Readin’, Ritin’, ‘n Rithmetic

(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

How many of these questions can you answer without googling?

• Through which waters would a vessel pass in going from England through the Suez Canal to Manila?

• How does the liver compare in size with other glands in the human body?

• How long of a rope is required to reach from the top of a building 40 feet high to the ground 30 feet from the base of a building?

• Compare arteries and veins as to function. Where is the blood carried to be purified?

• During which wars were the following battles fought: Brandywine, Great Meadows, Lundy’s Lane, Antietam, Buena Vista?

Eighth Grade Exam From 1912 Shows How Dumbed Down America Has Become

Have you ever seen the movie “Idiocracy”?  It is a movie about an “average American” that wakes up 500 years in the future only to discover that he is the most intelligent person by far in the “dumbed down” society that is surrounding him.  Unfortunately, that film is a very accurate metaphor for what has happened to American society today.  We have become so “dumbed down” that we don’t even realize what has happened to us.  But once in a while something comes along that reminds us of how far we have fallen.

In Kentucky, an eighth grade exam from 1912 was recently donated to the Bullitt County History Museum.

3 comments

    • on 12/16/2013 at 12:59
      Author

    Runs and hides.

    • on 12/18/2013 at 02:01

    if they just taught critical thinking skills in the schools, rather than teaching the kids how to respond in a rote manner to the current testing requirements.

    And oh, by the way, it would also be great if they taught the students some statistics (and what statistics actually mean), the Constitution (including the Bill of Rights), evolutionary biology, how to write meaningfully and critically, and……and…….and……

    Oh, well, what can I say?  They are producing unthinking workers and consumers.  Which is probably what they intended in the first place.      🙁

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