Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Are you ignorant?

 Sometimes it seems like all I do is complain but I actually don't.  But this time I do have one.  I was watching the Today show while we were in Florida and Carson Daly was doing this bit with someone about something or other and the person he was with told him he needed to use 10 liters of water.  Daly then asked how much is 10 liters?

I was amazed but I shouldn't have been.  I'll bet there are a lot of people who can't mentally conceptualize about how much 10 liters is (for the record, it's roughly equivalent to 10 quarts).  

I think that's indicative of a broader problem-ignorance-of just about everything.  For example I read somewhere that for people under 25 yrs old only 40% actually know what the Holocaust is. Now that's pathetic.

Another thing that gets me is watching reporters or someone doing that man-on-the-street routine where they stop people (usually young people) and ask them random questions about things like history, geography or science.  The unbelievable number of clueless people out there is amazing-especially when it comes to geography.

I remember back in the day when our four grand kids were little and I'd be baby sitting I'd take them downstairs where the finished part of our basement was set up like a classroom.  They used to love to play school-especially if one of them could be the teacher!  Anyway, I would have maps hung up all over the place of regions all over the world.  I would get them from National Geographic and we'd play geography games.  I did the same thing with my students during my teaching days.  I can guarantee you that if that roving reporter were to stop one of my former students he'd get correct answers!

 


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