Do you think the current education system is trutlish ?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of whether the current education system is "trutlish," exploring themes of parental influence, the effectiveness of accelerated learning, and the implications of government-run educational experiments. Participants share personal experiences and opinions regarding the balance between structure and freedom in education, as well as the potential outcomes of different educational approaches.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that child prodigies often have parents who push them intensely, leading to questions about the effectiveness of such methods in education.
  • Others express confusion about terms like "trutlish" and "government-host experiment," indicating a lack of clarity in the discussion.
  • A participant reflects on their own upbringing, noting that a lack of parental pressure led to procrastination and a desire for more structure in their education.
  • Some argue that forcing children to read and study could stifle creativity and individuality, raising concerns about the motivations behind such educational practices.
  • There is a mention of a fictional concept from Neal Stephenson's book, suggesting that a society focused solely on mathematics could yield interesting results.
  • One participant points out that while accelerated learning may work for some, it may not be effective for most children, and there are risks involved in such approaches.
  • Another participant emphasizes the need for a moderate push in education for children with higher intelligence, advocating for a balance between structure and freedom.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with no clear consensus on whether the current education system is beneficial or detrimental. Some agree on the potential drawbacks of excessive pressure, while others see merit in structured learning approaches. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight various assumptions about the role of parental influence, the definition of success in education, and the balance between structure and freedom, indicating that these factors may vary significantly among individuals.

Alex_Sanders
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Do you think the current education system is "trutlish"?

I read it on the news from time to time that there are child prodigies who enter college at a rather early age, and I found something quite common with them, their parents are shoving books down their throat really hard, in some more cynical cases, the parents managed to tune their kids into thinking it is what they want, so I always get this unorthodox idea that should government-host experiments be conducted, to institute an education facility and deliberately speed up the curricular process, then promote this everywhere?

After all, what you going to loose? Social skills? Not everyone wants to be in PR biz or a politician. What useful social skills can you get from conventional schooling? Gossipianism? We got facebook, remember?

And the merit is obvious, one would have more chances to find the suitable career, can have more fun before settling down with one spouse, have more productive force available more than ever.
 
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I'm sorry, I don't know what "trutlish" means, nor do I know what a government-host experiment is. I can infer what "gossipianism" is supposed to mean, at least... the others, I'm lost.
 


I do not know. My parents did relatively nothing when I was growing up. I was my own person so to speak, so what I wanted to do, I did. I did not read books or anything nor did I bother to do the homework. Report cards of failing grades and the parents turned the other cheek. Now that I am older, I wish they had forced me to commit to doing my work. I find that I can grasp concepts a little bit easier than most in subjects like mathematics, etc..., w/out having prior experience in it, but now I have to actually force myself to learn and read up on material I missed.

I guess if my parents did as you are suggesting with these, "government-host" experiments, I would be better off and probably have graduated by now. However, I still regress back to procrastination because that "work-ethic or commitment" was never driven down my throat... Parents are a little hippish though, and they come from backgrounds where having a divergent viewpoint would warrant a beating, so I get why they are laissez-faire so to speak.
 


Yes... people without social skills tend to live very fulfilling and fun lives.
 
Pengwuino said:
Yes... people without social skills tend to live very fulfilling and fun lives.
That's a good theory.:-)
 


Neal Stephenson wrote about something akin to this in his book Anathem.

There are many children born without means - if a group of them were taken from their parents at birth and raised in a little society that consisted solely of mathematics - it would be very interesting to see the results.
 


Alex_Sanders said:
I read it on the news from time to time that there are child prodigies who enter college at a rather early age
Even though that works with way more kids than most thinks it won't work with most kids. It will increase their performance, of course, but most still won't graduate college by the age of 13.
Alex_Sanders said:
this unorthodox idea that should government-host experiments be conducted, to institute an education facility and deliberately speed up the curricular process, then promote this everywhere?
Would be fun to try this with orphans :p
Jack21222 said:
I'm sorry, I don't know what "trutlish" means, nor do I know what a government-host experiment is. I can infer what "gossipianism" is supposed to mean, at least... the others, I'm lost.
He obviously meant "turtlish", and government-host experiment would be for the government to play the same role as the over ambitious parents.
 


No. IMO a horrible suggestion, that leads to the continual functionalization of the individual. Rather than having individuals we have programs where "In order to be a good productive citizen with good job opportunities we shove books down their throats constantly for better opportunities and more edge on the international market, thus possibly in the long run contributing to America keeping a prominent part of the world market"...blah blah, no individual though, and if you say "Well quite the contrary, in the long run the reading of books could lead to a greater individuality and a lessened susceptibility to BS" I'll still be reluctant because the motivation isn't for the individual, that's the rationalized afterthought. It also assumes that people who read a lot are free-thinkers, which isn't the case necessarily. Being forced to read constantly could have disasterous consequences for the individual...Oh yea, and of course forcing reading constantly also has the chance of killing creativity...Life is first, people should be fostered as people. If we force reading constantly, what of the arts? Music?...Not to mention, as I said, if the original motivation for constantly reading is state-related, that is "in order to get a good job and an edge in the market" I can only imagine that free-thinking isn't going to be on the priority list...end rant
 


Yes the current educational system is extremely trutlish. Not only in US but everywhere.
 
  • #10


Klockan3 said:
He obviously meant "turtlish", and government-host experiment would be for the government to play the same role as the over ambitious parents.

Seriously? That was obvious? I've never even heard "turtlish" before.
 
  • #11
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  • #13


From my case, not pushing the children would create a procrastinating, unmotivated child. There needs to be a moderate push if the child exhibits some form of higher intelligence, not just let the kid be a kid.

Source: experience
 
  • #14


DBTS said:
From my case, not pushing the children would create a procrastinating, unmotivated child. There needs to be a moderate push if the child exhibits some form of higher intelligence, not just let the kid be a kid.

Source: experience
It is not really a question about pushing but a question about structure. Too much structure and the kid can't really think for himself, too little structure and the kid is led astray. Also this is different for everyone, some can handle structure better than others etc. It isn't obvious that you become a good hardworking person just because you got ambitious parents, and in the same way it isn't always that the kid to the oblivious parents becomes a procrastinating slob.
 

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