It's also far less arbitrary
It's also far less arbitrary
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Strawman m'laddy. I wasn't talking about psychopaths, though your idea that bureaucrats can't be crazy still gives them too much credit.
I was merely speaking about the idea that someone with a specific agenda can lead a national educational bureaucracy, and this agenda can lead to stifling uniformity, partisan bickering or worse.
46% of Americans hold Creationist views. Already the Dept of Education steers away from the controversy as much as possible. It's not unreasonable that someone supporting the teaching of alternatives to evolution could make real political gains in this area. The solution is to decentralize. Let the Texans fight about this in Texas, and keep the fight in Texas instead of nationalizing it.
This seems entirely irrelevant to my criticism. Especially the bold part.
It also seems inconsistent with my general worldview of trying to expect less from government. Can you clarify what you're talking about?
You mean let's make the South a third world country and then pay the consequences for it?
Hope is the denial of reality
Yeah, because that's where it would stop. History is already being taught by Sean Hannity. How long before biology, chemistry, and physics would stop being taught or include the kind of crap taught by Liberty University? The only thing preventing southern schools from being even crazier is the threat of SATs (another nationally-created standard!).
Hope is the denial of reality
As long as their ability to influence actual classes is kept in check by bureaucrats, scientists on expert panels, judges, people with more than a highschool education...
The percentage of people in the USA who accept the idea of evolution declined from 45% in 1985, to 40% in 2005.[95] A Gallup poll reported that percentage of people in the US who believe in a strict interpretation of creationism had fallen to 40% in 2010 after a high of 46% in 2006. The highest the percentage has risen between 1982 and 2010 was 47% in 1994 and 2000 according to the report. The report found that Americans who are less educated are more likely to hold a creationist view while those with a college education are more likely to hold a view involving evolution. 47% of those with no more than a high school education believe in creationism while 22% of those with a post graduate education hold that view. The poll also found that church attendance dramatically increased adherence to a strict creationist view (22% for those who do not attend church, 60% for those who attend weekly).[96] The higher percentage of Republicans who identified with a creationist view is described as evidence of the strong relationship between religion and politics in the United States. Republicans also attend church weekly more than Democratic or independent voters. Non-Republican voters are twice as likely to hold a non-theistic view of evolution than Republican voters.[96]
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
That is one depressing statistic.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Then you both have short memories. Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmil...chool_District
Fucking Americans.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...ey-creationism
Ronald Numbers commented on that with "Most surprising of all was the discovery that large numbers of high-school biology teachers — from 30% in Illinois and 38% in Ohio to a whopping 69% in Kentucky — supported the teaching of creationism." (wiki page)
For those who think American teachers are doing a good job.![]()
Hope is the denial of reality
According to dear Grauniad
Half of Britons do not believe in evolution, survey finds, Grauniad, 1 February 2009
But also that
Four out of five Britons repudiate creationism. Grauniad, 2 March 2009
A further 3% of those surveyed thought Darwin wrote The God Delusion, by the arch-atheist and Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins, while 1% thought Darwin was the author of The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver.
I... I just don't know what to think any more.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
The odd thing is that most of the creationists in the US are Evangelicals. You don't have that excuse.![]()
Hope is the denial of reality
We have some evangelicals, pentecostals, moselmen and perhaps most damning of all, irishmen.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
The point of a federal system is to let regions make their own decisions in many areas and live with them. The same independence that lets Texas fight about teaching evolution has also given it one of the best business climates in the nation.
Everyone influences everyone.
You mean let them make their decisions and then pay for it through higher unemployment, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, etc. federal payments?
Oil gives Texas one of the best business climates in the nation (since it means there's less need for taxes). How's Oklahoma doing?
Hope is the denial of reality
When you respond within 120 seconds to argue against the entire Federalist system we've been living under for 200 years simply because some idiots want to teach Creationism...I begin to understand what people mean when they say you argue just to argue.![]()
They also have secessionists.![]()
There's another point of federal systems -- continuity. Certain things (like Education standards) promote mobility between the states, and maximize freedoms within The Union.
Texas may have a great "business climate", but if it's a bunch of state-college-educated football players with low IQs, or low-skilled minimum wage workers who can't afford to see a doctor, and the other states are picking up their share of "federal" burden, maybe that's not so great after all.
The Science and Engineering Readiness Index
http://www.aps.org/units/fed/newslet...ite-cottle.cfm
Hope is the denial of reality
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 11-19-2012 at 11:11 AM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
By that do you mean that there isn't a single deep south state that's above average, and a vast majority are below average?
Hope is the denial of reality
Across one metric developed by one organization just looking at things at the state level?
Also, the point is it doesn't matter.
Diversity is good once minimum standards are met. Should we all but guarantee a life of ignorance to someone going to school in Mississippi just because of the state they were born in?
Hope is the denial of reality
That chart you showed is just an average of states comparing them to each other.
But I'm not going to fall into this trap and argue around the average you think is somehow relevant. It's not relevant. You're just arguing for the sake of arguing.
You don't actually want a rigid national education system with no variety. If anything you're a beneficiary of the amount of diversity we have; under a strict national system where certain things can/can't be studied, your specialty would be much harder to find.