Shakespeare is Awful, Jefferson was a Rapist, and Pi is Useless

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/08/shakespeare-is-awful-jefferson-was-a-rapist-and-pi-is-useless/

by edw519 • 15 years ago

8 4 15 years ago

elbrodeur• 15 years ago

I get it, but he might be pretty upset when he finds his children falling in love and fooling around with higher maths or literature. Or even, god forbid, some useless skill like programming. I mean, when was the last time anyone ever had to program anything?

Delight directed education is powerful, but failing to recognize that pi can be delightful or that Shakespeare can make children excited seems to not be the best first step.

bediger• 15 years ago

This is pretty typical Know Nothing American Populist anti-intellectualism. This is just part of a constant undercurrent in US thought that's gone on for the last 200 years. It surfaces every once in a while, causes some troubles by ruining a few academic's careers, and then disappears.

But, even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while: "we all take it as an obvious fact now that any history you learn in public school you have to completely relearn as an adult in order to get the real history". This is only too true. Altucher goes on to negate the insight behind this by bringing up Charlemagne in some ignorant context.

jaltucher• 15 years ago

Good thing you didn't read the article then. I'm saying kids shouldn't be bored out of their minds learning in a standardized, uniform environment that ends up teaching at the lowest common denominator (not in every case but most cases).

I'm saying give kids the full intellectual terrain of life to learn from. Put them to their own devices instead of the devices of the state and you will be surprised at what they learn.

I was fortunate enough to participate in programs at an early age that emphasized this type of learning and it was amazing how quickly one could learn algebra up to calculus if just given a few weeks of passionate learning instead of rote testing. - James Altucher

munin• 15 years ago

all we need to do is teach kids how to open and run a business. that'll get things turned around ...

Shakespeare is Awful, Jefferson was a Rapist, and Pi is Useless

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