Scientific Literacy? You Probably Won't Beat Me

[caroljane]

I am sorry, excuse my levity. Probably I should engrave that on top of all my posts. I know who Rose Wilder Lane is, and I know Laura Ingalls Wilder only from "Little House" reruns on TV. That is the sum total of my knowledge, I made the connection of names for purely comic effect. I take it that you are serious and they are related.

Ah. Yeah, Rose was the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder. I thought that you knew that, and that you were suggesting that maybe Rose was the love child of Almanzo and Nellie Oleson, or of Laura and Reverend Alden or something. Or maybe some kind of wicked three-way with Mr. Edwards.

J

No, I didn't know it but I love knowing it now. Ayn Rand's Plato was Michael Landon's dreamdaughter!

I love OL.

[caroljane]

Incidentally Jonathan, did you get forcefed much Sinclair Lewis in school? He's unfashionable now but I love him. Main Street and b Babbitt are perennial re-reads for me. Full disclosure, those novels contain all the actual facts I know about Minnesota, outside of Rose and the Wild as elsewhere referenced.Hey, was the naming of the team a nod to Wilder?

[Ellen Stuttle]

I don't think that you're quite grasping my level of suckage at math. I didn't do any math. I came up with 2 meters per second squared because I guessed. It's really not an issue of not being able to imagine the physics. I can visually imagine the spatial/mechanical reasoning just fine. What I can't do is attach math to it.

At least you guessed in the right direction...or do you maybe not know the definition of a "Newton" and just guessed 2 because of 200 grams in the problem?

When you start typing a message, is there a little arrow pointing to the left in a tiny box at the top right in the message field's frame? If so, click it and a toolbar should appear at the top of the frame. If not, then you're probably right that it's the age of the browser, and time to download an upgrade if you can.

No little arrow bar. Both the Safari and the Firefox need upgrades, but this computer is about to be replaced and there are more pressing chores to tend to than upgrading it. Come the New Year.

Thanks for the info.

Ellen

[Brant Gaede]

Composing good tests in general is something that interests me. As a teacher, I've taken a lot of time designing them to cover the waterfront or be comprehensive as well as being fair. (I should probably post a few of them - from history, literature, language, etc. - for the simple enjoyment of having Brant, ND, Ellen, and Jonathan crap all over them? Nah. )

Lest we forget how good Phil is at writing unambiguous word problems:

http://www.objectivi...ndpost&p=105389

Note, carefully, the edit stamps. The original question did not specify “open-topped”. Merlin and I immediately answered the original question correctly, only to be harangued by Phil that the problem was just too difficult for us, or for anyone on OL. That is except, of course, for Phil.

Now that edit stamps are optional I suggest quoting Phil’s posts before answering him, since now he can cover his tracks much better. Owning up to mistakes isn’t characteristic behavior for him. Compare to here, when I was recently unhorsed by MSK. No big deal, I was wrong, he proved it, I acknowledged it. How would Phil have handled that? Unless you’re a newbie, you already know.

Read what Phil posts there and be reminded of his insufferable sense of superiority. Is this common with teachers?

--Brant

[Ellen Stuttle]

[J to Phil] I'd be very interested in seeing test questions that you've designed, or anything else that's within your area of actual professional experience or expertise. Post them, and I for one will promise not to "crap all over them."

Dangerous promise.

Ellen

[caroljane]

Composing good tests in general is something that interests me. As a teacher, I've taken a lot of time designing them to cover the waterfront or be comprehensive as well as being fair. (I should probably post a few of them - from history, literature, language, etc. - for the simple enjoyment of having Brant, ND, Ellen, and Jonathan crap all over them? Nah. )

Lest we forget how good Phil is at writing unambiguous word problems:

http://www.objectivi...ndpost&p=105389

Note, carefully, the edit stamps. The original question did not specify “open-topped”. Merlin and I immediately answered the original question correctly, only to be harangued by Phil that the problem was just too difficult for us, or for anyone on OL. That is except, of course, for Phil.

Now that edit stamps are optional I suggest quoting Phil’s posts before answering him, since now he can cover his tracks much better. Owning up to mistakes isn’t characteristic behavior for him. Compare to here, when I was recently unhorsed by MSK. No big deal, I was wrong, he proved it, I acknowledged it. How would Phil have handled that? Unless you’re a newbie, you already know.

Read what Phil posts there and be reminded of his insufferable sense of superiority. Is this common with teachers?

--Brant

Composing good tests in general is something that interests me. As a teacher, I've taken a lot of time designing them to cover the waterfront or be comprehensive as well as being fair. (I should probably post a few of them - from history, literature, language, etc. - for the simple enjoyment of having Brant, ND, Ellen, and Jonathan crap all over them? Nah. )

Lest we forget how good Phil is at writing unambiguous word problems:

http://www.objectivi...ndpost&p=105389

Note, carefully, the edit stamps. The original question did not specify “open-topped”. Merlin and I immediately answered the original question correctly, only to be harangued by Phil that the problem was just too difficult for us, or for anyone on OL. That is except, of course, for Phil.

Now that edit stamps are optional I suggest quoting Phil’s posts before answering him, since now he can cover his tracks much better. Owning up to mistakes isn’t characteristic behavior for him. Compare to here, when I was recently unhorsed by MSK. No big deal, I was wrong, he proved it, I acknowledged it. How would Phil have handled that? Unless you’re a newbie, you already know.

Read what Phil posts there and be reminded of his insufferable sense of superiority. Is this common with teachers?

--Brant

Yes, of course. After all, we are superior.

[Selene]

Mother Superior?

[caroljane]

Mother Superior?

Whistler's Mother Superior!

[George H. Smith]

As Rand might have said, I have not taken this test, nor do I intend to. If I were to take the test. I know with contextual certainty that I would score higher than Phil did, for I am more intelligent than he is. My Roark-like confidence, however, precludes the need to prove my superiority. Ghs

But not your need to mention it. George, George! Take the test, please. Don't tell anybody at all the score, escept me (I know what it would be anyway) and keep pretending you never took it, and I'll never tell anybody.

I scored 58 out of 50, so I am definitely smarter than anyone else on OL.

Ghs

[Philip Coates]

> I scored 58 out of 50, so I am definitely smarter than anyone else on OL.

Was that on the math portion?????

[George H. Smith]

> I scored 58 out of 50, so I am definitely smarter than anyone else on OL. Was that on the math portion?????

Technically, I scored 37 out of 50. I awarded myself 21 bonus points, however, because of the aggravation caused by the questions on chemistry, most of which I got wrong. They reminded me of a miserable chemistry class I had in high school, one taught by one of the worst teachers I have ever had on any level. I ended up cutting over half of those classes. The boredom was more than I could endure, so I stayed home and practiced the saxophone instead.

Shortly after that class ended, the teacher moved from Tucson to California. A few months later we learned he had killed himself with a bullet to the head. (Seriously.) That was quite possibly the most interesting thing that teacher ever did in his life. If he had only killed himself a year earlier, I might not have ended up hating chemistry.

Ghs

[Selene]

> I scored 58 out of 50, so I am definitely smarter than anyone else on OL. Was that on the math portion?????

Technically, I scored 37 out of 50. I awarded myself 21 bonus points, however, because of the aggravation caused by the questions on chemistry, most of which I got wrong. They reminded me of a miserable chemistry class I had in high school, one taught by one of the worst teachers I have ever had on any level. I ended up cutting over half of those classes. The boredom was more than I could endure, so I stayed home and practiced the saxophone instead.

Shortly after that class ended, the teacher moved from Tucson to California. A few months later we learned he had killed himself with a bullet to the head. (Seriously.) That was quite possibly the most interesting thing that teacher ever did in his life. If he had only killed himself a year earlier, I might not have ended up hating chemistry.

Ghs

George:

Maybe he was transfering to teaching physics and screwed up the equal and opposite reaction part of the experiment.

Adam

[George H. Smith]

> I scored 58 out of 50, so I am definitely smarter than anyone else on OL. Was that on the math portion?????

Technically, I scored 37 out of 50. I awarded myself 21 bonus points, however, because of the aggravation caused by the questions on chemistry, most of which I got wrong. They reminded me of a miserable chemistry class I had in high school, one taught by one of the worst teachers I have ever had on any level. I ended up cutting over half of those classes. The boredom was more than I could endure, so I stayed home and practiced the saxophone instead. Shortly after that class ended, the teacher moved from Tucson to California. A few months later we learned he had killed himself with a bullet to the head. (Seriously.) That was quite possibly the most interesting thing that teacher ever did in his life. If he had only killed himself a year earlier, I might not have ended up hating chemistry. Ghs

George: Maybe he was transfering to teaching physics and screwed up the equal and opposite reaction part of the experiment. Adam

The teacher, who was probably around 30, was actually a nice guy but totally incompetent as a teacher. I think he knew this, for the following reason:

On the last day of the semester, he told the students to put our names on a piece of paper and then award ourselves the grade we thought we deserved. He assured us that this is the grade we would receive. Now, having missed over 50 percent of the classes, I never did very well on exams; in fact, I never even took a bunch of them. But I gave myself an "A" anyway, and, sure enough, I got an "A" for the class.

Science classes can be difficult to teach on a high school level, even for good teachers, but when a chemistry teacher is so clinically depressed as to be seriously suicidal -- well, the results are not pretty.

Ghs

[Jonathan]

At least you guessed in the right direction...or do you maybe not know the definition of a "Newton" and just guessed 2 because of 200 grams in the problem?

No, I know what a Newton is, and I had narrowed my guess down to the first two options before settling on the second.

J

[Selene]

On the last day of the semester, he told the students to put our names on a piece of paper and then award ourselves the grade we thought we deserved. He assured us that this is the grade we would receive. Now, having missed over 50 percent of the classes, I never did very well on exams; in fact, I never even took a bunch of them. But I gave myself an "A" anyway, and, sure enough, I got an "A" for the class.

Ghs

George:

Self grading, not an easy task, I wonder if anyone else has had the experience?

In my senior year at college, I was taking a course with the Department Chairman who offered myself and two (2) other political science, speech and philosophy majors teaching fellowships at the end of that final year.

In the course I was taking with him, he announced that it would also be self graded which was quite radical in 1965! It was the most difficult task I ever had had to deal with, up to that time, in terms of school.

The Randian philosophical gestalt was the most difficult aspect of grading myself.

You at least did not have to be concerned about what your teacher thought about you, lol.

I completely respected mine. He had come out of Missouri politics and was a speechwriter for both Truman and Adlai Stevenson. In 1956, he was on the podium with Stevenson when he accepted the nomination for the second time.

The interesting aspect about him was that he never condemned Rand, but engaged in thoughtful debate about her ideas. He was an excellent model for intelligent discourse, or, rhetoric, in the classical definition.

You brought back some fond memories, thanks.

Adam

[caroljane]

On the last day of the semester, he told the students to put our names on a piece of paper and then award ourselves the grade we thought we deserved. He assured us that this is the grade we would receive. Now, having missed over 50 percent of the classes, I never did very well on exams; in fact, I never even took a bunch of them. But I gave myself an "A" anyway, and, sure enough, I got an "A" for the class.

Ghs

George:

Self grading, not an easy task, I wonder if anyone else has had the experience?

In my senior year at college, I was taking a course with the Department Chairman who offered myself and two (2) other political science, speech and philosophy majors teaching fellowships at the end of that final year.

In the course I was taking with him, he announced that it would also be self graded which was quite radical in 1965! It was the most difficult task I ever had had to deal with, up to that time, in terms of school.

The Randian philosophical gestalt was the most difficult aspect of grading myself.

You at least did not have to be concerned about what your teacher thought about you, lol.

I completely respected mine. He had come out of Missouri politics and was a speechwriter for both Truman and Adlai Stevenson. In 1956, he was on the podium with Stevenson when he accepted the nomination for the second time.

The interesting aspect about him was that he never condemned Rand, but engaged in thoughtful debate about her ideas. He was an excellent model for intelligent discourse, or, rhetoric, in the classical definition.

You brought back some fond memories, thanks.

Adam

I never got to self grade. I did get to grade my schoolmates in high school though. I was the vice-principal's pet and he asked me to mark English essays, because doing it himself was bad for his blood pressure.

A dubious bonus was that I also got to look up the IQ scores of our class, which were in his desk drawer where of course I snooped.(I don't know why but the test scores were not given to us or our parents and kept confidential, but obviously not strictly). At age 17 I learned what I had been suspecting, that I was not one of the smartest people in the world, and was not even as smart as my academic rival, Candy Jane Littlejohn (her real name -- yes, Candy Jane and Carol Jane. What an adorable pair we were.) No longer could I fondly believe she got higher marks than me just because she actually studied.

[George H. Smith]

I recall that Phil solicited other quizzes. Well, a few months ago I found this quiz in an old Wordstar file, one that I wrote in 1991, shortly after William Kennedy Smith had been acquitted on rape charges. The creep was obviously guilty as hell, but he was a Kennedy, so never mind. I don't think I have ever shared this quiz -- if "shared" is the appropriate word here -- outside the circle of a few friends, so this is a first.

If you are disgusted by a truly disgusting quiz, then don't read this.

THE "I WANNA BE A WILLIE" QUIZ

[Ghs, 1991]

Thousands of women desire William Kennedy Smith. They are captivated by his unique blend of boyish innocence, sexual prowess, sensitivity, and commitment to safe sex.

Every man wants to be a Willie. Maybe you already are. Take this quiz and find out how you rate on the Willie scale. Answer each question like you think Willie would. Then grade yourself using the correct answers at the end of the quiz and see where you fall on the Willie scale.

1-4 correct answers -- You need some work.

5-6 correct answers -- You're almost a Kennedy.

7 correct answers -- Congratulations! You're a real Willie.

QUESTIONS

1. During intercourse your date changes her mind and tells you to stop. You should:

a) Speed up and come real fast.

b) Pretend you don't hear her.

c) Wink.

2. Your date has passed out. Under what condition can you have sex with her?

a) If you make a good faith effort to revive her first.

b) If you're so neat she'll never find out.

c) If she is on your property.

3. Your date becomes upset when you call her by the wrong name during sex. You should:

a) Ask if you can talk about it later.

b) Give a long apology while you continue to fuck her.

c) Ask for her correct name.

4. After a long and sensual round of fellatio, your date looks up at you affectionately. What should you say?

a) "Love those protein milkshakes, eh babe?"

b) "Yum-yum, eh babe?"

c) "Good load, eh babe?"

5. Your date is willing to perform fellatio, but doesn't want you to ejaculate in her mouth. You should:

a) Offer to wear a condom if she will let you come in her mouth.

b) Before you come, give her a warning of one full second, more or less.

c) Come in her mouth anyway and say she was so good that you lost control.

6. During anal sex, you notice that your date looks extremely uncomfortable. You should:

a) Close your eyes.

b) Hum a few rounds of "I've been workin' on the railroad."

c) Slap her ass and say, "Now it's my turn, bitch."

7. During anal sex, what should you always wear?

a) A watch.

b) Socks.

c) A smile.

ANSWERS: 1©, 2©, 3(a), 4(b), 5(b), 6(a), 7©.

Ghs

[Brant Gaede]

WKS skied into a tree, just like Sonny Bono, and was killed.

--Brant

the other Kennedy creep lived a lot longer

correction: Michael L. Kennedy, another creep, skied into a tree a week before poor Bono

[George H. Smith]

On the last day of the semester, he told the students to put our names on a piece of paper and then award ourselves the grade we thought we deserved. He assured us that this is the grade we would receive. Now, having missed over 50 percent of the classes, I never did very well on exams; in fact, I never even took a bunch of them. But I gave myself an "A" anyway, and, sure enough, I got an "A" for the class. Ghs

George: Self grading, not an easy task, I wonder if anyone else has had the experience? In my senior year at college, I was taking a course with the Department Chairman who offered myself and two (2) other political science, speech and philosophy majors teaching fellowships at the end of that final year. In the course I was taking with him, he announced that it would also be self graded which was quite radical in 1965! It was the most difficult task I ever had had to deal with, up to that time, in terms of school. The Randian philosophical gestalt was the most difficult aspect of grading myself. You at least did not have to be concerned about what your teacher thought about you, lol. I completely respected mine. He had come out of Missouri politics and was a speechwriter for both Truman and Adlai Stevenson. In 1956, he was on the podium with Stevenson when he accepted the nomination for the second time. The interesting aspect about him was that he never condemned Rand, but engaged in thoughtful debate about her ideas. He was an excellent model for intelligent discourse, or, rhetoric, in the classical definition. You brought back some fond memories, thanks. Adam

I never got to self grade. I did get to grade my schoolmates in high school though. I was the vice-principal's pet and he asked me to mark English essays, because doing it himself was bad for his blood pressure. A dubious bonus was that I also got to look up the IQ scores of our class, which were in his desk drawer where of course I snooped.(I don't know why but the test scores were not given to us or our parents and kept confidential, but obviously not strictly). At age 17 I learned what I had been suspecting, that I was not one of the smartest people in the world, and was not even as smart as my academic rival, Candy Jane Littlejohn (her real name -- yes, Candy Jane and Carol Jane. What an adorable pair we were.) No longer could I fondly believe she got higher marks than me just because she actually studied.

By the time I self-graded in that chemistry class, I was so jaded about school that I didn't give a shit about fairness or accuracy. I dropped out of high school a few months later, after I received a notice, during an English class, from the "Dean of Boys" to report to his office. The "Dean of Boys" was actually the wrestling coach at Rincon High School -- the guy whose knuckles almost scraped the ground when he walked -- who needed a full-time time job to justify his existence.

By the time the wrestling coach/dean and I had our pow-wow, I was truant at least 50 percent of the time. (I would show up for band practice every day, however, because that was actually important to me.) The wrestling coach/dean decided to get tough with me. Although it was generally known, via rumor, that I was dealing with a single parent -- a severely alcoholic mother and the need to work as a dishwasher 12 hours on Saturdays and Sundays just to feed myself -- he decided to play tough. Despite my poor attendance record, I managed to maintain an A-minus average, but that didn't matter. He solemnly informed me that I didn't qualify as a full-time student, so Rincon High did not receive the requisite federal funds. I therefore had three choices: I could attend frequently enough to qualify as a full-time student, I could hire a tutor, or I could quit.

A great way to motivate a troubled student, as if I would care about federal funding. I immediately replied, "Okay, I quit," and I walked out. The rest, as they say, is history.

Ghs

[Brant Gaede]

Sic transit gloria!

--Brant

[Selene]

Emily Dickinson used the line in a whimsical valentine written to William Howland in 1852 and subsequently published in the Springfield Daily Republican:^[7]

Sic transit gloria mundi

How doth the busy bee,

Dum vivimus vivamus,

I stay my enemy!

This parodied her education by its use of stock phrases and morals.^[8]

[George H. Smith]

A coda to my dropping-out-of-school story....

When I came home early, after that fateful encounter with the dean/wrestling coach, and told my mother -- still garbed in her filthy robe at 1 p.m., and with a jug of Gallo wine by her side -- that I had quit school, she (a former RN) became convinced that I had serious psychological problems. My mother subsequently insisted that I seek psychological counseling. She set up an appointment with some female psychologist. I resisted at first, but finally agreed. After a twenty-minute session with the lady, we left her office so she could talk to my mother.

I have never forgotten, nor will I ever forget, what that woman said to my mother -- and I quote exactly: "Mrs. Smith, there is nothing wrong with George. He just hates school."

If that woman is still alive, I hereby offer my eternal thanks.

Ghs

[Brant Gaede]

"Nothing wrong with George?" Yeah, right.

--Brant

[Philip Coates]

> I recall that Phil solicited other quizzes..this quiz... that I wrote in 1991, shortly after William Kennedy Smith had been acquitted on rape charges. . .

GHS, I appreciate your creativity, but I'm not entirely sure that was what I had in mind.

[caroljane]

> I recall that Phil solicited other quizzes..this quiz... that I wrote in 1991, shortly after William Kennedy Smith had been acquitted on rape charges. . .

GHS, I appreciate your creativity, but I'm not entirely sure that was what I had in mind.

At least he did not post it in video form.

Thankful for small mercies,

Carol