10-12-2015, 11:23 AM
If I was ever put in charge of reforming our educational system, I'd give far greater weight to three things in the classroom:
1) Critical thinking -- perhaps best taught by analyzing ads and commercials (the deceptive wording, psychological games, etc.) -- though the corporate world would fight it tooth and nail for threatening consumerism.
2) Logical fallacies -- closely linked with the above, but making students fluent in identifying and naming the kinds of bullshit coming out of people's mouths. This could greatly shorten debates, as rebuttals could be simple fallacy names.
3) Problem solving -- learning how to break a problem down into its component parts, the better to solve it; and learning how to deal with failure.
The Martian does an excellent job with number three. Apollo 13 was also outstanding in this department. But I think The Martian sends a clearer message that, hey, even you could do this shit!
It's also highly inspirational, as you've noted. Hell, it's even gotten the Republicans saying, "Hey, NASA. Let's get serious about putting humans on Mars!"
Incredible. Who woulda thunk....
Obama's greatest legacy may be that he never pushed for putting humans on Mars. Had he done so, the Republicans would have been opposed to it to the ends of time. Now there is hope.
1) Critical thinking -- perhaps best taught by analyzing ads and commercials (the deceptive wording, psychological games, etc.) -- though the corporate world would fight it tooth and nail for threatening consumerism.
2) Logical fallacies -- closely linked with the above, but making students fluent in identifying and naming the kinds of bullshit coming out of people's mouths. This could greatly shorten debates, as rebuttals could be simple fallacy names.
3) Problem solving -- learning how to break a problem down into its component parts, the better to solve it; and learning how to deal with failure.
The Martian does an excellent job with number three. Apollo 13 was also outstanding in this department. But I think The Martian sends a clearer message that, hey, even you could do this shit!
It's also highly inspirational, as you've noted. Hell, it's even gotten the Republicans saying, "Hey, NASA. Let's get serious about putting humans on Mars!"
Incredible. Who woulda thunk....
Obama's greatest legacy may be that he never pushed for putting humans on Mars. Had he done so, the Republicans would have been opposed to it to the ends of time. Now there is hope.