Price of Knowledge

I came across a quote from Richard Buckminster Fuller, and by came across I mean people put the quote as a caption which is called a "meme" by people who have no idea about memetics and put it up on their social media whatever to be shared and make them seem insightful

We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian Darwinian theory he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.

Wow.  This is advocating flat out mooching.  Let's take his "fact" that one in ten thousand of us could make a breakthrough that could support everyone else.  Why should they?  If a system is in place that people are taken care of then what is the point to doing something or really anything?  Fuller had this notion that we'd all be better off if we were left to ponder things without all the hassle of actually having to do things.  Of course he was a philosopher of sorts so his idea of a solution to the problems of the world will be what his specialty is.

What does his idea of a solution lead to?

Life doesn't work the way Fuller seems to think it does.  Necessity is the mother of invention, but desparation is the father.  You have to have drive to make things happen.  Just look at the homeless guy who when given a choice between $100 and lessons on how to write code made the smart choice.   This guy showed dedication because he knew that $100 goes fast but learning a valuable skill can keep you fed much longer.  People in general love accomplishing goals having experiences along the journeys of our lives.  Thinking is important, but we can't let it stop us from doing and living.

We do have to think, and we do need a proper education.  You have to know and understand the world around you so that you can make good decisions.  Unfortunately, we've run into a bit of a problem with our education system.  High school level and below seem to be struggling to find its feet in the best ways to educate our young people and there's a nearly fanatical push to go to college.  College isn't a bad thing but it isn't for everyone, especially at today's rates.

I like Henry Rollins, and while I don't totally agree with everything he said in this video he makes some excellent points.  First and foremost that the debt young people incur from going to college is way too high.  It is ridicuous.  Rollins goes on to say that if we want to succeed as a nation that we need to make college either free or really cheap.

Let's go with cheap, because knowledge is a valuable commodity and anything valuable has price.

Education does not just come from schools.  We can receive it from many different sources if we keep our eyes open.  College is not a must have anymore, and the myth that it is preparing to evaporate.  We've got great stuff like Mike Rowe Works which is really worth everyone's time to go in and check out.

We need a balance between Rollins and Rowe, and if we get that, look out world.  Affordable college and plenty of alternatives to close the skills gap?  That's a hell of a combo.

But then some people may ask, "Why no just make these things free?"

I teach Karate.  I don't make a lot of money at it.  In fact, most of the time I'm probably doing it a financial loss.  I still charge my students a nominal fee.  My time and the knowledge I'm imparting are worth something.  I worked hard to gain the knowledge and experience that I'm passing on.  Just like any teacher in any school.  I'd love to have more students, and I was once asked "why don't you just make the lessons free?" since I really am in it for the love of the art and if it was free there's a notion I'd probably get more students.

The reality is I'd likely get less students and the one's I have may not be that great.  Same with college.  If we made college free, sure there would be young people who really benefited, but there'd also be young people when faced with the choice getting a job and goofing off in a classroom for free will take the latter.  Those kids in those college classes work hard.  Why?  Because that class cost a whole lot of money so they better get something out of it.  Charging puts that blockade up that weeds out slackers and admits serious students.

There's also the sweat and pain that comes into a Karate class in which students must learn a technique, put the work in to do it well, so they can learn the next technique.  Same with any type of learning.  You learn your basics.  Put in that work.  Do your homework.  Then move on to learn more.  You put in that sweat equity.  I spent a couple of weeks limping just from one workout in which I learned a very good and very brutal technique.  People asked what happened.

"Its the price of knowledge."

You don't start off knowing everything.  You don't even know everything after going to school.  That's one of the reasons I get irked by fast food workers demanding $15 an hour.  That's a starter job.  That's where you learn how to run a register, and make sure your drawer comes out right.  That's where you learn how to make quick things on demand.  You get a big order from a hungry family and you have to quickly assemble what they want.  That's a skill.  That's a useful skill that you are being paid to develope.  Not mention the customer service skills you gain.

You can take those skills and work you way up the fast food chain to manager and eventually franchise owner, or you can take those skills, put them on your resumé and hunt for another job that pays better.

And people complain that its not a living wage.  Its not supposed to be.  They are entry level.  That's where you start.  Once you start you're supposed to go somewhere.

Hopefully we'll get Governemnt out of throwing money around and suckering kids into debt and hopefully our society will wake up and realize that there's more to learning then just sitting in a classroom.  Thinking is important.  Learning is important.  But without working and doing you're going nowhere.

Random Acts of Education

Last go around I wrote about how the Gifted and Talented programs I had been involved in did absolutely nothing for me, and pretty much put me off wanting to be involved in any of them.  I do wonder if those things served more as some weird networking type tool that if I persued would give me good contacts that would allow for social and professional advancement later.  I'm also pretty sure that the programs now have a lot more to offer kids.  That said, while I think those programs did nothing for me, that's not to say that my time in school was all a waste.

I mentioned Coach Donovan in my last post.  He was the phys ed teacher when I was in the Philippines.  He always gave off the vibe that use kids were the reason his hair was turning grey.  "Kid, I swear you're going to send me back to the oil fields."  I don't know if he ever really worked in any oil fields, but him saying that and shaking his head at me as my latest stupidity utterly exasperated him gave me a chuckle.  He did delight in getting one up on us little punks too.  Like in a game of Simon Says when we were ordered to jump up, but he called everyone who came back down 'out'.  That's right, to beat the old man we had to break the laws of physics.  A few of us even managed to pull it off.  Here's the thing: Coach loved us.  This guy honestly gave a crap about each one of the little twerps that came through that school no matter how long or short a time we were there.  He'd take time to actually teach us and encourage us when he knew we needed it.  I model much of the way I teach after the way I watched him teach.

With all my many interests, some of them I did not discover without the aid of a teacher.  One of those teachers was one I couldn't stand: Ms. Warren.  Her class was miserable.  She was an English teacher who could not pronouce the letter "R".  She'd just stand there in front of us like the ultimate know-it-all, and it was insufferable.  One of the most easy-going mellow guys I knew in high school finally got up and stormed out of her class never to return.  But, one of the short stories that we studied was "The Red-Headed League".  Yes, the classic Sherlock Holmes story.  This wasn't the first Holmes story I had read for a class, but Ms. Warren did a group exercise to teach about detective work.  Each student was given a fact about a case.  We all have to work together to get the clues in order to solve the crime.  We did two of these, one was a murder, and the other was a theft.  I solved them both, easily.  This sparked my love of a good mystery and love of detective work.  I've been watching that "Whodunnit?" show on ABC this summer and absolutely salivating, collecting the clues and lining up that cases.  That's something I'd love to be in the thick of.  I'd have it won in a walk.

My big interest came from another English teacher: Mr. Babb.  This was not some advanced placement class.  This was the standard M1A1 English composition class.  Mr. Babb was a younger guy who joked around with us and his class was pretty easy going.  He gave me an assignment that probably changed my life. "Write something."  The stuff I turned in ended up being twice as long as what he asked for.  He said we were going to spend about two weeks writing a short story, going through all the steps, and learning the process.  It only had to be about four pages long.  I came back the next day with eight pages.  I became obcessed with writing that story.  I could not stop that night until it was done.  Looking back, it was crap.  That's not some weird modesty or me being self-depricating.  The story was really horrible.  But Mr. Babb liked it.  My classmates liked it.  The girl who did not like me at all, liked that story.  I've written much better ones since then, but that class and that teacher put me course to write all the stories I had in my mind. I'm still working on that.

I then got to college, and for a while was not sure why I was there.  Grades weren't good at all.  Lot of stress.  I wanted to quit, but my folks would have had my ass if I did.  Then I learned some very important stuff.

1: I'm a moron who doesn't know everything, but I can pick it up if necessary.

2: Stress will kill your ass sure as cyanide.

3: When faced with overwhelming anything, don't panic, pick the most pressing target, and just start slogging it out.  Hesitation is not an option when there's a deadline.

4: You can get through damn near anything as long as you've got your buddies with you.

I've had a lot of teachers during my time in education.  I remember many of them very fondly.  But it wasn't some special schooling or gifted program that did it.  It was teachers putting out ideas that I could latch onto.  It wasn't he tests or memorizing stuff.  Those are important, but that's not what changes a student.

Its inspiring the students.  They don't have that in study guides or teacher's edition text books.

Television FAIL!

Ring the bell. Its Wednesday, November 17, 2010, class is in session, and this is The Side.

I've started a new little project. It seems that I keep getting asked for my name whenever I order something from fast food places. Happened at Chik-Fil-A just the other day. So I did what comes naturally.

"Can I get a name to put with the order."

"Yes, I'm Bruce Wayne."

Made things fun when the order was ready and they called Bruce Wayne to the counter. I'm not sure whether to stick with it, or have the whole Justice League make the rotation.

SCHOOL'D!!

School is an interesting thing. We spend our time in high school wishing it was over. Then we think back on it fondly. They say college is the best years of your life, but it doesn't seem like it when its three in the morning you're neck deep in assignments and you have class at eight in the morning. Then you spend the rest of your life remembering how amazing the whole thing was and proud of getting that degree.

But there's a price to be paid for this, and its more than just hard work. That price has gone up in England, and there are quite a few people none too happy about it. The cost of tuition has finally risen there, which led to protests and ultimately a riot. See, they feel they have a right to education. Well they do have a right to education, but do they have a right to a higher education? Not here they don't. College or University is a privilege. Not everybody gets to go. They either can't afford it or they don't have the grades. There's absolutely nothing wrong with not going to college. Its not for everyone. Plenty of people go out and learn a trade and work. So I don't have sympathy for a lot of those students. I'm sure there those who are working hard to pay their own way and are trying to get a degree, and to those students, I say good luck. Keep working hard, because that will pay off for you.

For those who are upset because their precious entitlement has been threatened and mommy and daddy might make you get a job to help pay for things so you decided to be an ass and cause property damage with your public fit: piss off.

The education hub-bub isn't just across the pond. There's a stink brewing here with schools doing away with "F"s. This is of course being done to try to make sure kids graduate, and is completely stupid. Education requires pressure. I teach Karate. I impart knowledge, and then I test that knowledge under pressure. That's what happened in schools, minus the bruising, usually. The thinking is that failing a student kills their motivation, their drive to learn.

This is flawed.

In the entire time I've trained kids I've only failed one student. They don't test until they are fully prepared for what I'm going to unleash on them. The student in question knew his stuff, but his performance was sorely lacking. Lacking to the point that I couldn't promote him. I told him he could try again in two weeks and I told exactly why he didn't pass.

In two weeks he was an entirely different student. He was already a good student, but getting flunked drove him to be better. He went on to become a very good martial artist and a fine black belt.

You see, the hard work isn't done in the dojo or classroom. Its done outside of there. Education isn't a right, but it is a responsibility. You can't teach a kid who doesn't want to learn. Somewhere that kid has to discover that learning is important. If they don't, they won't excel. Taking away the option of failing a student makes teachers pass students on before they are ready. According to the article they get an 'incomplete' and can do the work later. It takes the pressure off, so the poor, widdle student can do better.

Bullshit. All it does is making skating through school with minimal effort that much easier. I've recently considered getting my teaching certification and teaching more than just martial arts. Now I wonder if someone like me would be able to teach with the way the education system is going.

TV!!

Upon recently telling some dudes that I don't have cable they replied with an "Ooooh". The kind of "Ooooh" that's usually reserved for someone who has some unfortunate disease. Fortunately for all my lack of cable is not contagious.

So I can't see these shows that that people keep raving about. I've never seen MAD MEN, DEXTER, or THE SHIELD. I can't watch that new THE WALKING DEAD show as much as I'd love to compare it to the comic on here for a review. However, this is no huge loss to me. I grew up without cable. They didn't run cable to my neighborhood until the early 90s, and I was away at college where I did have a watered down version of cable in my dorm room. So I did indeed grow up without MTV, Nickelodeon, or HBO. We had six channels and that included PBS. It was what it was, and when there was nothing on TV, we just dealt with it.

So, after having cable for a few years I'm back to not having cable, which was all dandy until the digital conversion earlier this year. My TV is old and needed a converter box, which costs money, but fine. The problem with that converter box is that it comes with a rather small remote which works half the time and is easily lost, and if it is lost you better really like what channel the TV is on. And I've rambled at length as to why digital sucks compared to analog signal, and its not going to add anything here to rehash that.

What is weird is that TV will now spontaneously grow new channels making TV occasionally an adventure. OK, I know have 3 different PBS stations. One of them is entirely children's programming which is awesome until they ambush us with an episode of Barney. Beyond our local Fox affiliate are stations that are interesting and dangerous. There's a whole kid's station with cartoons, and ION which shows movies and stuff that I sometimes what to check out. They were reshowing old episodes of QUANTUM LEAP for a while. But exploring those stations is a risky proposition because 90% of the time if I go to those stations I get hit with my TV going gray and the remote locking up. I have no idea why this happens.

TV has also spawned 5 christian stations, one of them in Spanish, and all of which I have ignored. Yes, I am a Christian, but Christian TV stations are boring.

The latest thing is that TV has randomly grown music video stations. They just show music videos with a few commercials here and there. One is a country station, meaning they play videos of bands that are pop bands with cowboy hats and steel guitars. The other plays all sorts of stuff. No on air people at all at the moment, and I have no clue with there's any sort of method to the madness or if they're just playing whatever the hell they want like their library was set to random.

So, I'm now optimistic about TV. I'm hoping that somehow a channel will magically grow and it'll show just awesome stuffs. But for now I wait patiently exploring the adventure of TV.

MUSIC!!

One of the new channels that my TV has recently randomly grown brought this to me.



Alright, that's it with the beginning of the whiskey tango foxtrot portion of the week. See you on the foxtrot.