[Tfug] Cyber War -oh noes

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, Glen,

--- On Wed, 1/7/09, Glen Pfeiffer <glen at thepfeiffers.net> wrote:

> On Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 03:38:52PM -0800, Bexley Hall wrote:
> > How many folks can't "count change"?  Or, form a "correct"
> > sentence?  (or, write wItHoUt *abusing* punctuation!!  :> )
> > 
> > How many *question* what they are "told"?  How many know
> > how to find their own "answer"?  :-/
> > 
> > <shrug>  Dunno.  Perhaps it is attributable to people having
> > "less time" (?  then, where did all that time *go*?).
> 
> I think there are many possible causes, and likely more than one 
> actual cause, for what you are describing.

Of course.

> One might be that those who were once uneducated now have a
> middle or high school education and are able to contribute
> more to society. But they are still unable to perform at the
> level you expect.

<frown>  No, I don't think these people (the ones I have met)
would qualify as "uneducated", "back then".  Rather, I think
they just are not motivated (lazy?) into thinking for themselves.
They are accustomed to someone/something else "doing for them"
(a parent, a calculator, a fellow worker, etc.)

I bought two bottle of a cleaner a while back.  Two identical
bottles.  Each was $9.99.  Nothing else in my basket.  I had
$22 ready for the cashier.  Imagine my surprise when she told
me my total was ~$40 (!).

I simply smiled and said:  "What's wrong with this picture?"
Staring back at me were a pair of "cow eyes" -- d'uh....?

I grabbed one of the bottles and said:  "This item is $9.99.
Let's call it $10."  I grabbed the other (identical!) bottle
and said:  "This item is *also* $9.99.  Let's call *it* $10.
$10 plus $10....?" (expecting her to give me the $20 answer).

C'mon, this isn't rocket science.  I'm not asking her to
compute the trajectory of a frisbee thrown into a 23MPH
wind at an azimuth of 12.4 degrees...

What would *she* have done had the roles been reversed?
I suspect she actually would have been screwed out of an
extra $20 and never realized it.  :<

I don't know how to motivate these folks so that they
actually *care* about what is going on around them.
After all, *they* get to run The World next!!  :-/

> You might have noticed that I listed a high school
> education above. That is because at the same time we are "not
> leaving any child behind" we are failing the brightest.

Wow!  That is incredibly obvious to me -- now that you've
put it into such simple terms.  :<

OTOH, there is no real demand for The Brightest.  Everything
is designed to reduce reliance on "key people" in favor of
lots of mindless masses chugging through the grind.

(sigh)

Wunnerful.  :>