[OT] Nerds

[Puke]

most of his stuff is total unadulterated crap, with the singular purpose of eliciting emotional response without any kind of solid premise or point, but Jon Katz ran a good serise of articles on Slashdot shortly after the Columbine shootings. Basically a collection of letters from students about problems and persecution they faced in school.

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

It turned into a ten part series, the first of which is linked above. I think they were all together in some easy to browse format somewhere, but all I can find now are the original slash articles.

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

http://features.slashdot.org/article...thread&tid=146

[Narratio]

Don't know about unadulterated crap Puke. I agree some of the 20/20 rear view vision stuff sounded false, but overall the premise strikes me as true.

I was a nerd 30 plus years back and it still seems to describe me and my friends.

Liked the slashdot articles as well. Useful Posts.

[Loser]

I don't' think Puke was referring to the essay that started the thread, but rather to the author of the materiel that Puke linked.

I did say I like this essay, and I do, but I have found a contradiction.

The author says that kids are put in school because they are useless to the modern world. This is believable, in fact I like it.

He says they are useless to the modern world because the specialized modern world requires years more of training before its workers are of any use. Sounds nice.

But then he also says, many times, that there is no point to schooling, and that it accomplishes nothing. I am somewhat inclined to agree with this but...

This would seem to indicate that kids are being kept out of the workforce so that they can receive training that they are not receiving. While this may be the case, it is a contradiction of reason that the author does not bring to light. I am mildly disappointed.

But I do find great 'personal truth' in the essay nonetheless.

I would also like to point out that I am a great supporter of public school for a number of reasons. One worth mentioning is that I have met many, many products of the homeschool system, but I have yet to meet one that qualifies as 'adjusted'. The best I found was one who seemed okay for about a week. And he beat out the runner-up but about thirteen days, eighteen hours. He also turned out to be incapable of real communication (though he was a damn good mimic, best job I've seen done by a man).

If you're homeschooled and you think you're adjusted, don't take this personally. It doesn't apply to you, I have met you. Relax.

[Will]

Having gone through the American public school system recently, I can tell you that it doesn't really teach the students that much. I could have easily finished grades 9 thru 12 in one school year, if I was simply given the opportunity to go through the material at my own pace. Large parts of it could be thrown out entirely, becuse it was complete and utterly useless crap (eg. "Social Studies" classes, where history, economics, and government classes were lumped together, consisted largely of games and art projects; the teacher doesn't have to do much if the kids are too busy drawing posters or trying to throw a nerf ball into the trash can). Instead I spent most of my time in high school doing something else. I never had homework that actually came home; why take it home, when it could just as easily be finished in other classes? The height of uselessness was my senior year. I would typically roll out of bed, go to school, then promptly fall asleep in art class. Wake up, go to physics, where I would then begin to either read the next chapter in the book, or do homework for some other class. Study Hall, more sleep, or work on essays for college and/or scholarship applications. Eat lunch, then study hall again, more sleep. Go to calculus, sit in the back of the class, and play games on my TI-86 calculator until the end of class. Economics... see above (posters, etc). AP English was the one class that I actually had to do any thinking in, and that's probably only because it's supposed to simulate a college course (thus far, I haven't taken any courses that rivaled that class in difficulty). I would finish out the day at school playing Pinball while I was supposed to be learning how to use Microsoft Word. In the end, what did I end up learning? Other than the AP English class, I learned jack **** in school. Everything I learned, I learned outside of school, on my own.

Now, it does seem that there is a contradiction, if you assume that high school is supposed to teach students real-world skills. That assumption in the majority of cases is completely false. The main reason teenagers are put through four years of high school is to provide them with four more years to grow up, become a little bit more stable, to get used to taking orders from higher ranking individuals, etc. In short, a holding pen for four years. Thus the majority of students -- the ones who go through high school pursuing popularity instead of knowledge -- are primed and ready to become part of the hoarde of mindless drone workers in America. Most will never rise above mediocrity. A few will become politicians (which could be argued, is below mediocrity). It is nearly certain they will not amount to anything; they don't have the knowledge to do so.

[Fyron]

thus far, I haven't taken any courses that rivaled that class in difficulty

Well, you aren't an english major, for one thing...

[Puke]

I was asleep, drunk, or stoned through almost all of high school. I had had my fair share of getting my *** kicked for being a geek in gradeschool and junior high (or maybe just because i was a jackass and had it comming), and found a bunch of other *******s in highschool with likeminded and sympathetic ideas about the world. so we sort of detached our selves from the rest of the drudgery.

in 11th and 12th grade, i worked off campus at a electronics shop, so only had to go to class half days. staying out every night didnt help my sleep habits or my general health, so my grades were not all that hot. but by that time, I had realized that grades didnt really matter anyway (most people dont clue in to that one untill after college, i cant exactly remember how I figured it out so early - maybe i was just lazy). and only did enough to get by. I liked the handfull of teachers that actually taught, and they liked me because i understood the concepts and talked to them, even though I was snoozing or hungover most of the time, and even though I never actually did any of my work.

all told, im glad i "enjoyed" myself rather than suffering through the abuse that would have come if I had applied my self to academics. I hate to think what kind of dead end corporate rat race job i'd be in now, if I had stuck it out in the honor system and done the "right" thing with my life back then.

[Kamog]

In high school, I actually enjoyed most of my classes. Only later did I discover that a lot of people hated school. I especially loved math and science. I remember being so excited when I learned something like how to use logarithms. For some reason, my classmates did not share my enthusiasm. After school, often I stayed behind in the computer lab, writing little programs for fun, and learning about computers. In my high school, calculus was not part of the curriculum, but an extra class outside of regular hours was offered, so I was in that class in addition to my regular classes - I was very happy about learning calculus. I only had a few close friends and did not associate with people outside my small group of about three friends. In fact, that's the way it has always been for me, not just during high school. I had absolutely no interest in being popular or looking good. Outside of the few friends I had, I did not care at all about the other people or what they thought about me, and rarely talked to them. I did not spend too much time doing homework, because for the most part I didn't find it very difficult. But I did spend extra time to learn additional material I was interested in, and I entered math and science contests. Anyway, my memories of high school are mostly positive.