Modern Electronics (was Re: List charter mods & headcount... ;

From: David V. Corbin <dvcorbin_at_optonline.net>
Date: Sun Jun 20 17:32:43 2004

> That's what most people don't realize school is all about. It's not
> about learning a subject matter, it's learning how to THINK properly
> (a skill

> What planet are you on? Schools, at least in the UK, are there to stop
people thinking. If you think -- if you challenge (politely, I may add) the
teacher,
> if you start asking relevant >>> questions, then you are a 'troublemaker'
and will be expelled or worse.

Thinking Fahrenheit 451, Pink Floyd "The Wall", and many other
references....
===========

>Does it matter that some knowledge is lost as generations go on?

I think it does matter. Thinking "Those who forget the past are doomed to
repeat it". There were many "errors" made during the development phase of
each earlier generation technology. People learned from these mistakes and
finally made a workable technology for their generation. If the information
is truly lost, then time/effort/etc will again be wasted. In some case this
waste may incude enough overhead to cause perfectly good ideas to be
abandoned just before "the breakthrough".

I am remembering a book I read many years ago [can't place the title or
author right now, but it may have been a "short" by Isaac Asimov]. The basic
premise was:

1) Information was being lost, so a special class of people were set up to
be caretakers [it was a high honor]
2) Time passed, knowledge grew, the caretakers grew, until there were more
caretakers and "regular" people.
3) Civilization began to depend totally on the caretakers, who specialized
in "old" knowledge.
4) Civilization became stagnant

Alas, perhaps it is necessary for information to become lost.......

[Not even pretending to know the answer to this one]
Received on Sun Jun 20 2004 - 17:32:43 BST