Waiting Out The Storm.....

[fixthecopier]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

You know, if that was a study of how many people in my outpost out here on the perimeter believed that (last census said there were around 2500 people in town) it might be worthy of consideration, but compared to the population of the United States, or the entire Earth for that matter, it seems to be a pretty worthless study done by lazy people. Although it is kind of dramatic, which makes it somewhat entertaining, so it isn't all bad.

My feeling is, that in this country, with the access to basic information, This stuff is taught in elementary school, there is no excuse for that many people to have there head stuck up their ass. Unfortunately it doesn't end there. You may or may not be amazed at how many people can't find the places that are discussed on the evening news, on a map. I remember a few years ago, a guy we had doing temp work who was 20 and a high school graduate, was in the shop. One of the computer guys had his young son there. I decided to have a little fun and started asking the guy some basic questions.

Hey Nick, what is the largest country on the planet?
Nick...Africa
That's a continent Nick.
Nick...South Africa
Nope, want to try again?
Nick...Germany?

There was more to it, but you get the idea. When Nick left, I looked at Adam's son and said "That is a great example of why you should do good in school!"
BTW, Nick is in prison now.

I believe it was Winston Churchill who said "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter"

[Debs1964]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Hey Nick, what is the largest country on the planet?
Nick...Africa
That's a continent Nick.
Nick...South Africa
Nope, want to try again?
Nick...Germany?

That reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago with my sister, who is far from stupid. I can't remember how we got onto the subject but I mentioned something about Australia being in the southern hemisphere, she looked puzzled, so I explained "when you look at a map of the world, the UK is near the top, well, Australia is near the bottom", she looked even more puzzled and told me that on every map she's seen, we are near the bottom. It emerged that she thought the UK weather map shown on TV was a map of the world, and we live in the South East of England, so we are near the bottom. So I informed her of her mistake and told her that we are north of the equator, while Australia is south of the equator, she looked as if she understood, and then asked if the equator was the line that ran through Greenwich (prime meridian)

[fixthecopier]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

That reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago with my sister, who is far from stupid. I can't remember how we got onto the subject but I mentioned something about Australia being in the southern hemisphere, she looked puzzled, so I explained "when you look at a map of the world, the UK is near the top, well, Australia is near the bottom", she looked even more puzzled and told me that on every map she's seen, we are near the bottom. It emerged that she thought the UK weather map shown on TV was a map of the world, and we live in the South East of England, so we are near the bottom. So I informed her of her mistake and told her that we are north of the equator, while Australia is south of the equator, she looked as if she understood, and then asked if the equator was the line that ran through Greenwich (prime meridian)

In a lot of cases it is not that a person is stupid, it is that they lack knowledge. Problem is that once they get out of school they have no desire to obtain any information that does not relate directly to what their interest are, like sports. People who can't identify all of the states in their country can blather on listing all kinds of facts about NASCAR or football. They feel that the outside world doesn't concern them, when the opposite is true.

I love information, Knowledge is Power!

This is a site I check the top100 headlines in each catagory, every day...

http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/

http://www.reddit.com/r/news/

http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/

[Copier Addict]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Governments don't want an intelligent population. They want them walking around oblivious to what is going on. That is why education is the place where governments make all the budget cuts.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

... I remember a few years ago, a guy we had doing temp work who was 20 and a high school graduate, was in the shop. One of the computer guys had his young son there. I decided to have a little fun and started asking the guy some basic questions.

Hey Nick, what is the largest country on the planet?
Nick...Africa
That's a continent Nick.
Nick...South Africa
Nope, want to try again?
Nick...Germany? ...

We were talking about Richard Nixon one day at the office, and one of the 19 yr old office girls asked "Who's Richard Nixon".
I just stood there with my mouth open for a second "... you know, the ex-President of the United States?" She just shrugged.
=^..^=

[fixthecopier]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

We were talking about Richard Nixon one day at the office, and one of the 19 yr old office girls asked "Who's Richard Nixon".
I just stood there with my mouth open for a second "... you know, the ex-President of the United States?" She just shrugged.
=^..^=

If you would have told her he was the presidents head in a jar on the cartoon Futurama, she probably would have known...http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._the_Polls.jpg

And I am not ashamed to say I own one of these...http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6124/6...e1649e68ec.jpg

[Iowatech]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

My feeling is, that in this country, with the access to basic information, This stuff is taught in elementary school, there is no excuse for that many people to have there head stuck up their ass. Unfortunately it doesn't end there. You may or may not be amazed at how many people can't find the places that are discussed on the evening news, on a map. I remember a few years ago, a guy we had doing temp work who was 20 and a high school graduate, was in the shop. One of the computer guys had his young son there. I decided to have a little fun and started asking the guy some basic questions.

Hey Nick, what is the largest country on the planet?
Nick...Africa
That's a continent Nick.
Nick...South Africa
Nope, want to try again?
Nick...Germany?

There was more to it, but you get the idea. When Nick left, I looked at Adam's son and said "That is a great example of why you should do good in school!"
BTW, Nick is in prison now.

I believe it was Winston Churchill who said "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter"

Still, you have to admit, a study that claims to speak for the entire United States but only has a study group of less than 2400 people is kind of pathetic.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9HJeR-F9NIeczNDb2hVb2p6UTQ/edit?pli=1

[fixthecopier]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Still, you have to admit, a study that claims to speak for the entire United States but only has a study group of less than 2400 people is kind of pathetic.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9HJ...UTQ/edit?pli=1

Actually, doing samples of things to get a view of the overall picture is a science. I don't know a lot about polling, but having worked for the auto industry i can say that all of the parts in every car made are inspected by random samples and Statistical Process Controls. I have seen demos of taking a room full of random people and based on previous samples, be able to make statements as to how many would fall into different groups, weather it be based on their religions or professions or amount of education. It becomes a science because when your samples are way off from the stats, you find out why and adjust your process for more accurate results.


Also, based on personnel experience, I am pretty sure there are a lot of people who should have paid more attention in school. The problem with that survey is the number may actually be too low.

[slimslob]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Actually, doing samples of things to get a view of the overall picture is a science. I don't know a lot about polling, but having worked for the auto industry i can say that all of the parts in every car made are inspected by random samples and Statistical Process Controls. I have seen demos of taking a room full of random people and based on previous samples, be able to make statements as to how many would fall into different groups, weather it be based on their religions or professions or amount of education. It becomes a science because when your samples are way off from the stats, you find out why and adjust your process for more accurate results.


Also, based on personnel experience, I am pretty sure there are a lot of people who should have paid more attention in school. The problem with that survey is the number may actually be too low.

Sounds a lot like the principles of psycho-history from Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy.

[fixthecopier]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Sounds a lot like the principles of psycho-history from Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy.

Points for mentioning one of the greatest, and my personnel favorite, sci fi stories ever written. If you think about it, what Asimov wrote about could be reality with our ability to gather info on the masses.


Did you read the 2 later additions he added?

[slimslob]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

Points for mentioning one of the greatest, and my personnel favorite, sci fi stories ever written. If you think about it, what Asimov wrote about could be reality with our ability to gather info on the masses.


Did you read the 2 later additions he added?

Yes. I have read almost all of his SciFi books and short stories.

[Akitu]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

So I heard the snow was starting to melt in Michigan, is this about par for the course, Blackcat?

[KapeKopyTek]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

So I heard the snow was starting to melt in Michigan, is this about par for the course, Blackcat?

Great new crop in Massachusetts too.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

So I heard the snow was starting to melt in Michigan, is this about par for the course, Blackcat?

Up until today, yes it has been melting. Usually one or twice during January and February we will get unseasonably warm weather, and have the snowpack melt down partially, commonly called Indian Summer. This is about 6 weeks late and only two days. Today 6" (15cm) of fresh snow has fallen already, and the wind is whistling. By Friday it's supposed to be 57F again (13.9C for you metric folks).

Very strange weather.

Typically I don't get too excited about snowfall. I spent some time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where a typical morning involved clearing the 12" of overnight snowfall. I was living right off of Lake Superior, which provided me with lake effect snow. I often used tire chains to compensate for the crappy traction and rear wheel drive of my 1974 Pinto.

I must say on one occasion I drove my way through 24" (snow piling up on the hood). The chains would dig, dig, dig, then a little hop (maybe 3 feet), dig, dig, dig, then a little hop, and so on. It was the longest 2 miles of my life.

http://www.pasty.com/snow/ =^..^=

[HenryT2]

Re: Waiting Out The Storm.....

So I heard the snow was starting to melt in Michigan, is this about par for the course, Blackcat?

WOW !!!!!
And I thought OUR potholes were bad ........
Ya'll do have it worse than us .
BC , ( and all you other techs in the far north ) do be careful up there .


On a side note :
the temps here through this week have been in the upper 60's and low 70's.

YEP !!! Gonna be about 28 tonight .