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Of Education
Feb. 13th, 2007 08:40 pmAs part of my graduate class this spring I've been reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. While I think his books are boring and a bunch of hot air, he argues that there's a problem with American education, something I'm inclined to agree with. In particular his comments about motivation bother me.
Now, mind you, I'm not exactly a useful sample, and I look at these things from the skewed viewpoint of a hard science graduate. Even so;
and
Now, as said, it may be because I came from a group of geeks, but the idea of sending rockets to space, diving in a submarine, or working on any number of neat technical project was quite interesting to us! We all had dreams of getting to work at CERN or NASA or ESA or such someday.
Most of the people I've met here have had immensely better chances to pursue those goals (I'm still not eligible to even apply for a janitor's job at NASA due to my immigration status), but few seem interested. Watching a shuttle launch is a chore. The most exciting ads for high-tech come from the Air Force and Navy. Science museums here have plastic dinosaurs instead of science experiments that actually teach science and interest in science.
Is this just an illusion I have, or is it indeed true that American culture has totally forgotten how cool science and technology is, and hence kids can't be bothered?
P.S. Another quote from said book: "In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears -- and that is our problem."
Now, mind you, I'm not exactly a useful sample, and I look at these things from the skewed viewpoint of a hard science graduate. Even so;
"Nobody works harder at learning than a curious kid."
and
We simply are not educating, or even interesting, enough of our own young people in advanced math, science and engineering.
Now, as said, it may be because I came from a group of geeks, but the idea of sending rockets to space, diving in a submarine, or working on any number of neat technical project was quite interesting to us! We all had dreams of getting to work at CERN or NASA or ESA or such someday.
Most of the people I've met here have had immensely better chances to pursue those goals (I'm still not eligible to even apply for a janitor's job at NASA due to my immigration status), but few seem interested. Watching a shuttle launch is a chore. The most exciting ads for high-tech come from the Air Force and Navy. Science museums here have plastic dinosaurs instead of science experiments that actually teach science and interest in science.
Is this just an illusion I have, or is it indeed true that American culture has totally forgotten how cool science and technology is, and hence kids can't be bothered?
P.S. Another quote from said book: "In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears -- and that is our problem."
