Jeffrey’s Comments (group member since Jul 07, 2008)

Jeffrey’s comments from the The No "No Duh" Group group.

Mary, I address these issues and more in my book Education: A Waste of Time? and many articles over at searchwarp dot com that cover the same. I agree wholeheartedly. Keep up the good thinking. I thought I was alone, but it appears I finally have company. Thanks for the post.

A common misunderstanding, a result of failed "depth perception" of perceived fact purported by those (politicians, media, etc.) pandering to the common folk, is the definition of the term "eduction." Education as it is marketed and deployed today is relatively useless. More and more students play to the grade, along with teachers, administrators, and board members who are simply afraid of losing their jobs or careers terminating (blinders have never been the solution to any problem). Grades, for the uninformed and under-experienced, are truly over inflated and will continue to move in that direction for too many reasons to mention here. But that's only the beginning of the problem--too complex to go into detail here.

Certainly, to have an "education," here simply meaning a bachelors degree, will get one slightly more pay and economic promise than without; however, the majority of "education" (life long) comes from personal experience, self-teaching, and effort on the individual's part far beyond anything any institution can ever come close to providing. Formal education, proper definition here for the institutional variety, is limited in the long run, in the extreme, and is only the tip of the knowledge / success ice burg.

What needs to be taught in much greater volume and intensity is critical thinking (rigorous, thorough, complete) , synthesis of fact with experience / insight of individual, creativity, and problem solving, deeper self-analysis and understanding for greater long-term success, tenacity, goal planning and setting and much, much, more. These are all in limited supply in failed, formal institutions and will continue to be so as long as the majority of zombies cater to the catchall phrase, philosophy that education (current form / definition) is the end-all and cure-all. What needs to be taught are concepts that will aid the individual in self-teaching so that he / she can adapt to these economically dynamic times.

A thorough and more practical understanding of "education" will come to the forefront through other less traditional forms: entrepreneurial coaching / guidance and private schools that teach the essential 70% that is missing in our formal institutions. These are issues my business and future schools will address, for our educational system, secondary and, yes, post-secondary are archaic, outmoded, slow, and failed in these economically diverse and dynamic times.

My wife and I are attempting to get out three-year-old son to see that dinosaurs are not real, that they no longer exist, that they are not in his room and are not a threat. However, I have yet to let him know the truth about monsters. At this time and because we want him to sleep, we tell him that monsters are not real. But as we know they are all too real, and they often come in the form of the ignorant and uninformed purporting and perpetuating dangerous mis-truths. God bless the truth seekers and deliverers.

Do you know that the majority of people in this world merely float through life. And even the supposedly superior people, like those going to Harvard, for instance, are mostly floaters too. A survey following a graduating class discovered that 5% made the majority of the income in that class. The difference? Obviously not education, but goal setting.

I have told my former students again and again and again, education is NOT the end-all and the cure-all to all your economical ills, especially in these economically challenging times. So let's take a look at the uber-achiever; let's look at some of the big boys, have they all degrees? Consider that almost 1/4 of our 44 U.S. presidents had no college education, even some of our best: Lincoln, Washington, Truman, Jackson. Now how about the Steves of Apple Computer: nope, no college. Bill Gates? Drop out from that big college mentioned above. And on and on and on.

There have been thousands who have succeeded without going to college. Some of the brightest people I've worked with and have as friends never went to college. And making money and education? My two richest friends were a high school dropout and one who avoids books like the plague.

And some of the people I know who have college degrees from prestigious schools or have advanced degrees are some of the dumbest I know. What gives?

What say yee of this education lie?

Sadly, the majority of crap on TV that passes for entertainment or comedy is . . . well, crap! Over the years I can count on one hand all the well-written shows that weren't "obvious." And please! don't anyone say that Friends was good (is it still on?).

My short list of well-written American shows: Seinfeld, Mash, Cheers, Taxi, 30Rock.

"We have gotten into an age where our language has been so stripped by popular culture that when we do read a line or two with meaning, it really strikes our heart as something special." I'll second that!!

Meaning of life quotes to reading? Anything to students away from endless hours on the Internet, Xbox, TV, etc.

Hey, I've seen those movies: Grindhouse Presents . . . Pretty Reservoir-Dogish.

Thanks for understanding my interest in this important topic. Rock on Wayne! errrrr . . . Garrett.

Monty Python, The Black Adder, Benny Hill, Kevin Connelly . . . I guess it takes a good snob to make good humor. "She's a goah ahhright? Know wha' I mean? Know wha' I mean? Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink. Say no mowah. Say no mowah." Now for something entirely different: the idiot olympics.

Now here's a book that gets around.

Now I'm NOT talking opinion here. This is just cold, hard fact. I'm talking bad taste as in anything Mary Higgins Clark, Danielle Steel, L. Ron Hubert (does he have anyone EDIT his books?), and even some may say Dan Brown. What say ye? Remember now, here I'm just hoping to offend. Have at it!!!

OK, here's something else I just discovered. Here's a guy who owns selfgrowth.com, a place for self improvement experts promote. He wrote the following about quotes:

"I always loved inspirational quotes. I loved to read them. I learned from them. I memorized them and gained strength and inspiration by reapeating them to myself over and over again."

But he not only used them for himself; he also shared them with coworkers, to entertain, in presentations, personal and professional writings, and just for fun.

Then he goes into defining inspiration (and in this world, don't we need it!) as a stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity or as divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind."

Ultimately, he polled over 200,000 members of his web site and came up with the 501 most popular quotes. Some of them were quite simple, such as "Whatever it takes" "Do it now" "Just do it" "Don't quit" "Seize the Day" and so on. But they got better as they went on.

Seems to me people are looking for something, albeit an easy something, to help them find a way to get through trying times. Seems that quotes are just a very popular, shorthand way of doing it.

Garrett, an interesting perspective. Let others have deep thoughts in brief and I, the reader, can get in and out quickly becuase I've got Xbox'ing to do and I've got to keep up with the dancing stars on TV. Right!

I write a lot of articles on various subjects, the main one being motivational, for that is the focus of my business.

So once I decided to post some motivational quotes in an article on searchwarp.com with a few of my own insights preceeding them and it took off like wild fire. Since then I've posted some 15 motivational quotes articles and they've taken off too.

I've have other articles that get viewed or recieve impressions but nothing like my motivational quote articles.

What's up with quotes?

Why are they so popular?

Right, thanks Garrett.

Jeff, not sure. I only remember the story vaguely.

Wow, too bad you guys can't infect others with such common sense. There's an oxymoron alright. Common sense ain't common, unfortunately. And Ahhhh . . . OK, so I'm not calling anyone a moron here . . . OK? That means a contradiction in terms, yes? That reminds me of a senator--I think it was--who called someone niggardly or stingy. And the word "niggardly" isn't even associated with the n-word which can be traced from the Latin word niger which means 'black.' Niggardly, on the other hand, originates from the old Norse word nigla meaning “petty; making a fuss over unimportant matters.” So we can see how much work it takes to not say something stupid. However, as far as “niggardly” is concerned, even if he knew the etymology of "niggardly" that educated senator should have held his tongue because it just sounds bad. Wow! This being informed stuff is a lot of work. But everyone being informed probably just won’t happen. Considering that most Americans--according to a well known marketer--are "lazy, selfish, and right," then it's certainly an uphill battle to ever get enough people informed to avoid ignorant or silly statements. And considering the old saying “never under-estimate the ignorance of the American public,” it seems to me that disagreement is here to stay, unless everyone cracks down and works on educating themselves every day to limit contradictory or stupid statements. Then again, considering we're all equal in our infinite ignorance, not much of a chance of that happening. But let’s consider our shared ignorance; we've got a lot more in common than we could ever imagine. Wow! Let’s celebrate and revel in our stupidity! “Oh, I’m a happy moron and I’m OK; You’re an equal idiot let’s all play!” (sorry, my love of the Python is showing through, eh?)

OK, it's amazing to me the number of people who are adamant that others agree with them, and if they don't, then those people are somehow wrong, inferior, or blind to the proper response. OK, how 'bout accepting the fact that people are different and difference doesn't necessarily mean stupid or inferior. There is a wide variety of responses because of experience, upbringing, intelligence, preference, maturity, culture, and on and on it goes. It's all the more amazing to me that people who live in this country, which allows for freedom of speech and choice, try to limit other's opinions through anger, fear, and outright intimidation. What's unfortunate also is that there are few who are strong enough to go against "the group" regardless of how wrong the person is who began his or her bashing. This country was founded on a desire to absolve despotic rule and tyranny, the very foundation of single minded, Jerry Springer bashing that goes on all too often in forums and other places on the Net.