[lit-ideas] Re: education
- From: Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 16:33:55 -0800 (PST)
________________________________
From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, November 6, 2011 6:10 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: education
Robert: Nowhere in higher education is creationism taught as a viable
alternative to or disproof of the current
standard accounts of evolution taught in nearly every college and university in
the United States. Bob Jones
University, in Greenville, South Carolina, which teaches 'young-earth
creationism.' (There's an 'old-earth
creationism,' and the advocates of each believe the other to be not only
scientifically, but theologically
mistaken.) Although Oral Roberts University, founded, as was BJU, by a
Christian evangelist, seems to endorse
YEC, I'm not sure it's actually taught there. Aside from these institutions, I
doubt that any college or university
teaches creationism as a live theory.
Andy: I understand now what you mean. I meant that creationism is looking to
overtake evolution on the high school level. Without a decent high school
education, college can't happen, or can't be very meaningful.
Robert: It is absurd to say imply there is a cohort of creationists that is
somehow 'replacing' those students who would
otherwise have become 'scientists.' The number of creationist-believers who
have, rather mysteriously, taken
the jobs that would otherwise have gone to reputable scientists is probably
less than 0 x 0 + 0 It would be
interesting to know just where (and how) you believe this is happening.
Andy: Agreed. Again, no cohort of scientists of any kind if no decent
grounding in the lower levels. I heard the
secretary of education interviewed today (Arne Duncan). He said that in the
70's (what wasn't better in the
70's?) the U.S. was #1 in education worldwide. Today we're #16 or 17. We've
been passed by nearly
everybody. 25% of our high school students drop out of school. That's a
stunning number. He cited
Steve Jobs as having been a genius, but he also said that Jobs himself
credited his superior science and
math education in California when California had the best educational system in
the country. They also
interviewed Bill Gates (another college dropout), who said the same thing.
Inspiration is wonderful,
but it's useless if one doesn't have the grounding in science and math. It
seems to me if we cared,
we'd have decent education.
Robert: You cannot have read any of the links I provided (I provided too many,
and apologize) without seeing
that my point was not that there are fewer business majors than in former years
(I don't know if this is
universally true or not), but that 'businesses' themselves are beginning to
prefer, and to hire, liberal arts
majors over business majors who are increasingly less adaptable to change in a
'corporate environment,'
and, that MBA programs—which are themselves becoming less valued—are now urging
those considering
studying for the MBA, to get a liberal arts education first.
If you are indeed replying to what I wrote about this earlier, the argument
above is an ignoratio elenchi.
(I just had to say that.)
Andy: I concede the issue. I'm sure you're right. I don't know who Ignorant
Ellen is though. But you got her
name spelled wrong.
Andy
Other related posts:
