It’s difficult to get out of a “rabbit hole” but disciplined thinking makes one so much more capable. (And listening to "good" advice.)
Very good suggestion from Nadia Nichols. - Along those lines, the most important aspect that students miss out on in mathematics are what I call "rates" and "ratios." They both have the same concept and almost ALL "math" problems a person meets during life involve these two issues. Public school teachers become almost 'discombobulated' by these issues and seem to come up with "formulation" for specific cases, a solution without any understanding or thoughtful application. As a start for home schoolers (I am NOT a big fan of home schooling except when the alternatives of local public schooling are dreadful) I have recommended the use of a 52-card deck with four suits. Remove the four "Jacks" to have 48 cards. since 48 allows advances in understand by going, e.g., from four to eight to sixteen to twenty-four to forty-eight cards of mixed complexities of suits. But start out with most of the possibilities of mixed suits with just four cards and you will be on your way. The student learns to see both similarities and contrasts, in nearly identical objects. With the same numbers on the four cards. they can be split into reds and blacks or into suits. Once you start including the numbers, the entire world of add, subtract, multiply and divide shows up. And every number has a descriptive to go with it. Two plus two means very little, but two oranges and two apples means a lot more. In this case one has a variety of reds and blacks, and clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts to replace the apples and oranges. The student(s) can even start to learn the meaning of the two times and three times and four times multiplication tables. (And students in upper high school often have surprising troubles with all of the descriptives and word ratios in intro to chemistry. Word ratio strings can be (must be) treated in the same ways as number ratio strings. I have written my own "Intro to "intro to chemistry" " essay that simplifies the basic chemistry aspect of exothermic and endothermic reactions. Without taking the course one sees the reason why CO2 is such a stable molecule. Its DeltaEnergy equals DeltaMass times the square of the speed of light immediately show how much mass is lost in that relation. (This chemistry problem is immediately solvable by physics and mathematics, not by chemistry. It gives, I hope, a very satisfying reason for wanting to pursue chemistry as a subject.). ... Bill Lynch ... bandglynch@gmail.com
Excellent post. It's baffling that many of the young protestors at this years May Day protests didn't even understand or know what or why they were protesting. It was just pure thoughtless protest for the sake of marching around holding a sign. John, you should invent some gaming gadgets for preschoolers that teaches youngsters critical thinking in very fun, creative and clever ways so that when they enter the public education domain, they will retain all their critical thinking skills and recognize the brainwashing and dumbing down for what it is.
Excellent summary and post! I definitely see this in Canada with one example being around the Indigenous peoples and land issues up here right now. There is even an American tribe claiming rights to one of the mines in BC because they used to roam around those lands. The courts have not outright dismissed this which is ridiculous. We have land boundaries now clearing separating Canada and the US so you would think the judges would use common sense. Our justice system doesn't even seem to reflect critical thinking.
I see the education component is so important here. The indoctrination (being taught how and what to think) happens at a very young age and then carries on into post secondary institutions. These students are the future leaders, authorities, judges etc. of our countries.
I agree with your opinions….IMO many people ,75% or more are uninformed and propagandized by the leftist media narrative on every topic not just A.I….this technology will change much in our lives but may be over rated and must be regulated by GOOD people not the EVIL people…
The Left is not about Equal Rights. They are about Special Privileges. Consider "Gay Rights" or "LGBTQ Rights". What rights do they not have that everyone else does have?
Rights are things that cannot be taken away, and cost nothing. For example the right to free speech. Nobody can legally stop you from expressing your opinions, but neither does your right to free speech imply an obligation on anyone else's part to listen, or to provide you a media platform.
What the Left wants is special privileges granted to its intersectional groups (they call oppressed - per Critical Theory) and paid for by the perceived oppressors. For example: DEI is just affirmative action under a different name, which puts the oppressor (white male christian) at the back of the line. It's a special privilege for some, paid for by others.
It is time we called out the nonsense for what it is.
Mike: I agree with your characterization of the situation. If you feel so inspired, send me a more detailed commentary on this topic and maybe I'll publish it.
It’s difficult to get out of a “rabbit hole” but disciplined thinking makes one so much more capable. (And listening to "good" advice.)
Very good suggestion from Nadia Nichols. - Along those lines, the most important aspect that students miss out on in mathematics are what I call "rates" and "ratios." They both have the same concept and almost ALL "math" problems a person meets during life involve these two issues. Public school teachers become almost 'discombobulated' by these issues and seem to come up with "formulation" for specific cases, a solution without any understanding or thoughtful application. As a start for home schoolers (I am NOT a big fan of home schooling except when the alternatives of local public schooling are dreadful) I have recommended the use of a 52-card deck with four suits. Remove the four "Jacks" to have 48 cards. since 48 allows advances in understand by going, e.g., from four to eight to sixteen to twenty-four to forty-eight cards of mixed complexities of suits. But start out with most of the possibilities of mixed suits with just four cards and you will be on your way. The student learns to see both similarities and contrasts, in nearly identical objects. With the same numbers on the four cards. they can be split into reds and blacks or into suits. Once you start including the numbers, the entire world of add, subtract, multiply and divide shows up. And every number has a descriptive to go with it. Two plus two means very little, but two oranges and two apples means a lot more. In this case one has a variety of reds and blacks, and clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts to replace the apples and oranges. The student(s) can even start to learn the meaning of the two times and three times and four times multiplication tables. (And students in upper high school often have surprising troubles with all of the descriptives and word ratios in intro to chemistry. Word ratio strings can be (must be) treated in the same ways as number ratio strings. I have written my own "Intro to "intro to chemistry" " essay that simplifies the basic chemistry aspect of exothermic and endothermic reactions. Without taking the course one sees the reason why CO2 is such a stable molecule. Its DeltaEnergy equals DeltaMass times the square of the speed of light immediately show how much mass is lost in that relation. (This chemistry problem is immediately solvable by physics and mathematics, not by chemistry. It gives, I hope, a very satisfying reason for wanting to pursue chemistry as a subject.). ... Bill Lynch ... bandglynch@gmail.com
Bill: Thank you for an interesting idea.
Excellent post. It's baffling that many of the young protestors at this years May Day protests didn't even understand or know what or why they were protesting. It was just pure thoughtless protest for the sake of marching around holding a sign. John, you should invent some gaming gadgets for preschoolers that teaches youngsters critical thinking in very fun, creative and clever ways so that when they enter the public education domain, they will retain all their critical thinking skills and recognize the brainwashing and dumbing down for what it is.
Nadia: Re inventing things, two longtime games do teach critical thinking: Chess and Bridge.
If I “critically think about my feelings,” I’m not sure which I love more: AlterAI, or John Droz,Jr. —
I’ll say John. After all, the AI doesn’t have feelings. John certainly does!
Nice job.
Kimball: Where do I send the check?
Excellent summary and post! I definitely see this in Canada with one example being around the Indigenous peoples and land issues up here right now. There is even an American tribe claiming rights to one of the mines in BC because they used to roam around those lands. The courts have not outright dismissed this which is ridiculous. We have land boundaries now clearing separating Canada and the US so you would think the judges would use common sense. Our justice system doesn't even seem to reflect critical thinking.
I see the education component is so important here. The indoctrination (being taught how and what to think) happens at a very young age and then carries on into post secondary institutions. These students are the future leaders, authorities, judges etc. of our countries.
Christine: Your comments about the K-12 education system are spot on!
A well written article and excellent analysis. I look forward to your critical thinking commentaries, I've learned so much.
Brandy: TY for your support!
I agree with your opinions….IMO many people ,75% or more are uninformed and propagandized by the leftist media narrative on every topic not just A.I….this technology will change much in our lives but may be over rated and must be regulated by GOOD people not the EVIL people…
Ferg: Agree that most people are NOT Critical Thinkers, so are easily misled.
Unfortunately the leftist regressives destroyed EDUCATION as their first MARXIST priority …
the masses suffer
Ferg: Yes, the failing K-12 education system is not an accident.
Excellent!!
Joan: Thank you!
The Left is not about Equal Rights. They are about Special Privileges. Consider "Gay Rights" or "LGBTQ Rights". What rights do they not have that everyone else does have?
Rights are things that cannot be taken away, and cost nothing. For example the right to free speech. Nobody can legally stop you from expressing your opinions, but neither does your right to free speech imply an obligation on anyone else's part to listen, or to provide you a media platform.
What the Left wants is special privileges granted to its intersectional groups (they call oppressed - per Critical Theory) and paid for by the perceived oppressors. For example: DEI is just affirmative action under a different name, which puts the oppressor (white male christian) at the back of the line. It's a special privilege for some, paid for by others.
It is time we called out the nonsense for what it is.
Mike: I agree with your characterization of the situation. If you feel so inspired, send me a more detailed commentary on this topic and maybe I'll publish it.
ok. I have some Rocket Science to take care of (seriously). I will get to it.
MD
Excellent AI summary of your excellent observations.
TY