14 ms·

This is so true for a lot of liberal arts. I just think the social sciences are better left until later in the child's life. Younger children are more adept at

by iamwpj 6y ago

This is so true for a lot of liberal arts. I just think the social sciences are better left until later in the child's life. Younger children are more adept at learning math and science than we give them credit for, but we spend quite a lot of time explaining dinosaurs really poorly only to never return to clear that up.

leetcrew 6y ago
> spend quite a lot of time explaining dinosaurs really poorly only to never return to clear that up I wonder about this type of thing a lot when I think of my experience in school. a lot of the material they taught me in lower and middle school was just wrong. not like subtly wrong, but blatantly incorrect in a way that would be obvious to any undergrad major in that subject (which schoolteachers often are). I'm sure the teachers must have realized too. why spend so much time teaching stuff that needs to be unlearned as early as high school? the best example I can think of right now is the answer to "why is the sky blue?". my lower school science teacher told us it was reflecting the ocean. I'm sure she realized this answer didn't make any sense, but that's what she taught us. I don't expect teachers to try to explain raleigh scattering to a group of third graders, but wouldn't it be better just not to explain it at all?
- C1sc0cat 6y ago
  Where was this FFS
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    this was at a very well-regarded private elementary school in the midatlantic US (I try not to be any more specific than this on HN, although you can probably figure out the city if you delve deep into my comment history). I can understand teaching general rules upfront with the expectation that exceptions will be covered later (eg, teaching lower school students that water boils at 212F/100C is okay, they can learn about vapor pressure later). but why would you teach that columbus was the first european to discover north america? not only is it completely wrong, but it's not a practically useful fact, nor does it create a solid basis for deeper understanding.
    - saagarjha 6y ago
      Because it sounds right to a lot of people.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    From experience, this must be true throughout the United States. I went to a very good public school and had similar experiences?
- brlewis 6y ago
  Blue light bounces around the sky a lot so we see it in all directions. At sunset, when we look at the horizon, we see light that traveled through a lot of sky without bouncing away, so it's less blue. Who's Rayleigh?
- saagarjha 6y ago
  You know, I think that many teachers honestly do believe the things that they teach that are totally wrong. My eighth grade science teacher said, with a straight face, that hydrogen bombs are so explosive because hydrogen is very reactive.

by iamwpj 6y ago

leetcrew 6y ago

> spend quite a lot of time explaining dinosaurs really poorly only to never return to clear that up I wonder about this type of thing a lot when I think of my experience in school. a lot of the material they taught me in lower and middle school was just wrong. not like subtly wrong, but blatantly incorrect in a way that would be obvious to any undergrad major in that subject (which schoolteachers often are). I'm sure the teachers must have realized too. why spend so much time teaching stuff that needs to be unlearned as early as high school? the best example I can think of right now is the answer to "why is the sky blue?". my lower school science teacher told us it was reflecting the ocean. I'm sure she realized this answer didn't make any sense, but that's what she taught us. I don't expect teachers to try to explain raleigh scattering to a group of third graders, but wouldn't it be better just not to explain it at all?

C1sc0cat 6y ago
Where was this FFS
- leetcrew 6y ago
  this was at a very well-regarded private elementary school in the midatlantic US (I try not to be any more specific than this on HN, although you can probably figure out the city if you delve deep into my comment history). I can understand teaching general rules upfront with the expectation that exceptions will be covered later (eg, teaching lower school students that water boils at 212F/100C is okay, they can learn about vapor pressure later). but why would you teach that columbus was the first european to discover north america? not only is it completely wrong, but it's not a practically useful fact, nor does it create a solid basis for deeper understanding.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    Because it sounds right to a lot of people.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  From experience, this must be true throughout the United States. I went to a very good public school and had similar experiences?
brlewis 6y ago
Blue light bounces around the sky a lot so we see it in all directions. At sunset, when we look at the horizon, we see light that traveled through a lot of sky without bouncing away, so it's less blue. Who's Rayleigh?
saagarjha 6y ago
You know, I think that many teachers honestly do believe the things that they teach that are totally wrong. My eighth grade science teacher said, with a straight face, that hydrogen bombs are so explosive because hydrogen is very reactive.