Excellence

Greetings good citizen, it is the go to issue of politicians everywhere. More [which is assumedly 'better'] education will solve EVERYTHING (except their own stupidity...because that brand of dumb is a CHOICE!)

Every once in a while you get someone who questions the assumptions made by metrics grounded in NOTHING.

Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that next year virtually every student passed the tests. What would the reaction be from politicians, businesspeople, the media? Would these people shake their heads in admiration and say, “Damn, those teachers must be good!”?

Of course not. Such remarkable success would be cited as evidence that the tests were too easy. In the real world, when scores have improved sharply, this has indeed been the reaction. For example, when results on New York’s math exam rose in 2009, the chancellor of the state’s Board of Regents said, “What today’s scores tell me is not that we should be celebrating,” but instead “that New York State needs to raise its standards.”

Humanity's collective 'cluelessness' surprises nobody more than humanity itself largely because our own 'self-awareness' makes us think we should have a 'purpose' beyond eating, shitting and screwing...

How unfortunate the 'typical' human can't figure out what they were 'meant to do/be' for themselves so they fall in behind our species 'whack jobs' that pretend they have the answer!

If you can't see the truth in that then you are well and truly...just like those who think they have 'the answer'.

Um, eat, shit and screw is all we need to know because those three functions are the 'mandates' of the ONLY job humanity has.

Do you know what that 'job' is?

The cognizant know that the only problem humans have is learning to 'appreciate' the role in a 'herd society'.

[While I'm tempted to beat the subject to death I am aware that I bounce on this topic (the purpose of life) all TOO frequently. The cognizant know and the dumb likely won't figure it out even if I spell it out for them (such is the CRAVING for 'higher purpose', like our 'true purpose' isn't tough enough!]

Now to go screaming off the reservation! The robots believe that SEX was the 'original sin' but the cognizant know that oversimplifies the problem. The 'apple' gave Eve 'self-awareness' which she shared with Adam and humanity has suffered from 'delusions' (often of grandeur) ever since.

Not 'what to think but something to think about', for sure.

We can't ignore our purpose but for some reason that mission has an alarming tendency to be turned back upon itself as we victimize 'the other' by making war on our perceived 'competitors'. [If we are to survive we MUST exterminate 'the other'...]

There's 'war' in a nutshell.

Naturally that is an oversimplification, there's a lot more going on there by if you 'boil away the BS', that's what remains.

A little known and not necessarily universal branch of manufacturing is TTD.

While it can be found as the crux of some science fiction stories the acronym stands for 'Test to Destruct'.

So it is the 'bar' ever and always in the 'educational process' is test until fail.

Even more disturbing is the whole process is BS based and often not rooted in factual information or outcomes.

I have many times pointed to the college hierarchy as a 'pedigree' system where the only thing it proves is how much your progenitors were willing to spend to provide you with a seat at the table.

The list of things your typical advanced degree holder learns they don't know makes them marvel that they spent all that money studying what essentially amounts to BS.

In the end you didn't even learn to appreciate your ignorance and it is there that all learning begins!

Learning is the cure for ignorance...but you can't teach anyone what they BELIEVE they already KNOW.

A closed mind doesn't work...(and it just gets more trite from there.)

So it is humanity has once again been goaded to the brink of collapse by the feckless who believe there are profits to be had in turmoil.

It is nigh impossible to convince the self-important that they not only aren't all that and a bag of chips but that the job fate has handed us is the most important mission any creature worthy of being called sentient can be given.

How unfortunate that this simple mandate is turned on itself for fun and profit by the feckless few that only care about themselves?

You're red-lining head, time to knock it off and digest what you've learned. I apologize to those of you that came away empty handed but to be honest you didn't bring anything worthwhile here in the first place so you are no worse off.

Until next time,

Gegner