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Well, I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago, if that helps. In retrospect when I was in grade school I was being taught things that were about 10-30 year

by jghn 3y ago

Well, I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago, if that helps. In retrospect when I was in grade school I was being taught things that were about 10-30 years behind the times in terms of state of the art knowledge in their field. Which makes sense. I wouldn't expect an elementary school teacher to be up to date with the most recent knowledge coming out of academia on these topics. As another example I remember being scoffed at by my teacher in 2nd grade by pointing out how it looked like the continents could fit together. Plate tectonics was known by that point but hadn't become ubiquitous knowledge. I don't remember when I was formally taught the concept of Pangea but it was later on.

wolverine876 3y ago
> I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago Normally this question would be obnoxious, but hopefully it makes sense in the context (and in the context of HN): Looking at the issues raised in my GP post (to which you replied), why do you believe that? My hypothesis is, I don't know and I doubt most other people know.
- jghn 3y ago
  > why do you believe that? Why do I believe what exactly? That this is what I was taught? The point I was raising was now there's an n=2. chiming in. I've learned to trust my childhood memories down to about age 6. I've been proven right close to 100% of the time I've had people challenging those memories. And I remember being taught the whole Fertile Crescent story. I could even tell you the teachers' names that taught it to me over the years, and have distinct memories of their classrooms. That it makes sense that grade school teachers can be behind the times? If that's what you mean it's because almost everyone is behind the times. And I don't expect a grade school teacher to be an expert in their "field". We're talking about an age range where teachers can even be somewhat fungible between subjects. Further, anecdotal evidence from my life (including both as a child and as an adult) corroborates this. The story revolving around the Levant *was* the generally accepted truth at the time among the larger population. It makes sense that this is what was being taught to grade schoolers.

by jghn 3y ago

wolverine876 3y ago

> I was taught the same thing 40ish years ago Normally this question would be obnoxious, but hopefully it makes sense in the context (and in the context of HN): Looking at the issues raised in my GP post (to which you replied), why do you believe that? My hypothesis is, I don't know and I doubt most other people know.

jghn 3y ago
> why do you believe that? Why do I believe what exactly? That this is what I was taught? The point I was raising was now there's an n=2. chiming in. I've learned to trust my childhood memories down to about age 6. I've been proven right close to 100% of the time I've had people challenging those memories. And I remember being taught the whole Fertile Crescent story. I could even tell you the teachers' names that taught it to me over the years, and have distinct memories of their classrooms. That it makes sense that grade school teachers can be behind the times? If that's what you mean it's because almost everyone is behind the times. And I don't expect a grade school teacher to be an expert in their "field". We're talking about an age range where teachers can even be somewhat fungible between subjects. Further, anecdotal evidence from my life (including both as a child and as an adult) corroborates this. The story revolving around the Levant *was* the generally accepted truth at the time among the larger population. It makes sense that this is what was being taught to grade schoolers.