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a decent percentage can't. trying to talk to some of my friends about political topics or history or anything else is frustrating because of their lack of knowl

a decent percentage can't. trying to talk to some of my friends about political topics or history or anything else is frustrating because of their lack of knowledge. They know their major and they know about the video games they play but that is it. "who is joe Biden?" is a real question I've heard. many perform abysmally on critical reading portions of tests and can't form persuasive arguments effectively.

stcredzero 10y ago
This isn't limited to STEM majors!
khedoros 10y ago
Are they capable of critical thinking if you choose an area of discussion that they are knowledgeable about? Can they make clear, reasoned judgements within the limits of their knowledge? If they can't, then you have a point (which is really sad).
- thesimpsons1022 10y ago
  yes I'd say so. problem is sometimes they may not know when they are arguing about something they are knowledgable about versus things they aren't. once again I'm talking from anecdotal experience and there are always exceptions. honestly the biggest problems I've seen from my peers(college aged and new grads) are superiority complexes and not realizing when they are out of the bounds of their knowledge base.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    Dunning-Kruger is something pretty much everyone lapses into sometimes.
xufi 10y ago
I can relate to you about the "Frustrating lack of knowledge aspect" I've tried to engage people who are in the Psychology department where I hang around, about other topics such as stuff like VR and they dont even care about it. No matter how much you dumb it down or try to make it sound interesting,
burfog 10y ago
To be fair, the VP is only very slightly more powerful than a typical senator, and less powerful than at least one of them. Do you know all the senators? The VP is also less powerful than a supreme court justice. The VP is also less powerful than the house majority leader. Things are less clear with governors, but I think the argument can be made that the VP is less powerful than the governors of California, Texas, Florida, New York, etc. Do you know those? Also, remember what Feynman said his dad taught him about knowing the names of birds. Memorizing names gives a false sense of knowledge.

stcredzero 10y ago

This isn't limited to STEM majors!

khedoros 10y ago

Are they capable of critical thinking if you choose an area of discussion that they are knowledgeable about? Can they make clear, reasoned judgements within the limits of their knowledge? If they can't, then you have a point (which is really sad).

thesimpsons1022 10y ago
yes I'd say so. problem is sometimes they may not know when they are arguing about something they are knowledgable about versus things they aren't. once again I'm talking from anecdotal experience and there are always exceptions. honestly the biggest problems I've seen from my peers(college aged and new grads) are superiority complexes and not realizing when they are out of the bounds of their knowledge base.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  Dunning-Kruger is something pretty much everyone lapses into sometimes.

xufi 10y ago

I can relate to you about the "Frustrating lack of knowledge aspect" I've tried to engage people who are in the Psychology department where I hang around, about other topics such as stuff like VR and they dont even care about it. No matter how much you dumb it down or try to make it sound interesting,

burfog 10y ago

To be fair, the VP is only very slightly more powerful than a typical senator, and less powerful than at least one of them. Do you know all the senators? The VP is also less powerful than a supreme court justice. The VP is also less powerful than the house majority leader. Things are less clear with governors, but I think the argument can be made that the VP is less powerful than the governors of California, Texas, Florida, New York, etc. Do you know those? Also, remember what Feynman said his dad taught him about knowing the names of birds. Memorizing names gives a false sense of knowledge.