----- Original Message -----
Sent: July 25, 2000 11:02 AM
Subject: FW: L.A. Times column, 7/17/00
-- Sci-Tech Literacy
To add to the are we
or are we not 'better educated' these days.
Arthur
Cordell
As the one who touched off this debate. I would agree with
much of what Chapman writes, especially these two paragraphs:
Improving education is the most common knee-jerk plan of action for
perceived deficits in American understanding and knowledge, especially in math
and science. No doubt there is vast room for improvement in U.S. education.
But as political philosopher Benjamin Barber of Rutgers University has pointed
out, young people tend to learn what society teaches them to value.
The simple truth is that deep study of science, math, history, literature,
art or familiarity with current events cannot compete with celebrity gossip
and scandals, large calamities, TV and video games, voyeurism, consumerism,
instant fortunes, advertising and popular but ephemeral fascinations.
Although he quotes some writers who presume the situation is
worsening, it's not clear that the average American (and Canadian) citizen is
any more ill-informed or intellectually incompetent than their grandparents
half a century ago.
"After a steady series of breakthroughs in information technology," wrote
David Shenk in his 1997 book "Data Smog," "we are left with a citizenry that
is certainly no more interested or capable of supporting a healthy
representative democracy than it was 50 years ago, and may well be less
capable."
