"Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?" (New York Times)

Parent Cafe
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<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/books/14dumb.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/books/14dumb.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>"she first got the idea for this book back in 2001, on 9/11.</p>

<p>"Walking home to her Upper East Side apartment, she said, overwhelmed and confused, she stopped at a bar. As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day’s horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II:</p>

<p>"‘This is just like Pearl Harbor,’ one of the men said.</p>

<p>"The other asked, ‘What is Pearl Harbor?’</p>

<p>"‘That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War,’ the first man replied.</p>

<p>At that moment, Ms. Jacoby said, ‘I decided to write this book.’" </p>

<p>Wow. And I know that’s got to be a true story.</p>

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<p>Yet Ms. Pickler will make more money than majority of the people in her peer work group. That sends a message to most people why they need to work hard in college. When Bill gates or Bill Cosby says level of American education is down, politicians pay no heed.</p>

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<p>Ms. Pickler’s lines were probably scripted. Either that or she is fairly witty as well as a good actress if viewers bought her act as genuine.</p>

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<p>Um, she didn’t even know what calamari was during her American Idol stint, so maybe her lines weren’t scripted, though she seems a little dim to have made the Turkey/Hungary pun on her own.</p>

<p>Sigh. I think the answer to the NYT article’s question is: Yes. There is anti-intellectual cultural pressure that is real and at work, especially in K-12 schools.</p>

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<p>What an elitist piece of garbage to basically make fun of the educational standards in our country. America is a large country where things like geographic knowledge are not as readily assimilated in places like Europe. Plus, as the woman here in this video so cogently states, our people don’t have maps. In fact, if you want to see American intelligence in action, this woman in the video provides a sterling example. </p>

<p>[Miss</a> Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question](<a href=“http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7620686268212703476&q=miss+teen+usa&total=1609&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0]Miss”>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7620686268212703476&q=miss+teen+usa&total=1609&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0)</p>

<p>I do think, though, the self-selected group on CC doesn’t lack for knowledge of Pearl Harbor or geography.</p>

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<p>“Um, she didn’t even know what calamari was during her American Idol stint, so maybe her lines weren’t scripted, though she seems a little dim to have made the Turkey/Hungary pun on her own.”</p>

<p>Not everyone knows what calamari is. Especially since it’s pronounced “galamad” in NY/NJ.</p>

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<p>When i was in high school in the 50s our textbooks didn’t even go up to WW II. Thankfully, we had John Wayne to educate us.</p>

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<p>In grade school social studies now we only teach two things about WWII, Anne Frank and Japanese American internment.</p>

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<p>Maps? Who needs maps? We have mapquest, and that’s enough to get us where we want, no?</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Great point!</p>

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<p>I grew up in a big city in the Midwest, but we were always focused on and learning about things outside our immediate world because everything in the media happened in NY or LA. When I was in college surrounded by New Yorkers and Los Angelenos who had lived where everything came to them, they exhibited a disturbing ignorance about the middle of the country you’d normally only expect from a Kansas farmboy, not a sophisticated, educated urbanite. I remember one was shocked to learn that hunting is still legal and that there are 8 lane highways and skyscrapers in the middle of the country.</p>

<p>I think that’s a microcosm of why we’re so ignorant - everything comes to Americans and we have no need to look outside ourselves except out of curiosity. As our power slips, I think that will begin to change.</p>

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<p>My mom is a Kansas farmgirl who was always very aware of the outside world. My uncles, farmers in Kansas, have to keep up a lot of world awareness to know what to plant each year and how to keep making a living as farmers.</p>

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<p>Oh no - I didn’t mean it that way. I meant what one from a big coastal city would expect, not what people really are like. I’m sorry, I did not mean to be derogatory in any way whatsoever. I’ve lived and worked in plenty of rural areas to know full well the stereotypes are irrelevant.</p>

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<p>I fear it may run deeper than that. It’s not just about geography.</p>

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<p>I went to a large public high school in Minnesota that was considered very good. Graduated in 1972. One of the many, many things I did NOT learn was about the largest migration of humans in the history of the world, something that occurred less than a decade before I was born. Of course I don’t think any of my teachers knew about it, either. I didn’t learn rules of grammar either, and was never made to read a book, other than chapters in a textbook.</p>

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<p>Graduated in 1971, and not sure what human migration event you’re talking about. India/Pakistan? Rural to city (especially in China, although that migration is more recent)? City to suburb?</p>

<p>Please elucidate so that I can be seen as one who is not hostile to knowledge. Thanks.</p>

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<p>Partition of India and Pakistan, according to Freedom at Midnight, by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. It’s entirely possible that another CCer might know of a larger human migration . . . as I said, I’m not well educated!</p>

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<p>My high school in Minnesota (class of '75) made us read whole books, at least in the English classes I took. I read plenty more books on my own, and kept a log of the books I read in those days (which I still right next to me in a drawer as I type this). The best assigned reading I ever had in high school was in my previous high school in Wisconsin, where the honors tenth grade English class read Chaim Potok’s first novel [The</a> Chosen](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-Potok/dp/0449213447/]The”>http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Chaim-Potok/dp/0449213447/), a very good book indeed. </p>

<p>After edit: And I had read about the partition of British India in a children’s encyclopedia of history I read as a child. That was not assigned by my school, but something my mom bought to have in the house as edifying reading for the kids.</p>

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<p>That’s so cool, tokenadult. What high school?</p>

<p>I have kept track of all the books I’ve read since 1979, and last month I transferred all my paper lists onto my computer. The Chosen is part of this list, an excellent book.</p>

<p>I read many of the classics for the first time in the eighties. There are probably many holes in my reading. I really enjoyed Thomas Hardy.</p>

<p>Anyone have any classics recommendations?</p>

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<p>I’ll private message some of the personal details. I’m actually looking for more recommendations of classics to read myself. My reading runs very heavily to current nonfiction. Here’s a list of books I recommended recently to an email list of parents: </p>

<p>Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious by Gerd Gigerenzer</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious: Books: Gerd Gigerenzer](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Gut-Feelings-Intelligence-Gerd-Gigerenzer/dp/0670038636/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Gut-Feelings-Intelligence-Gerd-Gigerenzer/dp/0670038636/)</p>

<p>Hamlet (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) edited by Harold Jenkins</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Hamlet (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series): Books: William Shakespeare,Harold Jenkins](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Hamlet-Arden-Shakespeare-Second-William/dp/1903436672/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Hamlet-Arden-Shakespeare-Second-William/dp/1903436672/)</p>

<p>America’s Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education edited by Richard D. Kahlenberg</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> America’s Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education: Books: Richard D. Kahlenberg](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Untapped-Resource-Low-Income-Education/dp/0870784854/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Untapped-Resource-Low-Income-Education/dp/0870784854/)</p>

<p>The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, 2008: Students on Campus Tell You What You Really Want to Know, 34th Edition</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, 2008: Students on Campus Tell You What You Really Want to Know, 34th Edition (Insider’s Guide to the Colleges): Books: Yale Daily News Staff](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Colleges-2008-Students/dp/0312366892/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Colleges-2008-Students/dp/0312366892/)</p>

<p>The Joy of Chemistry: The Amazing Science of Familiar Things by Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Joy of Chemistry: The Amazing Science of Familiar Things: Books: Cathy Cobb,Monty L. Fetterolf](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Chemistry-Amazing-Science-Familiar/dp/1591022312/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Chemistry-Amazing-Science-Familiar/dp/1591022312/)</p>

<p>Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology edited by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven J. Lynn, and Jeffrey M. Lohr</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology: Books: Scott O. Lilienfeld,Steven Jay Lynn,Jeffrey M. Lohr](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Science-Pseudoscience-Clinical-Psychology-Lilienfeld/dp/1593850700/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Science-Pseudoscience-Clinical-Psychology-Lilienfeld/dp/1593850700/)</p>

<p>WISC-IV Advanced Clinical Interpretation edited by Lawrence G. Weiss, Donald H. Saklofske, Aurelio Prifitera, and James A. Holdnack</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> WISC-IV Advanced Clinical Interpretation (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional): Books: Lawrence G. Weiss,Donald H. Saklofske,Aurelio Prifitera,James A. Holdnack](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Interpretation-Practical-Resources-Professional/dp/0120887630/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Interpretation-Practical-Resources-Professional/dp/0120887630/)</p>

<p>and, best of all,</p>

<p>What is Intelligence?: Beyond the Flynn Effect by James R. Flynn</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> What is Intelligence?: Beyond the Flynn Effect: Books: James R. Flynn](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Beyond-Flynn-Effect/dp/0521880076/]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Beyond-Flynn-Effect/dp/0521880076/)</p>

<p>One sign of my busy life is that the only one of these books I’ve read cover to cover is Flynn’s book, which is a delight.</p>

<p>Have you read any good books lately?</p>