America the illiterate

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

There is a generational decline in literacy, that is clear. My wife sees it at university level. She teaches GRAD students who struggle to write simple papers and even though they are "literate" they can't write for shit. If that is indicative of graduate level students imagine how bad it is in general. The enormous amount of time young people spend on social media is also to blame, you can't lay it all on the educational system although public education is deeply flawed.

I received my MBA in 2010. For one of the last group research papers I had to do with three other students I volunteered to piece everyone's contribution together into the final paper. When one of the women sent me over her portion I couldn't believe all the grammatical and punctuation error she made. There must have been 100 semicolons throughout her paper. I had to go through and edit the entire thing and this was graduate level work.

 

[MarathonMike]

I received my MBA in 2010. For one of the last group research papers I had to do with three other students I volunteered to piece everyone's contribution together into the final paper. When one of the women sent me over her portion I couldn't believe all the grammatical and punctuation error she made. There must have been 100 semicolons throughout her paper. I had to go through and edit the entire thing and this was graduate level work.

Yep, my wife ends up re-writing a lot these crap papers. I'll be so glad when she retires it's getting worse.

 

[Woodznutz]

My wife lets me read some of the draft papers her students send her. WOW scary.

Maybe it's the crude way they hold the pencil, with the thumb wrapped around it. Strange.

 

[Natural Citizen]

I can see the importance of grammar and punctuation in real world communication.

But on a message board it just crimps my style.

 

[SweetSue92]

Even if those on those "Man-on-the-street" interviews are selected for their ignorance of history and current events, it is still appalling. My own grown daughter is such a person. She doesn't know and doesn't care. Needless to say, her life is a mess. She also doesn't care to change it.

Okay.

Whose fault is it, then?

Hers?

Yours?

Or her past teachers'?

Because conservatives would always, always have it that little Ashley doesn't know in what years the Civil War was fought because we simply did not teach it. Not that she didn't pay attention, didn't care or doesn't remember.

 

[Winco]

Obviously, the answer is to throw more money at the edumacation system!

Since you can't spell, you are the problem.
Who raised you?

 

[Winco]

Whose fault is it, then?

Hers?

Yours?

Or her past teachers'?

Yours?
Mine?
Parents?

 

[Smokin' OP]

The old saying applies.

"You can lead a horse to water".
Is the horse incapable of drinking or just doesn't want to?

 

[Woodznutz]

Okay.

Whose fault is it, then?

Hers?

Yours?

Or her past teachers'?

Because conservatives would always, always have it that little Ashley doesn't know in what years the Civil War was fought because we simply did not teach it. Not that she didn't pay attention, didn't care or doesn't remember.

I blame her mother and her mother's family, although as an adult she is responsible for her own life. That said she is a sweet, loving, and generous person. She just lives in La La land.

 

[Canon Shooter]

.

"According to a recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 32 million of American adults are illiterate, 21 percent read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates are functionally illiterate, which means they can’t read well enough to manage daily living and perform tasks required by many jobs."​

I just wonder how they get those numbers. What "studies"?

I'm 60 years old. At this point in my life I think I would've encountered at least one person who'd actually taken a part in a study or a poll but, no, I never have. I'm not questioning whether such studies actually took place, I just wonder what the demographics were...

According to data from the Department of Education ... As much as 19% of High School Graduates are functionally illiterate
and would have trouble reading the diploma they are handed.​

Two pints on this:

First, again, my skepticism abounds.

Second, if that number is valid and true, then that's a failure of the Department of Education. Could those numbers actually be higher but the DOE is mitigating them some so they don't inept?

In light of the study ... Reaching 42% not reading books after leaving the education system isn't that hard to reach.
​

I don't see this as any big deal.

I used to be a voracious reader. Hey, when you're on a six month Navy deployment overseas your leisure activities at sea are somewhat limited.

But I haven't read a book in 25 years. Life took over, other interests came to the fore, and as a result I'm just not a big reader anymore. If reading books is what it takes for someone to be smart, some of the most intelligent people I know would be complete idiots...

 

[Canon Shooter]

Immorality is a bigger problem than illiteracy.

Not really.

Morality is subjective. What's moral to you may not necessarily be moral for another.

Illiteracy is illiteracy. If you don't know how to read, that's a profound problem...

 

[BlackSand]

I just wonder how they get those numbers. What "studies"?

.

I understand you questioning the numbers ... And if you look in the quote, the word study will take you to the source of the claim.
Other than that ... The study was conducted by the US Department of Education and doesn't look nicely at their position.

That to me ... Would only help support some idea of credibility.
Of course, then again ... I am not trying to fight the statistics in attempts to miss the point.

Plus, your experiences do not account for the other 345 million Americans.

.​

 

[Canon Shooter]

Plus, your experiences do not account for the other 345 million Americans.
.​

Certainly.

I also don't know anyone who knows anyone who's taken part in these so-called studies and polls.

That number is exponentially higher than just me...

 

[BlackSand]

Certainly.

I also don't know anyone who knows anyone who's taken part in these so-called studies and polls.

That number is exponentially higher than just me...

.

Look ... If you want to deny any information provided ... In order to support an assumption based on your perceptions and what you already think ...
Then what's the use in reading anything to start with ...

Do you understand that?

.​

 

[Canon Shooter]

.

Look ... If you want to deny any information provided ... In order to support an assumption based on your perceptions and what you already think ...
Then what's the use in reading anything to start with ...

Do you understand that?

.​

I merely question the willingness of people to accept findings such as this without the benefit of knowing anything about the poll or the studies...

 

[Woodznutz]

.

Morality is subjective. What's moral to you may not necessarily be moral for another.

That is the problem. Criminals don't think it's immoral to rob, assault, and murder people. Sadly, lawmakers and judges feel pretty much the same, based on laws and sentencing.

That's just the criminally immoral. Everyday immorality causes many problems as well.

Of course, there is a lot of illiteracy among the criminal class which must be factored in.

 

[BlackSand]

I merely question the willingness of people to accept findings such as this without the benefit of knowing anything about the poll or the studies...

.

The question is not unreasonable ... The desire to deny any evidence contrary to what you already think ...
Is an attempt to validate what you already believe ... At which point you have learned nothing and wasted your time reading it in the first place.

You didn't understand that ...

.​

 

[Woodznutz]

.

The question is not unreasonable ... The desire to deny any evidence contrary to what you already think ...
Is an attempt to validate what you already believe ... At which point you have learned nothing and wasted your time reading it in the first place.

You didn't understand that ...

.​

What one is told to see, and what one actually sees, are often very different. Generally speaking, we see a lot of things in motion but not much is moving forward.

 

[Woodznutz]

.

The question is not unreasonable ... The desire to deny any evidence contrary to what you already think ...
Is an attempt to validate what you already believe ... At which point you have learned nothing and wasted your time reading it in the first place.

You didn't understand that ...

.​

(Butting in, sorry) I think the bigger problem, generally speaking, is that they didn't learn anything from me.

 

[BlackSand]

(Butting in, sorry) I think the bigger problem, generally speaking, is that they didn't learn anything from me.

.

Well ... That only applies to how a person views the information and any conflict they may have with it.

If they want to have a personal conflict with the information or the source ... They surely can.
If they want to explore Critical Thinking, and the idea that what they themselves think may be wrong ...
Accept fault on their part ... Then the target of the conflict changes and opens doors to really learning something they might not have known.

So, I get your point ... But again, that is based on the approach to an idea ... And how to gather something of value from what you read.
It doesn't mean you blanket anything you read with automatic acceptance ...
Just that if you have a question, answer the question or accept that you haven't answered it by just believing it isn't true.

.​