I figure that as interesting as things are shaping up in science in recent time, that why not have something nerdy like this to point out neat happenings, and/or explain what's going on in the world? That being said...
It's been a rather interesting week, and probably will continue the trend, as we have the
Perseid meteor shower on the horizon, and we've just (successfully) landed a
rover on Mars. Though it's ironic that most people would have no idea that we landed a rover on Mars if not for facebook. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, but then again, such cool happenings have stiff competition right now, as we have the London Summer games going on..
Be that as it may, how do you feel about the fact that such an accomplishment is almost relegated to the back burner? There was a time and place where schools would effectively shut down so that they could watch moon landings, or even to simply see a space shuttle take off. Every kid knew what NASA was, and most of them would dream of being weightless in space, eating astronaut ice cream.
I guess it bugs me on a personal level to see things like the discovery of the
Higgs-Boson Particle go for the most part unnoticed with exception to some random internet Meme. Most don't know that it has anything to do with the
LHC, or even have any idea of what the LHC actually is. Perhaps we're starting to hit such an information overload that we don't notice the big things anymore. Thoughts?
JWJacobs
Curmudgeon warning!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, when I was in school (back when we landed on the moon and all that - my heroes were all astronauts), children had an attention span of more than 10 seconds. Today, *adults* don't have attention spans of 10 seconds - forget the kids.
To understand science requires a willingness to focus on cause and effect (even simple ones) and to exercise some creative thinking. We are lacking in that as well.
The Olympics, which I love, are like most sports - Spectacles of color and motion and excited talking by the commentators, during which - if you turn the sound up loud enough - you can get to the fridge for a snack and never miss the "blah, blah, blah" in the background. A dive lasts 1.5 seconds. A sprint might last a minute - three if it's a long one. Again, it's microbites for the brain. (Winter Olympics events tend to take longer!).
TV in all its forms is largely just a time filler around Facebook, texting on the cell, playing games and doing nothing in particular. (I'm an expert at the nothing in particular part!).
Sadly, it's not "cool" anymore for kids to be brainy, to enjoy school and go out of their way to learn things. I'm making blanket statements - of course there are a few, but they are very few - and we are, as a country, noncompetitive with other countries, sometimes even 3rd world countries, when it comes to our young people and education.
I think we need to turn it around. Make Geek the new "cool" - and start promoting more competition for the brains and not just the muscles.
I appreciate your insight on this! I know that one thing that I strive for is for my kids to find knowledge fun.
ReplyDeleteMy seven year old's favorite show to watch is Mythbusters. She doesn't get to watch much, but what she does watch generally approaches things from a creative aspect. I've gotta hope that she follows that thought process as she gets older!