5 ms·
There's a story from Gene Woolsey that I had to read my senior year in college (I was an Ops Research major, and Gene Woolsey is a pretty big deal in that field
by olympus 13y ago
There's a story from Gene Woolsey that I had to read my senior year in college (I was an Ops Research major, and Gene Woolsey is a pretty big deal in that field). The story went something like this:
A group of students had just finished a big research project and were told to present a one page executive summary that outlined their work, results, and conclusions. They couldn't quite get it to fit on one page, so their executive summary was two pages, but the second page was only 1/8th full. No big deal, right? They showed up to meet with the head of the company that was sponsoring their research, and handed him the paper. He rips off the second page and throws it in the trash (losing a good portion of their conclusions). The head of the company reads the first page, then stops and says, "This summary is incomplete. Where are your conclusions?" The team was dumbfounded, and lost a few points on their grade because they didn't follow the rules.
The moral of the story is: FOLLOW THE GD* RULES. If you want to use a different kind of paper, ask your teacher first. If you need an extension on the due date, ask your teacher first. If the guidance says to write a one page summary, do not write a two page summary. It's fine to be creative, but don't change the rules on your own because you don't have the authority to change the rules. In most things it is easier to ask permission than it is to ask forgiveness.
It's not unusual to not want to do homework, but a lot of people in this modern generation think that it's okay to get bad grades and just blame it on the fact that they are not "book smart." Just about every movie marketed towards young people is a variation of the theme where a kid is secretly a prodigy but the "system" didn't realize it somehow. That is not how it works in real life. For every kid who skips all his homework and gets bad grades but is secretly Will Hunting there are a thousand kids or more who are getting bad grades and are going to end up flipping burgers as a career. It's time to start spanking your kids so they'll get better grades and won't suck at life.
Btw, here's a link to the book if you want to read some stories from an actual genius: http://www.lionhrtpub.com/books/wp1.html http://www.lionhrtpub.com/books/wp1.html
- tptacek 13y agoHere's another comment on this thread that I disagreed with but found sensible, until the very end, where it recommends that adults hit children to make them do things.
- olympus 13y agotptacek, I'm sure you have a compelling viewpoint both as someone who has to manage an entire company and as someone who is older and wiser than I am (I'm not sure if you have kids of your own). Would you care to expand on why you don't think spanking is an acceptable form of discipline? To clarify, I only recommend open palm spanking. Not switches/lashes/paddles/belts. It doesn't bruise, only stings for a few seconds, and in my opinion is actually more humane than sticking your kid in solitary confinement. I don't see it as a problem as long as it is administered in moderation (like most things).
- revelation 13y agoApart from the fact that it is illegal: your kid will resent you. Sure, they might grow up all fine, but do not think that resentment will ever go away.
- epochwolf 13y agoReally? I was spanked in this manner twice (that I remember) and I don't resent my parents.
- tptacek 13y agoI was spanked and I love my parents. My approval ratings with my children don't influence whether I'm willing to hit them.
- epochwolf 13y agoApologies, let me clarify. I'm not trying to justify spanking. I'm arguing that the occasional spanking from loving parents doesn't cause the horricific long term psychological damage everyone seems to think it does. A couple of spankings over an entire childhood, while an arguably poor parental decision, does not equate to child abuse. Edit: softer tone and spelling
- tptacek 13y ago
- guylhem 13y agoWhat I read from your example : this head of the company wilfully destroys parts of the information paid for by the company, then complains about it. If it is to be a learning experience, this will produce obedient slaves and avoid any creativity. Not a good thing in this day and age. If it is to be a real world experience, the head is engaging in sabotage, and should be removed by the board. "In most things it is easier to ask permission than it is to ask forgiveness." I'm really not sure about that. Besides that, I agree with your conclusion. Regarding corporeal punishment, I find it odd how the western world believes the practice should be stopped while it did produce result (like kids doing their homework). Whatever, european and american kids won't get spanked, won't get better grades, will suck at life - bad thing for them, good thing for the other kids :-) Wait, it's unfair for the european and american kids. We should give them away a liberal art degree (but only if they spend enough time and $ at a place where they are supposed to acquire an education)
- pyre 13y ago| If you want to use a different kind of paper, ask | your teacher first To be fair, it's a math class. The size of paper used is the stupidest thing to grade someone on. It would be like the physics world throwing out Einstein's conclusions because he used blue ink instead of black. I understand the value of 'gaming the system,' but the size the paper used for a math assignment is probably something that didn't get a lot of emphasis when the teacher was assigning it. That said, do you really want to sit back and 'game the system' rather than trying to improve it? Such arbitrary decision-making on the part of the teacher really detracts from their effectiveness. Not only that, it just sounds like something that is teacher-specific. I doubt that the school as a whole is trying to reach for some overriding goal that is served by punishing children for using the wrong sized paper on homework assignments.
- btilly 13y agoTo be fair, the teacher has a stack of assignments which is probably put in and transported around in a pile. Something on the wrong paper size will be a major PITA. (I prefer this theory over the teacher feeding them into a scanner so that someone in India can do the grading, but that theory would also make paper size important.) Life is full of incredibly arbitrary criteria that actually make sense in terms of someone else's workflow. You don't know that workflow, you're just given rules to follow. It is best to follow those rules, no matter how stupid they are.
- pyre 13y agoI could see the teacher giving a warning that the next time it should be the correct size, rather than a zero-tolerance paper size policy, especially when the child put forth so much effort on the homework. Teachers are supposed to encourage learning and interest in the material. I realize that sometimes we just have to follow arbitrary rules, but the attitude of, "keeping one's head down," is not how change happens.
- btilly 13y agoDo you know that said warning had not been already given and this wasn't "next time"? Do you know that the teacher had not clearly stated to the class what the penalties would be for the wrong paper size? In either case I can see the teacher acting as described. And wouldn't fault the teacher for doing so. If, indeed, the teacher was enforcing an arbitrary rule which had not been clearly communicated, then I would fault the teacher. But I suspect this was not the case. The rule was present and the kid was supposed to know it, but forgot.
- Dylan16807 13y agoI hope I would be brave enough to laugh in that man's face. If he wants to take off points for making the summary the wrong size, fine. But to throw it away and pretend it didn't exist? That's a petty abuse of power that nobody should tolerate.