Nature versus Nurture in education

[Anti-Racism]

Education is becoming the preferred method for diagnosing and attacking a wide range problems in American life. The No Child Left Behind Act is one prominent example. Another is the recent volley of articles that blame rising income inequality on the increasing economic premium for advanced education. Crime, drugs, extramarital births, unemployment—you name the problem, and I will show you a stack of claims that education is to blame, or at least implicated.

One word is missing from these discussions: intelligence. Hardly anyone will admit it, but education’s role in causing or solving any problem cannot be evaluated without considering the underlying intellectual ability of the people being educated. Today and over the next two days, I will put the case for three simple truths about the mediating role of intelligence that should bear on the way we think about education and the nation’s future.

Today’s simple truth: Half of all children are below average in intelligence. We do not live in Lake Wobegon.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009531

This strikes me as the essential fact of the modern time: we've become domesticated, and so have gotten dumber like pack animals. All our "education" and political propaganda cannot change our lack of ability in this regard.

[Nemo]

Other than having an opposable thumb, it is man’s ability to reason that distinguishes him from the rest of the animal kingdom.Â*Â*See Alfred Korzybski, Time-Binding: The General Theory First Paper (1924). It is a distinction that is sadly neglected.Â*Â*Indeed, one would think that man had but small brains for his constant efforts to effect his own extinction.

[Mayberry]

All the emphasis on "higher education" has caused a shift from practical learning to "college prep". No one takes Home Ec. or Auto Shop anymore, they're too worried about SATs. This lack of practical education is eroding away our real world problem solving skills. People nowadays do less and less for themselves, and have become dependent on having everything done for them. This leads to idle minds and a general diminishing of one's intelligence, in my humble opinion. I have never attended college, but I have a wealth of real world practical experience, and I am generally regarded as an intelligent person, even by college grads. My father-in-law is a dentist and former Air Force Officer, and he considers me very intelligent. It has been my experience that most non college educated people are just as, if not more intelligent than "higher educated" folks, due to the fact that they can do things for themselves that graduates can't. They've had to be creative and resourceful in their day to day lives, and have benefited from this by keeping themselves sharp.