News Parents prefer talking drugs to helping with math

Belisarius

Obsessed with reality. Why?
Addon Developer
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
979
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Barcelona, Spain
According to an Intel.com study, most parents prefer to talk about drugs or sex (counselling) than math or science. This lady blogs about it in the New York Times and agrees: "Numbers has never been my strong suit, and as it happens I couldn’t really help with math and science homework sometime in middle school."

Meanwhile the geeks aren't much help. One explains that he can't help his child “Not because I’m not knowledgeable, but because it’s hard to transfer my knowledge to that of an 8-year-old.”

The dumbing down of America and the world marches on, my friends. The dumb beget the dumber and the smart ones are to geeky to communicate...
 
Last edited:

insanity

Blastronaut
Donator
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
1,194
Reaction score
106
Points
63
Location
Oakland, CA
I'd rather talk about sex and drugs than math or science any day. I like to talk about what I know though.
 

Artlav

Aperiodic traveller
Addon Developer
Beta Tester
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
5,789
Reaction score
778
Points
203
Location
Earth
Website
orbides.org
Preferred Pronouns
she/her
The dumbing down of America and the world marches on, my friends. The dumb beget the dumber and the smart ones are to geeky to communicate...
No need to worry, they will emerge from the stupid ages eventually. It's a law of evolution - stupidity dies out in the longer run.
 

Belisarius

Obsessed with reality. Why?
Addon Developer
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
979
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Barcelona, Spain
But I have reproduced and I am a total geek. Not sure I can remember how I did it, though...
 

Dig Gil

LearninProgram,Slackin DigTech
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
463
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Between Azores and New Zealand
Website
dig-orbiter.blogspot.com
Meanwhile the geeks aren't much help. One explains that he can't help his child “Not because I’m not knowledgeable, but because it’s hard to transfer my knowledge to that of an 8-year-old.”

These people have some problem don't them?
Come on, yesterday I was telling a 8-year-old girl about allotropes and electrons.
 

Belisarius

Obsessed with reality. Why?
Addon Developer
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
979
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Barcelona, Spain
It's usually not that hard, but I wish my 10-year-old son would stop asking me about the difference between fission and fusion reactions. And it's kind of tricky getting into 11-dimensional M-brane theory too,
 

Jarvitä

New member
Joined
Aug 5, 2008
Messages
2,030
Reaction score
3
Points
0
Location
Serface, Earth
Meanwhile the geeks aren't much help. One explains that he can't help his child “Not because I’m not knowledgeable, but because it’s hard to transfer my knowledge to that of an 8-year-old.

So true. I'm a math student, and I find it next to impossible to teach anyone. I get nervous and frustrated immediately.
 

Urwumpe

Not funny anymore
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
37,588
Reaction score
2,312
Points
203
Location
Wolfsburg
Preferred Pronouns
Sire
The only M-theory, I am interested in, is: Where M I getting lunch today?
 

T.Neo

SA 2010 Soccermaniac
Addon Developer
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
6,368
Reaction score
0
Points
0
“Not because I’m not knowledgeable, but because it’s hard to transfer my knowledge to that of an 8-year-old.

So? Start transferring knowledge that an 8 year old would understand, and work your way up...
 

Andy44

owner: Oil Creek Astronautix
Addon Developer
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
7,620
Reaction score
6
Points
113
Location
In the Mid-Atlantic states
The future of the world is that portrayed in Mike Judge's Idiocracy: smart people don't breed because they are too busy with their careers. Which means we are to be left with:

 

Urwumpe

Not funny anymore
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
37,588
Reaction score
2,312
Points
203
Location
Wolfsburg
Preferred Pronouns
Sire
Great pun, there! You've got a great sense of humour, for a German of course...:tiphat:

We have a great sense of humor, we just can afford to talk seriously about our situation because it is not as bad as elsewhere. :thumbup:
 

Ark

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Messages
2,200
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Curriculum has changed quite a bit between generations, and most people's daily lives don't require anything above basic algebra, so I can understand how most parents aren't equipped to deal with that sort of thing.
 

Urwumpe

Not funny anymore
Addon Developer
Donator
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
37,588
Reaction score
2,312
Points
203
Location
Wolfsburg
Preferred Pronouns
Sire
Curriculum has changed quite a bit between generations, and most people's daily lives don't require anything above basic algebra, so I can understand how most parents aren't equipped to deal with that sort of thing.

I would say, something else changed as well... when I was young, education was the most important thing. The more and the better the education, the more chances you will have in your later life, my parents taught me.

My parents had not been able to teach me algebra or English, but they tried their best the compensate this. And likely successfully, since all of their children attend(ed) university. Maybe not over the most direct and most academic way of life, but eventually, we all ended there, because we all had the chance, and my parents created this chance for me.

How many of the two generations that came after me will have the same chances? It doesn't matter what special knowledge your parents can teach you. That is why you have teachers. It matters if they teach you to learn yourself.

I never had my parents talk to me about math or science. I know I made their worst fears come true because I preferred sex over drugs (No parents are prepared for the information that their children have sexual relationships - not even if it takes 40 years), but well, life is boring without some selected sins.

But to quote my physics teacher: Things that go up and down don't always bring joy.
 

insanity

Blastronaut
Donator
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
1,194
Reaction score
106
Points
63
Location
Oakland, CA
I would say, something else changed as well... when I was young, education was the most important thing. The more and the better the education, the more chances you will have in your later life, my parents taught me.

My parents had not been able to teach me algebra or English, but they tried their best the compensate this. And likely successfully, since all of their children attend(ed) university. Maybe not over the most direct and most academic way of life, but eventually, we all ended there, because we all had the chance, and my parents created this chance for me.

How many of the two generations that came after me will have the same chances? It doesn't matter what special knowledge your parents can teach you. That is why you have teachers. It matters if they teach you to learn yourself.

I never had my parents talk to me about math or science. I know I made their worst fears come true because I preferred sex over drugs (No parents are prepared for the information that their children have sexual relationships - not even if it takes 40 years), but well, life is boring without some selected sins.

But to quote my physics teacher: Things that go up and down don't always bring joy.

Spot on.

I was lucky that my father is a very important figure in the American scientific community, but because of it I spent a lot of time with my mom who can't do basic algebra. Because of the odd dynamic, I learned from a young age to seek out knowledge for myself (which is how I found Orbiter). Part of the problem of postindustiral society is that many no longer know how to do things without the internet. We've gained leaps and bounds in technology, but the general population seems so complacent that you'd almost expect that sex and drugs are easier to talk about than science and math.

FWIW, my parents have known about my vices for a long-time, we've talked about 'responsibility' a long-time before I could ask a science question of my father and actually understand the answer.
 

computerex

Addon Developer
Addon Developer
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
1,282
Reaction score
17
Points
0
Location
Florida
The problem these days is that kids aren't inquisitive about the right things... Intelligence cannot really be judged easily. A person might not know much about conventional topics that we consider to be important, but they may have an excellent knowledge base for something they care for, make up for the average high school girl, and sports for the guy. So you can't really say that someone is stupid if they don't understand that plants require water so that they can split it during photosynthesis to form sugar molecules. And the problem now a days is that kids simply aren't interested in topics such as science or mathematics. My school of over 1600 students only had twenty three students in the AP Calculus AB class last year, and this year in AP Calculus BC we only have twelve students. It was worse in physics, we only had six students, two of which would simply go to the library and not come to class, and two of the four remaining would just go to sleep.
 
Top