I know the USA science/math education level is bad (29th in the world !) but I was actually shocked to learn today that 20% of Americans did not know that the Earth revolved around the Sun !!!! What did they think that big yellow ball in the sky was ? The object that gives us life through photosynthesis, warmth, seasons (the Earth tilt actually) and keeps Earth from leaving the solar system. As a science/medicine teacher, I was surprised at the lack of thirst of knowledge that even medical students have. I know we are all different, and that is a good thing, but knowledge is power, security, and enlightenment. We are getting lazy about competing in science. I wish there was as much interest in being number one in science/math as there is in the Olympics. Teachers and parents need to show that knowledge is as or more important than sports. Knowledge about medicine can make us healthier and better at sports. We are loosing to India in engineering and to China in many areas. Knowledge is also a national security issue. Can you imagine the world today if Hitler, Stalin, N Korea or Iran had the bomb? We were the first on the moon, the first to develop the computer chip, to develop a large middle class - lets dont loose our momentum and get lazy! Every leader should read Thomas Friedman and Jered Diamond. Diamond goes on: Such questions seem especially appropriate this year. History warns us that when once-powerful societies collapse, they tend to do so quickly and unexpectedly. That shouldnt come as much of a surprise: peak power usually means peak population, peak needs, and hence peak vulnerability. What can be learned from history that could help us avoid joining the ranks of those who declined swiftly? Diamond tells the stories of a few past civilizations that collapsed and rapidly disappeared -- the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico; the Polynesian societies on Henderson and Pitcairn islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean; the Anasazi in the American southwest; the ancient societies of the Fertile Crescent; the Khmer at Angkor Wat; and the Moche society of Peru, among others. Diamond then offers a long list of other societies that followed a different trajectory and survived for very long periods in Japan, Tonga, Tikopia, the New Guinea Highlands, and Central and Northwest Europe, among others. So collapse is not inevitable. Collapse is the result of choices. - See more at: hnn.us/article/22563#sthash.QnqkmAKX.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 16:16:46 +0000
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