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I'd say the author is way off on this one. Millenials are the convenient whipping boy for this. As a much-maligned group (e.g. [1]) many adjectives are attache

by cletus 10y ago

I'd say the author is way off on this one. Millenials are the convenient whipping boy for this. As a much-maligned group (e.g. [1]) many adjectives are attached e.g. Entitled, narcissistic, lazy. This is of course a generalization that leads to the inevitable fallacious defense of disprooof by counterexample but honestly this cliche isn't without cause in my experience. The education system focuses a little too much on creativity and not at all on developing skills or any kind of rote learning. I remember seeing an English documentary about students who got As in GCSE French that couldn't conjugate avoir (to have). As a side not the British government tackled the grade inflation problem by creating the A* grade above an A because too many people were getting As. There's been a ton of research showing how it's damaging to tell people they're inherently special rather than complementing they're effort ("you're smart" vs "you worked really hard on that") e.g. [2]. So I really don't think that overall the ability to dream is a problem. Just look at how many think they're going to be movie stars, music successes and startup billionaires despite the chance of success in any of these being incepredibly low. How is this not dreaming run amok? [1] http://time.com/247/millennials-the-me-me-me-generation/ http://time.com/247/millennials-the-me-me-me-generation/ [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/the-s-word/397205/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/the-s-...

CuriouslyC 10y ago
If millennials are more narcissistic, it's because they've grown up with social networks where they can get their ego stroked. If anything, the next generation is going to be much worse. But hey, Facebook is progress, right? The education system does a terrible job of teaching people how to be creative. Educators don't even understand creativity, how can they teach it? Creativity in school is usually a code-word for "this work won't be graded for content". Rote learning has been shown time and time again to be the least effective, least engaging, most dispiriting form of learning. You want someone to learn something? Let them choose from some projects where the thing you want them to learn is required to complete it. That works much better, but unfortunately it's not so convenient for teachers. There's a reason people pick up languages quickly from immersion learning, and frequently not at all from traditional language classes. Ultimately, effective dreaming isn't about imagining yourself being at the goal post, i.e. being a millionaire or actor. That form of dream is like a mental opiate that actually saps your motivation. Effective dreaming involves imagining yourself overcoming challenges and taking action to move towards your goal. That sort of dreaming actually motivates people to act.
- cletus 10y ago
  http://www.businessinsider.com/direct-instruction-vs-inquiry-learning-2015-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/direct-instruction-vs-inquiry...
  - CuriouslyC 10y ago
    As a counter example, students in Finland do even better than their Chinese counterparts, with a more flexible instructional curriculum than most western nations, and less homework (in many cases, none). They're also happier, both while in school and as a culture, which is what really matters. To heap some anecdotes on the pile, every really sharp autodidact I've ever met or read about takes a functional, project-first approach to learning. I've never met anyone exceptional that focused on rote memorization. I did meet one good mathematician who would go cover to cover solving problems out of advanced textbooks, but he viewed them as fun puzzles like you might view sudoku.
    - ctchocula 10y ago
      I am wondering whether this is subject matter specific. For math, I've heard Freeman Dyson write when he was a child "I had read some of the popular literature about Einstein and relativity, and had found it very unsatisfying. Always when I thought I was getting close to the heart of the matter, the author would say, 'But if you really want to understand Einstein you have to understand differential equations,' or words to that effect." Later on, he goes on to say how he ordered Differential Equations by H. T. Piaggio with over seven hundred problems, most of which he solved over Christmas vacation. Then when he attempted Peter Eddington's Mathematical Theory of Relativity, it came very easily after the differential equations practice. Then for something like software engineering, I can imagine that a "project-first approach" as you call it may work well.

by cletus 10y ago

CuriouslyC 10y ago

If millennials are more narcissistic, it's because they've grown up with social networks where they can get their ego stroked. If anything, the next generation is going to be much worse. But hey, Facebook is progress, right? The education system does a terrible job of teaching people how to be creative. Educators don't even understand creativity, how can they teach it? Creativity in school is usually a code-word for "this work won't be graded for content". Rote learning has been shown time and time again to be the least effective, least engaging, most dispiriting form of learning. You want someone to learn something? Let them choose from some projects where the thing you want them to learn is required to complete it. That works much better, but unfortunately it's not so convenient for teachers. There's a reason people pick up languages quickly from immersion learning, and frequently not at all from traditional language classes. Ultimately, effective dreaming isn't about imagining yourself being at the goal post, i.e. being a millionaire or actor. That form of dream is like a mental opiate that actually saps your motivation. Effective dreaming involves imagining yourself overcoming challenges and taking action to move towards your goal. That sort of dreaming actually motivates people to act.

cletus 10y ago
http://www.businessinsider.com/direct-instruction-vs-inquiry-learning-2015-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/direct-instruction-vs-inquiry...
- CuriouslyC 10y ago
  As a counter example, students in Finland do even better than their Chinese counterparts, with a more flexible instructional curriculum than most western nations, and less homework (in many cases, none). They're also happier, both while in school and as a culture, which is what really matters. To heap some anecdotes on the pile, every really sharp autodidact I've ever met or read about takes a functional, project-first approach to learning. I've never met anyone exceptional that focused on rote memorization. I did meet one good mathematician who would go cover to cover solving problems out of advanced textbooks, but he viewed them as fun puzzles like you might view sudoku.
  - ctchocula 10y ago
    I am wondering whether this is subject matter specific. For math, I've heard Freeman Dyson write when he was a child "I had read some of the popular literature about Einstein and relativity, and had found it very unsatisfying. Always when I thought I was getting close to the heart of the matter, the author would say, 'But if you really want to understand Einstein you have to understand differential equations,' or words to that effect." Later on, he goes on to say how he ordered Differential Equations by H. T. Piaggio with over seven hundred problems, most of which he solved over Christmas vacation. Then when he attempted Peter Eddington's Mathematical Theory of Relativity, it came very easily after the differential equations practice. Then for something like software engineering, I can imagine that a "project-first approach" as you call it may work well.