Smarter???

[talentedbutslow]

When I was young....my Dad told me.....son....every generation is smarter than the one before it.......
I have yet to see any evidence of this......when kids need a calculator for simple arithmetic and have problems spelling at most times.......
When do you think my Dad,s predictions will come true ?

[chav1]

the only reason we used calculators at school when i was a kid was to type certain combinations of numbers to spell words when you turn the calculator upside down

55378008

58008618

71077345


whos betting some halfwit cant find a calculator and decides to use the one built into windows and either stands on their head or turns the monitor upside down

[mantrabooks]

Once upon a time when arithmetic made you smart the definition of smart was calculating large sequence of numbers in your head. Now that we have the computer we don't need to calculate large numbers in our heads or to spell anything as the computer does this for us. I realize at times without the computer at hand we could look rather supid? But this is the computer generation of smarter kids, therefore, is it not evidence of being smarter as the computer does it all for us.


..

[West Ender]

My daughter has just applied for a Civil Service job.

I joined the Civil Service in 1960. I had to have a minimum of 5 "O" levels and I also had to pass the Civil Service Open Clerical Exam, in 5 subjects - I took English, Maths, French, Latin and History (the Latin has proved so useful). I still have my results notification and I came 495th out of 2648 entries - I'm still quite proud of that.

My daughter had to take a Literacy and Numeracy Test - with a calculator - which she passed with 100% as it was about first year Grammar School level (she has 9 GCSEs). She has been offered a job at the same grade in which I started. To me that shows how things, in Government service at least, have been "dumbed down".

Of course, computers have made mathematical skills redundant. I work for the Inland Revenue, now H M Revenue and Customs, and when I first started we used to work out assessments on paper - lots of complicated allowances, including the dreadful Earned Income Relief (2/9ths of the earned income after deduction of certain expenses/concessions) and varied rates of tax to be worked out. Now what do they do? They press a button and it's all done for them. You don't even need to be able to add up, these days.

Kids today are probably more street-wise than my generation was but smarter? Nah!

[KIPAX]

Originally Posted by talentedbutslow

When I was young....my Dad told me.....son....every generation is smarter than the one before it.......

Not only is he right... and theres lots of evidence.... but wasn't he complimenting you on being smarter than him by saying that?

[WillowTheWhisp]

There are some who are certainly smarter but there are also a heck of a lot of dumber ones too. It's probably equal in every generation. Our overall knowledge may increase as we discover more things but I don't think human intelligence as a whole does.

[pendy]

If kids are smarter, why are 'A' levels being dumbed down (and they are, believe me). When I took my As, I had to do two three hour papers for each, and they were difficult. Now it seems to be mostly "course work".

Lack of maths skills and literacy skills are down to poor teaching - not always the fault of the teacher, as they have to spend a lot of time dealing with appalling kids. When I was a school governor we had to permanently exclude a 5 year old because of his violent behaviour. His mother said "I can't do anything with him". I thought if I had him for a fortnight, I certainly would do something with him - but it's going to get worse if you can't even slap a naughty child.

Smarter? - I don't know, but worse educated I certainly believe.

[Madhatter]

Right, if thats true, how was stone henge built? even now building that thing with those humungous great pieces of stone having to brought to the would be an amazing feet of engineering. Now we cast concrete.

The pyramids, they are spot on, in every direction, and point exactly at a star. The stones are HUGE, The pyramids are HUGE, they're also in dessert, how the heck do you get such huge pieces of stone to the top of a huge pyramid in the middle of a sand dessert, to be perfectly square, to the mm, and point exactly at a star.
How did they measure the stone, get it to the site, line it up, I mean the size of the things, and its square, it's not as if you can say oh just tap it over a nats cock that way, is it.
There are other examples all over the world.

Even williamsons tunnels in liverpool. Those men built houses underground, great halls, with interconnecting tunnels all over a huge area of the city. When the cutting was made for the railway into lime street, it cut straight through the tunnels, williamsons men were there to shake hands with the shocked workers. looking at those tunnels, it's mind boggling how such a thing could have even been built yet alone the craftsman ship used at that time.

Then in london they build a concrete monstosity that collapses, yes thats really clever. (ronan point. 1968) years after a williamson built houses underground.

we have computers, and we get computers to do almost everything, but is designing a computer program to do something as clever or more so than designing something to get it done without?

The car engine another example, think how difficult it would have been to build, getting the parts would be difficult enough, no electronic cnc lathes, cad etc, yet it was made, it wa manual, and it was pretty reliable considering whats available now. comparing what they have now, we shouldnt need the AA, it should never break down.

I think the human brain is dying, we are dependant on gadgets to do things for us, take those gadgets away and we'd all be up the creek.

As for the calculator, google search is one. type 12x12 in google and it gives you 144

[Debbie J]

I do think kids today question things more than we used to. My mum always believed everything she read in a newspaper, where as I question it. My 8 year old asked why we can hear and feel the wind but we can't see it, while I never even thought of asking!
As for calclators computers e.t.c? If it's there use it.

[Madhatter]

you can't hear the wind. Only the noise of the wind on things, your ear, the rustle of leaves, the whistles.

[cashman]

dont know what they teach at schools these days? but if they still teach history,geography etc, i find that most are dumber.