StudentsFirst will take umbrage with what I am about to say:
Most of the time, I assume that people are generally equal. Some very smart people have the unfortunate fate of being smart in something that isn't respected. Such as drawing or music or soccer. These people are not called our geniuses. But the other day I was talking to a group of girls who were at least in 7th grade. Probably at least 11, I guess they could have been 10, but I would guess them at 12 or 13 (see how good I am with guessing ages; that's another skill that is generally not considered important enough for one to be considered 'intelligent'.)
Somehow these girls got me to talk about my favorite topic: evil corporate behavior and boycotting. I sell Coka-Cola at my job, and Nestle Chocolate, and Mars and everything that is bad for you, our economy, and the planet. It doesn't fill me with a great amount of pride. Somehow they got me to casually mention the slavery and murder committed by these corporations against under-privileged people.
They were surprised. But it didn't stop them from drinking a coke and eating a Crunch bar. As most people. Sigh. The more surprising part came later.
"Which is Worse!" one demanded, "the coke or the poweraid?"
"Oh.... They are pretty much the same. The worse one is probably that chocolate. Chocolate growers aren't treated very well."
"Growers... You can grow chocolate...?" they asked, a little nervously. I wasn't sure why.
"Well. Yeah."
She started to spit it out. "Almost everything you eat you grow."
"So if I plat this, will it grow a chocolate tree!?" asked one.
"...No. Chocolate is a process..." but at this point, I think 'process' was way too big a word for these poor girls. And I began to think, this is not a problem with our educational system in this country, it is more a problem with the value we put on education. No single teacher is going to teach the stupid out out of that.
It was amazing to me. I cannot remember being so nieve in my life; granted I have a somewhat poor memory. This was appalling. How distanced have we gotten from our basic needs as living beings to understand so little? No, you can't plant a casserole and get a casserole plant out of it. How did you come to think such a thing? It was more surprising than the boy who couldn't tie his shoe. Also in middle school.
It is sad. And all the more so because I began to see them as sheep. I began to think that maybe (only maybe) I am in fact intrinsically superior to them. These girls who seem to be naught but mostly-mindless filler in the human race, but really no one of consequence and probably never will be. Taking up land, air, food, resources and never having the potential to quite understand what 'resources' even are. Do these girls have a hope of ever growing up? Do they have a hope of learning how to think? Our educational system can do more to help people think (rather than know) than it does. Alright, I agree on that point. But this is a greater societal problem, I think. What in their lives (or missing from their lives) enables this to even be possible?
How can the human race simultaneously produce Leonardo da Vinci and and the faceless and unambitious? Who can't even take the energy to spare a thought?
Is this all that is left of Circle Vs. Square?
Most of the time, I assume that people are generally equal. Some very smart people have the unfortunate fate of being smart in something that isn't respected. Such as drawing or music or soccer. These people are not called our geniuses. But the other day I was talking to a group of girls who were at least in 7th grade. Probably at least 11, I guess they could have been 10, but I would guess them at 12 or 13 (see how good I am with guessing ages; that's another skill that is generally not considered important enough for one to be considered 'intelligent'.)
Somehow these girls got me to talk about my favorite topic: evil corporate behavior and boycotting. I sell Coka-Cola at my job, and Nestle Chocolate, and Mars and everything that is bad for you, our economy, and the planet. It doesn't fill me with a great amount of pride. Somehow they got me to casually mention the slavery and murder committed by these corporations against under-privileged people.
They were surprised. But it didn't stop them from drinking a coke and eating a Crunch bar. As most people. Sigh. The more surprising part came later.
"Which is Worse!" one demanded, "the coke or the poweraid?"
"Oh.... They are pretty much the same. The worse one is probably that chocolate. Chocolate growers aren't treated very well."
"Growers... You can grow chocolate...?" they asked, a little nervously. I wasn't sure why.
"Well. Yeah."
She started to spit it out. "Almost everything you eat you grow."
"So if I plat this, will it grow a chocolate tree!?" asked one.
"...No. Chocolate is a process..." but at this point, I think 'process' was way too big a word for these poor girls. And I began to think, this is not a problem with our educational system in this country, it is more a problem with the value we put on education. No single teacher is going to teach the stupid out out of that.
It was amazing to me. I cannot remember being so nieve in my life; granted I have a somewhat poor memory. This was appalling. How distanced have we gotten from our basic needs as living beings to understand so little? No, you can't plant a casserole and get a casserole plant out of it. How did you come to think such a thing? It was more surprising than the boy who couldn't tie his shoe. Also in middle school.
It is sad. And all the more so because I began to see them as sheep. I began to think that maybe (only maybe) I am in fact intrinsically superior to them. These girls who seem to be naught but mostly-mindless filler in the human race, but really no one of consequence and probably never will be. Taking up land, air, food, resources and never having the potential to quite understand what 'resources' even are. Do these girls have a hope of ever growing up? Do they have a hope of learning how to think? Our educational system can do more to help people think (rather than know) than it does. Alright, I agree on that point. But this is a greater societal problem, I think. What in their lives (or missing from their lives) enables this to even be possible?
How can the human race simultaneously produce Leonardo da Vinci and and the faceless and unambitious? Who can't even take the energy to spare a thought?
Is this all that is left of Circle Vs. Square?
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