Off topic: Learning to Be Stupid

Richard Bell wrote:

But you cannot prove a causal relationship; unless, the problem is peculiar
to the USA. My primary and secondary education was the result of unionised
teachers, and it was reasonably useful. The decline in education in Ontario
(and the rest of Canada, near as I can tell) is attributable political
interference to ignore reality [general students feel bad, so eliminate the
general level courses and dumb down the 'advanced' courses so the general
level student can pass]. I consider myself lucky to live in a country where
no one has successfully sued a professor over an esteem-busting low grade.

To carry this tirade outside of the topic, I am infuriated that people
want equality between two things that cannot be equal. No legislation will
make below average students perform as well as above average students and
people need the threat of failure to push them to excel [why work at it if
they will pass me, anyways].

I had an adequate schooling in an Ontario collegiate institute's
advanced programme in the early '70s. Although I did not graduate from
Grade 13, I had a Junior Matric, and that was good enough to qualify
for the Officer Classification Training Plan after some time in the
ranks. I did not have much contact with the school system again until
my niece and nephew were in high school -- I was appalled; they could
not parse, they couldn't apply rudimentary logic to criticize written
work (their maths were good, but I think that was mainly genetic and
from trying to beat their dad at cards and backgammon). I only
re-entered the school system as a mature student in 1995 following the
CF's major reductions in combat arms officers. There was no slack cut,
I am happy to say, but there was a real difference between students
who qualified for honours programmes and those who did not. Frankly,
the difference seemed to be those who had an idea of scholarship and
academe, and those who did not. Sad to say, the divide seem to cleave
along socio-economic strata, but I suspect largely because those whose
parents were grads knew where there kids could find help when they
needed it and steered them there.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

Alan Lothian wrote in message ...
In article , Michael
Petukhov wrote:



Yeah i know. Howeverr may be I am interested in people's of these
particular NGs opinions. Why not? Moreover outrageously off-topics
here are so often.

So you are part of the problem, and nothing to do with the solution.

Depends on what problem you are talking about. Moreover there are
problems with mathematical prove of no solution at all.



What's the Russian for troll?

You mean russian word for troll? There are many actually.
I mean for each english word we have some 5-10 different
synonyms to be used in a different context, situation or
persons to whom you speak.

While I am an admirer of the great Russian language, I do not believe
that it has between 3 and 6 million lexical items.

Come on! At very best modern English (partucularly its US version)
is reduced to 3-4 thousands. Maximum!


Oh.. I forgot the main point... I did not understood would you agree with the
author of that article or not?

None of your bloody business, not here, anyway.

Don't you think "not here, anyway" sounds a bit ambiguous...?


*plonk*

I apologize to all others for making a further contribution to this
outrageously off-topic thread here (smn) and in ram, with which smn
generally enjoys friendly relations.

The rest is silence.

No problem. There will be many others much less cowardly.

Michael

A film and literature prof? What the hell do you expect from a FILM AND
LITERATURE PROF?

1. So what. In an open society, it is easy to find examples of all
the wrong things.

It's also easy, in America, to find out _about_ those wrong things, a little
nuance our Canadian tut-tutter seems to miss (although Canadians don't seem
to have a strong grasp of many things American in the first place). As
compared to the Soviet Union, or China, or Japan, or even many topics in
Europe where it's difficult if not impossible to find out about these things
on your own regardless.

In article , "t_mark"
wrote:

1. So what. In an open society, it is easy to find examples of all
the wrong things.

It's also easy, in America, to find out _about_ those wrong things, a
little
nuance our Canadian tut-tutter seems to miss (although Canadians don't
seem
to have a strong grasp of many things American in the first place). As
compared to the Soviet Union, or China, or Japan, or even many topics in
Europe where it's difficult if not impossible to find out about these
things
on your own regardless.



I'm not a Canadian-American (or American-Canadian) like AHS, but I've
worked extensively for Canadian companies and had time to learn some of
the cultural differences. Indeed, I make many of my Canadian friends
nervous when I tell Canadian political/ethnic/cultural jokes. There's a
vague flavor of the Japanese concept of the "strange gaijin" who knows
too much about the culture, eh?

The problem is that Canada and the USA have so many superficial (and
also deep) similarities that it can be hard to pick up the differences.

Howard Berkowitz wrote in message ...
In article , "t_mark"
wrote:

1. So what. In an open society, it is easy to find examples of all
the wrong things.

It's also easy, in America, to find out _about_ those wrong things, a
little
nuance our Canadian tut-tutter seems to miss (although Canadians don't
seem
to have a strong grasp of many things American in the first place). As
compared to the Soviet Union, or China, or Japan, or even many topics in
Europe where it's difficult if not impossible to find out about these
things
on your own regardless.



I'm not a Canadian-American (or American-Canadian) like AHS, but I've
worked extensively for Canadian companies and had time to learn some of
the cultural differences. Indeed, I make many of my Canadian friends
nervous when I tell Canadian political/ethnic/cultural jokes. There's a
vague flavor of the Japanese concept of the "strange gaijin" who knows
too much about the culture, eh?

Concept of gaijin is not those who knows too much about the culture.
I live and work there for three years and as far as I understand
this word is considered to be a bad word, is not used publicly,
at least not before foreigners. The meaning of gaijin is a foreigner
who do not undertsand rules of proper japanese style life and behaivior.
Since both are quite complex particularly for beginners, almost all
foreigners in Japan are a sort of gaijins. I am not sure what is the fraction
of ordinary japanese share this views on foreigners but must
be not so small fraction.

Michael


The problem is that Canada and the USA have so many superficial (and
also deep) similarities that it can be hard to pick up the differences.

(Brian Allardice) wrote in message ...
In article ,
says...

Concept of gaijin is not those who knows too much about the culture.
I live and work there for three years and as far as I understand
this word is considered to be a bad word, is not used publicly,
at least not before foreigners. The meaning of gaijin is a foreigner
who do not undertsand rules of proper japanese style life and behaivior.
Since both are quite complex particularly for beginners, almost all
foreigners in Japan are a sort of gaijins. I am not sure what is the fraction
of ordinary japanese share this views on foreigners but must
be not so small fraction.

I'm not so sure about that. My American friends certainly took offence, but it
didn't seem to particularly worry anyone else. Note that these same fellows
also objected to smoking in bars... go figure.... Upon visiting various
friends I was, until known to the staff, generally announced as "gaijin-san"
(the san part being important, mind) which I generally translated as "There is
a foreign gentleman here to see you" which struck me as entirely satisfactory.

Cheers,
dba

Russian scientists in Tsucuba used the same trick addresing to each
other in public like "hey, gaijin how are you doing?" or in a seminar
"that idea is a bit to complex to my gaijin mind", with always full
success. I met also a japanese friend who spend 5-6 years in europe
who said he became a gaijin after that here in japan.

Michael