years ago since so much has changed . . . 50 years ago did we even know how we ranked scholastically with the rest of the world? To be truthful, I know I learned a lot when I was in middle school that I probably have forgotten. It was information and skills that I didn’t use regularly so I lost them.
On a side note, take the chip off your shoulder . . . a college degree neither grants intelligence nor ignorance . . it’s only purpose is to open doors.
alexmailer almost 12 years ago
The Wizard of Oz made a comment about brains did he not I cannot remember what it was actually Can anyone help ?
Gretchen's Mom almost 12 years ago
A few of some of my favorite “ignorance” quotes . . . hope no one minds all my multiple posts tooooooo much!
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.”- Wayne Dyer(American self-help author & motivational speaker)
“People’s ignorance really pisses me off. Stupidity is when you can’t help it — ignorance is when you choose not to understand something.”- Sarah McLachlan(Canadian musician, singer, & songwriter)
“Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don’t know and I don’t care.”- Jimmy Buffett(American singer, songwriter, author & businessman)
falcon_370f almost 12 years ago
Politicians, and corporate CEOs exercise that right all the time.
bmonk almost 12 years ago
I agree about the staff and supervisors (especially in larger systems, like Chicago) soaking up lots of the funding. It’s really unconscionable.
USN1977 almost 12 years ago
It is interesting that separation of church and state is well recieved, but how about separation of school and state? If there were compulsory church attendance laws, there would probably be a national revolt. There is a free market in religion, in which people themselves decide what place of worship they want to go to, if at all. How about a free market in education?
Rickapolis almost 12 years ago
A lot of political jokes could be made over this one.
vwdualnomand almost 12 years ago
when people say that they hate math, but use it everyday like calculating grocery bill, distance-time-speed on their commute., etc…when girls say that they hate biology, but like flowers, dogs, cats, etc,,,
tnazar almost 12 years ago
Calvin has a future in Congress.
Greg Johnston almost 12 years ago
People are truly foolish if they think kids today (and teachers) are more poorly educated than in the past. Go spend some time volunteering in schools, and speak from experience rather than from hearsay and internet stories. The fact is benchmarks have consistently risen, and kids are doing work in younger grades that used to be reserved for later grades. High schoolers are doing course content that a generation or two ago would have been college material.Is there anything more ironic than to speak from ignorance about education?
el_flesh almost 12 years ago
My time was wasted with french crammed down my throat. It could have been used for maths and science instead. Now I am weak in both areas and have to look up answers instead of being able to compute them for myself. While team sports in gym were an utter waste of time, at least I had the habit of exercising instilled in me.