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@spendius,

See the Gospel according to St. Luke. 18: 1 --8.

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@hawkeye10,

I think literacy is important but I think it's kind of fetishized in parenting and schooling circles.

I love to read. There's nothing I'd rather do. It's a way to explore the world from the comfort of your chair but it doesn't require you to do anything and it doesn't require any creativity. Much of it doesn't require any real thinking at all.

I know many people who never read for pleasure or information and I consider them intelligent and interesting. I know many well read people who are dull and opinionated to the point of being close minded.

Most (all?) IQ tests don't require reading.

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@firefly,

The way this school principal handled the problem is great -- get the community involved, talk to people, hire someone who has "been there, done that" to help facilitate a conversation so that you can determine what the real problems are and work towards fixing it.

This is so vastly different from handing out a survey that I can't really even see how the two are related.

I think you're dead wrong if you think a kid's fellow students aren't aware of who is being singled out for observation or intervention. Trust me, they know.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

I love to read. There's nothing I'd rather do. It's a way to explore the world from the comfort of your chair but it doesn't require you to do anything and it doesn't require any creativity. Much of it doesn't require any real thinking at all.

Obviously, boomie, the sort of reading that doesn't require you to do anything, doesn't require any creativity and doesn't require any real thinking at all is the sort of reading that doesn't require you to do anything and doesn't require any creativity and doesn't require any real thinking at all.

What about other sorts of reading. Such as the Gospel according to St Matthew where you will find the theory of evolution, beautifully presented, in a very large number of fewer words than it took Mr Darwin and an even larger number of fewer words than it takes his followers.

I will admit though that it is easily missed. It's a "now you see it, now you don't" job for those who are not doing anything when they are reading.

It amazes me what is said about the Holy Bible by people who have difficulties with the instructions for assemble yourself furniture.

Nobody who is well read has the slightest ability to be dull and opinionated to the point of being close minded. Being dull and opinionated to the point of being close minded is the signature tune of the illiterate.

IQ is a very sinister matter.

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@boomerang,

IQ is a bad measure, IMO. It tries to create a single number to measure how smart someone is, and misses the vast breadth of human experience and ability.

It lumps so much stuff together, that it becomes a meaningless measure.

AIMS testing is a much more useful measure, IMO. http://www.aimstesting.org/

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@spendius,

Quote:

IQ is a very sinister matter.

Well said, spendius. I avoid IQ like the plague, as often as possible.

However, I'm sorry to admit, I'm one of the inepts at FYI construction, who nonetheless will often quote scripture. For instance, John 21.3, where Simon Peter rose up and said, "I'm goin' fishin'." And the others jumped up and said, "Hang on, we'll go with you."

Which shows that a divil can quote scripture, though the Bible doesn't say so. I believe it was Shakespeare what lodged that complaint. Or was it Lemuel Gulliver?

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@boomerang,

Quote:

know many people who never read for pleasure or information and I consider them intelligent and interesting.

How do they manage that as without tapping the knowledge base of the human race by way of the written word how could you have any real understanding of history or science or politics or a millions and one other aspects of the world we live in?

If you are cutting yourself off from this major source of information and depending on just the narrow window of popular culture as given by the mass media how could you have anything to communicate of any interest?

1 Reply

@BillRM,

My brother travels all over the world and meets all kinds of people. One thing he has commented on several times is that people living in the middle of nowhere often have a much better understanding of American politics than American's do -- despite the fact that only a few people in the village can read. The people who can read, read the news to others, who verbally give the information to others, until everyone is informed.

There are lots of ways to get information.

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@boomerang,

but also one can not fully understand their culture unless they get out of it for a bit, and sight seeing for a week is not going to do it. remember that "democracy in America" was written by a foreigner who decided
to spend a couple of years here.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

I don't think my brother's travels count as sight seeing. He's lived and traveled in many other countries, spending more of his adult life overseas than in America. He's pretty culturally fluent.

But that's beside the point -- which is that literate is not the same as intelligent.

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@boomerang,

Certainly not sightseeing, but I'm sure he's seen some sights.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

I don't think my brother's travels count as sight seeing. He's lived and traveled in many other countries, spending more of his adult life overseas than in America. He's pretty culturally fluent.

But that's beside the point -- which is that literate is not the same as intelligent.

my point is different and I was not talking about your brother but rather those who go on a cruise or a three day in Paris and who think they have seen the world. my point is that I think that we have been given the frog in the hot water treatment from our government which is budding a police state, outsiders see this and ask WTF we are doing and how dare we export this bullshit with our foriegn policy, and that we would be wise to listen. our standing in the world has been falling for awhile and we should figure out why. Obama running around the world with "i'am sorry's" and bad mouthing America has not helped any, so his theory that he could jawbone the problem away was wrong.

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

Quote:

Obama running around the world with "i'am sorry's" and bad mouthing America has not helped any

Sound like tea party talking points that have zero and I mean zero foundation in reality.

How about giving links to any statements by Obama that he is so sorry and or bad mouthing the US on foreign soil for that matter.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

My brother travels all over the world and meets all kinds of people. One thing he has commented on several times is that people living in the middle of nowhere often have a much better understanding of American politics than American's do -- despite the fact that only a few people in the village can read. The people who can read, read the news to others, who verbally give the information to others, until everyone is informed.

Yes, but what is their understanding derived from what it is that they have been informed of? What do they make of it? Such a grapevine would filter out anything that wasn't dramatic in some way. Whether a process like that would provide a better understanding of American politics seems doubtful to me.

It might be doubtful whether those who write the original news understand American politics.

1 Reply

@spendius,

Yes, they understood American politics.

People in other countries often have a better understanding of American politics than Americans do. You don't even have to wander away from A2K to discover that.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

Yes, they understood American politics.

Thank you for reassuring me boomie. I'll bear it in mind.

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@boomerang,

Quote:

People in other countries often have a better understanding of American politics than Americans do. You don't even have to wander away from A2K to discover that.

With special note of the friendly Canadians who have generations of Americans who ran for the border beginning with the Torries after our revolution, in their blood stream. Laughing

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@BillRM,

While 84% of US-Americans view their northern neighbour positively, only 45% of Canadians are viewing the U.S. positively and 45% viewing the U.S. negatively - which is similar to the UK views (46%-46%) Source

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@Walter Hinteler,

-

Quote:

which is similar to the UK views (46%-46%) Source

Thanks for the info and the fact that those two countries populations have similar views is kind of understandable given they both had been in the shadow of the US power in their relationships with us for any numbers of generations by now.

1 Reply

@BillRM,

Seems, all the world has been under the shadow of the US power, because of the similar vies.

Above quoted source wrote:

1 Reply

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