I Love Vel - The Vel Love Thread

Squinky · Fri 13/02/2004 16:29:56

I myself have no idea about geography and even anything beyond general history knowledge. I suck at math and probably a bunch of other things too.

But when I tested in high school, I recieved over 95% for my state in everything except math. I've also scored quite high on Iq tests (yes, I know there not really a good indication of intellegence)

My point, is not to brag it up, as I know everyone here are at least as smart as me if not more. My point is that I suck at all those things you mentioned, but still, somehow manage to wipe my ass properly....

Vel · Fri 13/02/2004 16:52:30

Do you know the Capital of Lichtenstein?

Spoiler

Its Vaduz

[close]

Trapezoid · Fri 13/02/2004 17:12:13

Here's a thought. I think schools spend too much time teaching kids this sort of thing. Most of them never have a use for most of the things they learn and will forget it all afterwards. And then after they're out of school, most don't have a clue how to run their own lives.
The average person will never need to know the periodic table of elements, or the capitals of countries they'll never visit. So there's hours and hours wasted learning specialized things. Later on in life, they'll still need their parents' help to do their taxes.

Meowster · Fri 13/02/2004 17:14:57

Wanker.

foz · Fri 13/02/2004 17:28:58

...........................all this hate and i`m not involved in any way...............

It seems that vel is the common link between all the rants and hatred.....

.....I think he`s just missunderstood........

....I have grown to love the guy...........in a strange way....(not gay love though)..

Laters

fOz ...

Totoro · Fri 13/02/2004 18:27:39

Kiss Kiss Kiss, happy Valentine Vel

shbaz · Fri 13/02/2004 18:58:03

Quote from: Trapezoid on Fri 13/02/2004 17:12:13
Here's a thought. I think schools spend too much time teaching kids this sort of thing. Most of them never have a use for most of the things they learn and will forget it all afterwards. And then after they're out of school, most don't have a clue how to run their own lives.
The average person will never need to know the periodic table of elements, or the capitals of countries they'll never visit. So there's hours and hours wasted learning specialized things. Later on in life, they'll still need their parents' help to do their taxes.

Yeah, and then the people who want to get into a career that involves deep thinking go to college and flunk out because they don't know anything. Calculus will be a part of my daily life, and if I didn't take math courses in High School I would be really screwed right now. Even though I didn't learn as much as I should have, for reasons I'm not going to get into. That mindset isn't yours alone either, as the people in my school were always talking about how they didn't need that fancy book-learning either.

I learned how to do my taxes in High School, because I took accounting and business math. I always thought they should have made those courses required too.

Trapezoid · Fri 13/02/2004 19:11:16

That's my point. All the wrong classes are compulsory. What they teach is based on a curriculum which is not based on the true trials of the average person's life and career.
Of course, I really shouldn't speak. I've had my education put into my own hands and I only indulge in my personal interests, not work to fix my weaknesses. But I still believe that the education system (USA's at least) is flawed.

shbaz · Fri 13/02/2004 19:55:31

I agree that if people aren't interested, they shouldn't be forced. In small Oklahoma schools they believe if you aren't interested, you are learning disabled and so the system should be modified to let you graduate anyway. This severly limited my potential in High School and still affects me today because I became accustomed to just passing through with no problems, and now I need many hours of intense study every day. I feel cheated because I didn't ever have the option to take calculus or physics, and my chemistry class was a joke because the teacher was a coach. That's why I would prefer people not be forced though. The system was modified to be easier for LD kids and the people who could have benefited more from a difficult course had no other option than to take the easy class.

The reason classes like that are necessary is because America is a monster in the sciences. We are on the forefront of technology, and without new engineers and physicists, that will all disappear. In the end, I guess I would rather force a future gas station clerk to learn physics than to risk losing a future physicist or engineer, in the intrests of a better society. It just doesn't work out in the small school sense because they'll just touch upon the subjects instead of really teaching them.

Vel · Fri 13/02/2004 20:34:13

I agree with you Trap, even though here we do not emphasize on capitals of countries such as lichtenstein. However, we study many many more useless stuff. ESPECIALLY in exact sciences such as maths, chemistry and physics. I doubt that anything more complicated than the ordinary calculations will come in handy in the life ofa non-matematician/chemist/physic. Last time, I protested against the teacher telling us to learn the angle between the atoms in the molecule water. And guess what I got? A poor mark, no less.
However, I did learn the capitals of all European countries, because I consider this general knowledge. And Trap, I think that anyone who does not visit countries such as the Czech republic, Poland or Greece will sure miss a lot.

shbaz · Fri 13/02/2004 21:46:35

QuoteI think that anyone who does not visit countries such as the Czech republic, Poland or Greece will sure miss a lot.

I agree! So many people just disregard those countries without even learning about them, but there is so much to see in Europe. For now I'm in college and don't really have the money to leave the states, but west Europe is definately a place I want to see when I can afford to go. And yeah, I don't know the capitols or necessarily exactly where they are relative to other countries (except Greece and Poland) but I like to see new and interesting places.

The reason they teach you to find the angles of molecular bonds is because that's how you figure out how elements and molecules bond with other elements and molecules, it's important in most of chemistry but it's extremely important in organic chemistry when you're looking for medicines to combat things like Cancer, AIDS, etc. You're right, not important! Do you see where I'm going with this? Maybe YOU won't find a use for it, but isn't it important that people are introduced to it so that we will have people becoming Doctors, Engineers, Chemists, and such? Later on I'll learn to apply these useless math equations to build computers and cell phones etc, Chemists make things that improve your lifestyle. My present chemistry teacher designed a blue liquid that neutralizes explosive materials, just by spraying it down. It is also an indicator, so you can rub it on things to see if they've been in contact with explosives in airports etc. My chem teacher last semester is working on a sniffer that detects mines that are made of plastic (so they aren't detectable with metal detectors)... it will prevent people from living with only one leg in Afghanistan from all of the mines the Taliban planted there. Better living through knowledge. Trust me on this one.

Trapezoid · Fri 13/02/2004 23:30:30

If I were planning on visiting another country, I would take the time to learn all about it. The most important thing to learn is how to teach yourself.
If a student has a plan for themself, then yes, they should have access to all the information and schooling they'll need. However, the average student is not considering a career in science. What they're taught should be proportional to what they should know as they go into adulthood, and putting too much emphasis on specialized subjects can be distracting, and stressful for that matter. The majority of adults need not know or care about Eli Whitney or advanced mathematics, and yet students are expected to learn it all and remember it-- at least until the tests are done.

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." -- Albert Einstein

Hinders · Sat 14/02/2004 00:51:08

Quote from: Vel on Fri 13/02/2004 08:56:57

And now, about general knowledge. In my opinion, those are things you MUST know in order to be an intelligent person. For example, I think that you should know the capitals of Spain, Poland or Portugal

WHAT THE HELL??? i must be REALLY DUMB!!!

i dont know them

remixor · Sat 14/02/2004 02:12:17

Quote from: Hindersh, the ruler of earth on Sat 14/02/2004 00:51:08
Quote from: Vel on Fri 13/02/2004 08:56:57

And now, about general knowledge. In my opinion, those are things you MUST know in order to be an intelligent person. For example, I think that you should know the capitals of Spain, Poland or Portugal
WHAT THE HELL??? i must be REALLY DUMB!!!
i dont know them

Then you are a worthless excuse for a human being.

Domino · Sat 14/02/2004 02:22:42

How many non-USA residents know the state capitals? I used to know them at one time, but it has been a long time since i was in high school and college. Now i could really care less. It's not going to further my career at all.

Las Naranjas · Sat 14/02/2004 02:28:21

Quote from: Vel on Fri 13/02/2004 08:56:57
For example, I think that you should know the capitals of Spain, Poland or Portugal, not those of Butan, Djibuti and Ivory Coast.

Bloody Blacks and Asians muddying the issue with their unimportant capitals.

When will they get it through their skulls that only Europeans are important!

--edit--

And I should add that whilst I know that Vel was trying to find unimportant countries, over which he's making a value judgement nonetheless, the Ivory Coast has 16 million compared to Portugal's 10 million, and can't be dismissed by relative size.

shbaz · Sat 14/02/2004 03:45:28

There are two things that are infinite, human stupidity and the universe -- and I'm not really sure about the universe.

- Albert Einstein

I'm pretty sure he learned some math in school, just on a whim. If people are never exposed to it, they'll rarely just decide to learn it. Here's an example.. the amount of Physics classes in my home state is negligible. Basically only the huge schools even have them, because there are so few qualified teachers and such bad funding. There are three physics majors at my University with 20,000 students. Think that might have some sort of correlation, maybe? You can't say Physics isn't important anymore than you can say it's not important to have airplanes and cars either.

Also, in the US you aren't even forced to take Chemistry or Calculus - you are given requirements on the amount of science and math courses you take. You can graduate high school with Algebra II being the highest math class you've taken. Hell, you can take the GED test and it's easy enough for a 15 year old to pass, and to boot, they don't call it a GED anymore, they give you a diploma from the high school you went to so that employers won't know the difference between a GED dropout and a graduate. I would have been happier if I'd had the oppurtunity to take a good Chemistry, Calc, or Physics class. Sorry that it isn't the case for you Vel - but what are you going to do when you're older anyway? Do you know for sure? I don't understand why you're not happier for your teachers trying to make you less ignorant. I've always wanted to know how that stuff works.

For me, the most important people in society are the ones keeping that society fit. With the amount of people in the world, we need engineers just to keep them all alive.

Squinky · Sat 14/02/2004 03:51:02

When did this post become a place for people to make themselves sound important?

And don't knock the GED's man, lots of homeschooled folks have 'em, and theres nothing wrong with that...

shbaz · Sat 14/02/2004 04:32:08

I'm not knocking the GED, I'm saying you don't need advanced knowledge in math and science to get one (to prove that you don't need to take those courses if you don't want to), and there's no excuse for not getting one because it's not as "good" as a high school degree to employers.. because now it is a high school degree. I thought Home Schooled kids got a special type of degree, besides the GED or High School Degree? There really isn't anything shameful about a GED or dropping out of high school, but I think it's dumb to say we don't need to teach the Sciences in schools.

I'm not trying to make myself sound important either, I just think it's important for people to know science and math, because without that being taught I don't think I would have ended up where I am now. It also seems weird to me that Vel can just define what general knowledge is for himself and call others ignorant for not knowing the capitols, which was the original topic. :

Vel · Sat 14/02/2004 10:04:23

After I graduate, I have plans to become a lawyer or something like that. I doubt that I will need such useless knowledge. I do agree that Chemistry and Physics can be useful, but not in the ammount we study them. You see, the educational system in Bulgaria has not changed much since communism times - we study everything at highest possible levels, almost no choice in subjects. To give you an example, the three principles of mechanics and thermodynamics we took last year. And about the state capitals - once you disunite, I will learn them, but for now, all I need to know is that the capital of the usa is Washington. Its like learning the capitals of all provinces in France, for example. And it is pretty annoying listening to an American tlaking about american history - from my point of view at least. The USA have about than 300 years of known history(not this of "native americans"), while Bulgaria has existed ever since 681.