i got two things out of it, really: one - the chinese will take over the world (damn, nancy was right!) but only until our computers outsmart us and make us their slaves, and two - if half of what i've learned so far in college is already outdated, i feel real good about all those thousands of dollars i've blown on my education thus far. just one more reason to ditch school and be a bum, right? (i should really try that one on my parents.)
Saturday, December 15, 2007
shift happens?
i got two things out of it, really: one - the chinese will take over the world (damn, nancy was right!) but only until our computers outsmart us and make us their slaves, and two - if half of what i've learned so far in college is already outdated, i feel real good about all those thousands of dollars i've blown on my education thus far. just one more reason to ditch school and be a bum, right? (i should really try that one on my parents.)
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8 comments:
MWAHAHA...
First, it depends on your field of study. The slide show stated that was the case for kids in technical schools, which is undoubtedly true - computers and technology are accelerating at an unprecedented rate, and hopefully the schools teach them less about specifics, and more about general theory so they can take what they've learned and, so long as they keep up with trends, apply it to any problem down the line.
I study film. Nothing I learn will ever be outdated.
Second, ALWAYS consider the source. The source in this case is a guy named Karl Fisch, the Director of Technology at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, CO. I'm not saying he doesn't know what he's talking about, but there are a tremendous lack of sources for all the data he presents.
An updated version of the slide show, found at http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html directs viewers to a link that provides these things.
As they say on the sources page:
"Some of the sources (particularly for the original) are not 'hard' or 'scholarly' sources. Nevertheless, we believe the overall trends that are identified in the presentations are very much worth talking about, even if folks sometimes disagree on the significance of the data."
In my opinion, the effectiveness of the presentation IS the data, so the fact that they admit it's so flimsy...a little strange.
That said...pretty sure China's gonna take over. The rest of that stuff...I don't care where couples are meeting or that a computer will eventually be as smart as us (I doubt it'll come that soon, and I doubt it'll be that affordable); it's part of progress. You could see it coming from the day they switched a computer on.
But I don't really care, so what'll you do.
scott, i love that you're always up for a good discussion... totally agree with you, by the way, you really have to check the sources with pretty much everything you find on the internet, especially with youtube videos or wikipedia articles where anyone can say anything and people will see it. it seems like common sense, and yet people will believe just about anything these days... ever heard of bonsai kittens?
honestly, while there may be some truth to the overall trends, i didn't put too much stock in the slide show. i can't say i don't care, but i tend not to take life too seriously.
oh and for the record, i'm not ditching school (as nice as that may sound following finals and all)... if i really wanted to, i probably would, regardless of whether or not i've convinced my parents it's a good idea. which i don't think i could actually do anyway.
Oh, I tried to slide that in at the end, but at no point should be eagerness for discussion be misconstrued as taking anything seriously. I think if I actually cared, it'd be impossible to debate.
And you'd gain major points with me if you ditched school, just for the chutzpah. These points won't pay the bills, however. Just result in a lotta "you rule!" so if you can survive off that, hey, there you go.
ok, so if the chinese are the next big thing aren't they just going to invade taiwan?
i kind of like to mull these types of things over, being a person who does take life a little bit seriously. at least i know i couldn't win a battle of who could care less with you two. but the things we really need to worry about kind of aren't mentioned at all here. risk of the spread of a supervirus, increased numbers of killer storms related to global warming, overpopulation in general and especially places not meant to support human life. america's colossal debt especially with trade deficit to china. these are worrisome things. good computers are not. hey, i should make a scary-tactic video....if only i could find some inspiring-turn-ominous background music.
Let's address those concerns...
Overpopulation - There's always room in Canada.
Debt - I don't know a lot about a lot, but I'm pretty sure the debt is fake anyway.
Killer storms - Depends...does killer mean "awesome" or does killer mean "it'll kill ya."
Supervirus - Solves overpopulation problem; depending on who in gets, may actually improve quality of life for the rest of us. Or the rest of you, if it gets me.
Either of these things is likely to happen before America's position as the most important nation-state is threatened - we will run out of the world or the we'll no longer really care about nation states. What, did you really think the nation state is the most essential form of political community or even a concept in any way eternal? Other structures are already becoming more significant concentrations of power than countries. Three or so hundred years has been long enough. Soon enough we won't really care about nations.
No matter your technical field, base knowledge is base knowledge that will be necessary no matter how many hundreds of years in the future you live. Want to specialize? That's what grad school is for. You can't study a technical subject without the fundamentals, and those. don't. change.
This video is a bunch of unsourced statistics that are just big enough to convince you the world is changing in a dangerous way. Couldn't agree with you more, Ben--it's a distraction from serious issues that have nothing to do with global "competition".
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