Sunday, March 14, 2010
Fall back, fall back
Time to do the stupid daylight dance again. We continue to play this game every year, even though its original purpose is long gone. DST made a bit of sense in the '40s and '50s when most people worked standard shifts, and when most electricity went into light bulbs. Now it makes no sense at all, and records indicate that it actually uses more energy, not less. Nevertheless, Sultan Bush decided to expand its reach for no reason at all; possibly he believes that the sun actually changes its schedule when we turn the clocks, and he wanted to exert power over the sun.
= = = = =
C-Span did an interesting interview yesterday with Michael Cohen, head of educational think tank 'Achieve'. Cohen likes the new English and Math standards, agreeing entirely with Polistra. Cohen also said one thing that should be true but sadly isn't.
In discussing the implementation of new standards via textbooks, he said "Every state updates its textbooks on a regular cycle. You wouldn't want, for instance, 20-year-old science textbooks. You'd miss half of what we've learned in that period."
This seems intuitively right, in the same way that DST seems intuitively right. You assume that moving forward in time is 'progress'. Textbooks, like clocks, should be set forward to reflect that 'progress'. And like DST, this statement would have been valid in earlier times. Unfortunately it specifically fails for the last 20 years. Science has done a lot of stuff in those years, but very little of it was progress, and much of it is simply criminal.
Physics? Yeah, lots of new particles "discovered" and "understood", but quantum theory is a sidetrack that we should never have taken. The farther we travel on this road, the deeper we get into the jungle of contradictions and nonsense. Basic rule of logic: If you're exploring a path that leads to contradictions, the path is false. Time to start over with waves, start from de Broglie. And if you're knowingly exploring a path that leads to a real chance of destroying the entire Universe, you should be executed.
Chemistry? At least chemistry is not on a guaranteed false path, but not much happening.
Geology? Nothing that I can think of.
Economics? Basic rule of logic again. Economists led us to Alan Greenspan and Hank Paulson. Nuff said.
Medicine? Okay if you think Viagra is progress. Cancer cure rates haven't improved significantly for 50 years.
Climate? Pure crime. Falsified data processed with atrocious logic and intentionally corrupt math. This could be a tremendous learning experience for students if presented as a horrible negative example ("Here's what happens when Science serves evil ends") but that ain't gonna happen.
Biology? Here's the real tragedy. There has been tremendous positive progress in genetics and in taxonomy and evolution. But the progress in genetics will not be featured in American textbooks, because it leads inexorably to the truth that people are different. American educators are forbidden to get anywhere near that truth. And the progress in evolution is very quickly tearing down the whole edifice of Darwin, leading inexorably to the truth that life has a purpose. And this truth is explicitly forbidden. Any teaching that refers to possible weakness in the Gospel of Atheism shall be struck down by the Unholy Lightning Bolts of Lord Michael Newdow.
Thus, we'd be marginally better off with 1980 textbooks. They'd miss a few interesting details, but at least they wouldn't be metastasized by the all-consuming cancer of Global Warming.
Time to do the stupid daylight dance again. We continue to play this game every year, even though its original purpose is long gone. DST made a bit of sense in the '40s and '50s when most people worked standard shifts, and when most electricity went into light bulbs. Now it makes no sense at all, and records indicate that it actually uses more energy, not less. Nevertheless, Sultan Bush decided to expand its reach for no reason at all; possibly he believes that the sun actually changes its schedule when we turn the clocks, and he wanted to exert power over the sun.
= = = = =
C-Span did an interesting interview yesterday with Michael Cohen, head of educational think tank 'Achieve'. Cohen likes the new English and Math standards, agreeing entirely with Polistra. Cohen also said one thing that should be true but sadly isn't.
In discussing the implementation of new standards via textbooks, he said "Every state updates its textbooks on a regular cycle. You wouldn't want, for instance, 20-year-old science textbooks. You'd miss half of what we've learned in that period."
This seems intuitively right, in the same way that DST seems intuitively right. You assume that moving forward in time is 'progress'. Textbooks, like clocks, should be set forward to reflect that 'progress'. And like DST, this statement would have been valid in earlier times. Unfortunately it specifically fails for the last 20 years. Science has done a lot of stuff in those years, but very little of it was progress, and much of it is simply criminal.
Physics? Yeah, lots of new particles "discovered" and "understood", but quantum theory is a sidetrack that we should never have taken. The farther we travel on this road, the deeper we get into the jungle of contradictions and nonsense. Basic rule of logic: If you're exploring a path that leads to contradictions, the path is false. Time to start over with waves, start from de Broglie. And if you're knowingly exploring a path that leads to a real chance of destroying the entire Universe, you should be executed.
Chemistry? At least chemistry is not on a guaranteed false path, but not much happening.
Geology? Nothing that I can think of.
Economics? Basic rule of logic again. Economists led us to Alan Greenspan and Hank Paulson. Nuff said.
Medicine? Okay if you think Viagra is progress. Cancer cure rates haven't improved significantly for 50 years.
Climate? Pure crime. Falsified data processed with atrocious logic and intentionally corrupt math. This could be a tremendous learning experience for students if presented as a horrible negative example ("Here's what happens when Science serves evil ends") but that ain't gonna happen.
Biology? Here's the real tragedy. There has been tremendous positive progress in genetics and in taxonomy and evolution. But the progress in genetics will not be featured in American textbooks, because it leads inexorably to the truth that people are different. American educators are forbidden to get anywhere near that truth. And the progress in evolution is very quickly tearing down the whole edifice of Darwin, leading inexorably to the truth that life has a purpose. And this truth is explicitly forbidden. Any teaching that refers to possible weakness in the Gospel of Atheism shall be struck down by the Unholy Lightning Bolts of Lord Michael Newdow.
Thus, we'd be marginally better off with 1980 textbooks. They'd miss a few interesting details, but at least they wouldn't be metastasized by the all-consuming cancer of Global Warming.
Labels: Grand Blueprint
¶ 7:19 AM
