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As Nicholas Negroponte, the founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child foundation, asked in a September article for the MIT Technology Review: “If

by ronyeh 14y ago

As Nicholas Negroponte, the founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child foundation, asked in a September article for the MIT Technology Review: “If kids in Ethiopia learn to read without school, what does that say about kids in New York City who do not learn even with school?” Maybe popular TV shows like Jersey Shore should contain public service announcements like "Snooki says: reading is fun!" Or maybe we need more on-screen text in games like Call of Duty & Halo. For example, you can't complete a particular objective unless you figure out that a paragraph of text tells you to look up a "code word" from page 6 of a real book like The Lorax. Schools and teachers aren't our problem. If parents and kids aren't intrinsically motivated to learn, how can you force them to? I hope that more American parents will convince their kids to take education seriously, or else many other countries (with access to American online courses) will eventually surpass us.

mnemonicsloth 14y ago
All people are intrinsically motivated to learn. People can give up wealth, sex, and addictive drugs. We can fast. We can even stop breathing for a little while -- or longer, with a little planning. But short of suicide, you can't stop thinking about the world around you.
- samatman 14y ago
  Actually, learning to stop this process is the goal of several systems of meditation. It is by no means an easy thing to do, but it can be done, for short periods of time, and feels great.
  - bpatrianakos 14y ago
    Mthe goal or process of meditation is kind of an oxymoron. You actually are learning. You're learning to stop thinking briefly. And how do you do it? By thinking about not thinking. How do you that? Concentrate on your breath. The whole thing is very strange. You're thinking but you aren't. You're learning but you aren't. I don't doubt that it feels great and I accept that it is a beneficial thing to do. But when you really think about it, it's full of contradictions and oxymorons. It's like a question with no answer.
dalke 14y ago
BTW, that was a very strange quote. Let's make up some numbers to highlight the strangeness. "If 0.1% of the kids in Ethiopia learn to read without school, what does that say about the 0.5% of the kids in New York City who do not learn even with school?" Put that way, it's a silly argument because it suggests that most children learn with school. Or here's another way "If 99% of the kids in Ethiopia learn to read without school, what does that say about the 75% of the kids in New York City who do not learn even with school?" Put that way it has an entirely different interpretation. So without numbers, that phrase - selected as being important - is actually meaningless.
Strshps1MoreTim 14y ago
Hah, so naive. You're assuming the TV&Games owners and managers want people to be able to read. Which would just create competition for their products.
bpatrianakos 14y ago
Kids in the states take education for granted. It's a chore to them. All my life, in every classroom I've ever been in from pre-school through university, there was inevitably a significant portion of every class that always had this attitude along the lines of "ugh, I hate school. School sucks. I slept through this class and I'm proud of it". And I always wondered why they felt that way (especially in college considering they didn't have to be there) because I personally always loved school and learning. This attitude comes from taking education for granted. We don't know what it's like to be without it and so we don't appreciate it. Those kids in Ethiopia aren't getting the simplest lessons that we get here in the states and they're probably seeing some people who do habe some education and they see what kind of opportunities come with knowledge and so they desperately want it and try to teach themselves. Not having an education makes seeing those who have one very differently. I'm sure those Ethiopian kids envy anyone who can do simple multiplication or read a book. Because we can't even imagine not having those things we think they're basic entitlements like running water or the air we breathe. That's why, in my opinion, Americsn kids have no interest in learning while kids in underdeveloped nations want it badly enough to teach themselves.

by ronyeh 14y ago

mnemonicsloth 14y ago

All people are intrinsically motivated to learn. People can give up wealth, sex, and addictive drugs. We can fast. We can even stop breathing for a little while -- or longer, with a little planning. But short of suicide, you can't stop thinking about the world around you.

samatman 14y ago
Actually, learning to stop this process is the goal of several systems of meditation. It is by no means an easy thing to do, but it can be done, for short periods of time, and feels great.
- bpatrianakos 14y ago
  Mthe goal or process of meditation is kind of an oxymoron. You actually are learning. You're learning to stop thinking briefly. And how do you do it? By thinking about not thinking. How do you that? Concentrate on your breath. The whole thing is very strange. You're thinking but you aren't. You're learning but you aren't. I don't doubt that it feels great and I accept that it is a beneficial thing to do. But when you really think about it, it's full of contradictions and oxymorons. It's like a question with no answer.

dalke 14y ago

BTW, that was a very strange quote. Let's make up some numbers to highlight the strangeness. "If 0.1% of the kids in Ethiopia learn to read without school, what does that say about the 0.5% of the kids in New York City who do not learn even with school?" Put that way, it's a silly argument because it suggests that most children learn with school. Or here's another way "If 99% of the kids in Ethiopia learn to read without school, what does that say about the 75% of the kids in New York City who do not learn even with school?" Put that way it has an entirely different interpretation. So without numbers, that phrase - selected as being important - is actually meaningless.

Strshps1MoreTim 14y ago

Hah, so naive. You're assuming the TV&Games owners and managers want people to be able to read. Which would just create competition for their products.

bpatrianakos 14y ago

Kids in the states take education for granted. It's a chore to them. All my life, in every classroom I've ever been in from pre-school through university, there was inevitably a significant portion of every class that always had this attitude along the lines of "ugh, I hate school. School sucks. I slept through this class and I'm proud of it". And I always wondered why they felt that way (especially in college considering they didn't have to be there) because I personally always loved school and learning. This attitude comes from taking education for granted. We don't know what it's like to be without it and so we don't appreciate it. Those kids in Ethiopia aren't getting the simplest lessons that we get here in the states and they're probably seeing some people who do habe some education and they see what kind of opportunities come with knowledge and so they desperately want it and try to teach themselves. Not having an education makes seeing those who have one very differently. I'm sure those Ethiopian kids envy anyone who can do simple multiplication or read a book. Because we can't even imagine not having those things we think they're basic entitlements like running water or the air we breathe. That's why, in my opinion, Americsn kids have no interest in learning while kids in underdeveloped nations want it badly enough to teach themselves.