That’s total BS, in my experience. My kids and all of their classmates are being taught to do everything at an earlier age than I was. Their homework load, even at kindergarten, is almost ridiculous. I was lucky enough to attend very good schools, so it’s not as though I’m setting the bar low.
Seems like we need to try a little bit harder on this topic. Pretty much everything is an opinion, and I wouldn’t disagree with someone’s opinion. I would tell them their opinion is stupid, but I wouldn’t necessarily try to force them to change it like a dirty liberal.
- Women are not always right. Surprisingly, they are wrong exactly as often as men.
- Barack Obama’s Nobel Prize was the most undeserved Nobel Prize ever awarded for doing absolutely nothing.
- All countries should immediately ban the import of Hollywood films to avoid the Westernization of their culture.
- Modern epidemics like autism and obesity were caused by the widespread use of high fructose corn syrup in the 70’s.
- The only reason Apple products are popular with dumb people is that they don’t know the difference between “on/off” and “hibernation.” The reason Apple products turn on so quickly is because they’re not off.
My original statement was “the only thing people remember is the Pledge of Allegiance and hand turkeys.” 
- The Nobel Peace Prize is taken much too seriously and given far too much attention. For crying out loud, it’s given out by a bunch of Norwegians with dubious credentials. Their offices are a short walk from my house, and I can guarantee you that on the world stage, this place is a backwater if ever there was one. I have no idea why anyone cares about what anyone from here has to say about anything, never mind world politics. Giving it to Obama just proves that the committee has taken to smoking pot at their meetings in addition to being generally incompetent. We should let the Swedes have it, along with the rest of the prizes. At least they have some clue what they’re doing.
(There, how’s that for controversial?)
- The American public school system is way underrated. Its main problem is that it costs to much.
- Parents with large families are better parents and better people than those with smaller families or no kids.
- The FDA is an evil organization that should be closed and replaced with an agency that only tests for safety not efficacy.
- Socialism is destructive in all its forms and there is nothing redeemable about it.
- Environmentalism is bad for a person’s moral and ethical development.
- Yes, she did do all that stuff, and more. We’re quite serious about her education. Hell, as I type this, Sophia is in math camp. Later this summer a poetry camp, then 2 weeks acting as a counselor for a day school, and then a mother-daughter trip to New Orleans for a few days so Sophia can see what that city is like.
Does she pass these milestones (mult. tables, states and capitals, etc) at the same ages that we did? I don’t recall, but she has done them.
(However, ask her today what the capital of Vermont is and she is likely to initially respond with “I don’t know”. Doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know, that means (in 12yo speak) “I don’t want to be bothered, I’m too wrapped up in me.” )
- Memorization is a part of learning, one that is vastly undervalued today. I made very sure she remembered her multiplication tables. Mom worked with states and capitals. We compile lists. She still has spelling words. This anti-memorization idea has done as much to damage basic education in this country as much as anything else. It’s fine teaching kids how to think, but you gotta give them something to think about.
I see it in Sophia - she loves timelines, as they allow her to memorize basic facts about a favorite subject. My wife and I were big The Book of Lists people - I read through two copies of that thing and could quote the sexual peccadillo’s of the rich and famous verbatim. Let’s just say my 5th-grade self couldn’t believe what they’re saying about Catherine the Great and that horse! 
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The education today is far more “integrated” (for want of a better word) than it was in my day. For example, her mathematics coursework have been introducing algebraic and geometric concepts since the 3rd grade and Sophia already knows how to solve for X on simple equations and the various triangles and their properties. Science texts refer to historical periods of which she also studies that year, stuff like that. Not perfect, but definitely better.
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And since we’re on the subject of “things people disagree with”, while I agree with many that there is a shocking lack of focus on education in this country, but…
… If your child is playing more than one sport you are contributing to this.
… If you don’t have your child participate in supplemental education activities/camps/etc during the summer because “kids need to be kids”, you are contributing to this.
… If you leave your child to do their homework w/o you participating (even passively in the “I’m always here if you have any questions” sense), you are contributing to this.
I’ll add a few more because, well, what the hell, there may still be people on this board who don’t dislike me enough 
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The current GOP is evil. It would be better for the US and democracy as a whole if we eliminated them and forced them to start over with non-crazy people. There comes a time when a tipping point is reached and pretending like they are simply different people with different beliefs is not good enough unless we’re willing to die on that hill. If the GOP could get away with it, it would absolutely make it illegal to be a Democrat. And no, I absolutely do not think this belief is dangerous in the least. This is akin to saying that murder is illegal but we’ll execute you because there is simply nothing more we can do to rehabilitate you.
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On abortion, I’ve said that I’m one of the few pro-abortion (as opposed to only being pro-choice) people. However, even if I believed fetuses were real humans who have some sensation and we’re committing murder, I think abortion should be fine. The tragedy of a normal, birthed person’s death is not simply shared DNA, but many other things such as the loss of experiences this person had, the loss felt by people who know this person, the intrinsic understanding of this person that they will be dead, and the ability for others to sympathize because it could happen to them.
For fetuses, NONE of this is possible. Its got no life experience to lose, it doesn’t have the capacity to self-reflect on its own demise or even consider it, its a proto-human so generic and vague that there is no distinctiveness to it (therefore you cannot say “Bob is dead” because there is no “Bob”, its just “This fetus is dead” and all fetuses are essentially interchangeable), and most importantly, since nobody can ever crawl back into their mother to be reborn, abortion will NEVER happen to any birthed human, ever, and so it is not an act of self-preservation.
We should make the exception that it doesn’t matter when a fetus because a baby because its ok to kill it at any point of its existence.
- In many aspects of life that are simply there to enhance it (luxury pursuits like art and sports) and not a necessity (food, manufacturing, etc.), it is perfectly fine to ignore objectivity to laud a more socially conscientious product. For example, the 2001 Oscars had Gladiator win out over Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, and Traffic. Objectively, perhaps Gladiator was the better made movie, but socially, an Asian film winning would be better for people, so CTHD should have won, or Erin Brockovich because it deals with an important social lawsuit and issue. EVEN if by all objective standards, one thinks that Gladiator is the better film, because it is not socially conscious, one of those other films should have won. Likewise in 2006 where Brokeback Mountain lost to Crash, it doesn’t matter if Crash was the better movie or not, every voter should have made a statement for the gay rights movement by voting Brokeback as the top movie.
This can be applied to many things, such as Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It doesn’t matter at all whether he deserved it or not, he should get it because he’s the first black president and because of his desire to end nuclear proliferation. If Hillary wins the presidency, they should make up whatever excuse they need to in order to give her the award. Baseball players who objectively scored a lot but were bastards and steroid users should definitely be purged from the records. In fact, I’d be happy if there was active collusion to deny them the ability to win games.
Life, once you take care of some basic needs, should be lived in order to increase the happiness of all and decrease suffering. Objectivity, if it interferes with that, shouldn’t not always win out
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Jackson Pollock was not a good artist and his paintings are crap. There nothing unique about it, millions of painters throughout history have produced paintings such as that for practice, they are simply not audacious enough to try and sell them. Painting veneration should be partly based on its complexity and skill it takes to create it. I can’t paint the Mona Lisa, therefore it is worthy of a museum piece. I can, however, make a Pollock, or a couple of triangles and a square on a blank background, so therefore those are not art
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A world government would be a good thing for humanity and democracy. It is completely arbitrary that we divide national lines by the borders we define, and any argument for smaller government can be applied to smaller and smaller groups, from nations to states to counties to cities to villages to families to an individual. Drawing a line arbitrarily at a state or nation doesn’t make you better than anyone else nor does it make you a patriot for anything, it makes you a sucker who’s fallen for whatever rights someone more powerful than you wants to grant you. Therefore, a world government that takes into account the opinions of people 8000 miles away from you to rule on laws pertaining to your local jurisdiction is perfectly ok. With technology and instantaneous communication now possible, there is little geographical reason to pretend like a world government isn’t possible or the best type of government
Better yet, make the few liberal states a part of the EU so they can suck off the government nipple 'til the milk runs dry.
Actually its the red states that tend to be net importers of federal government revenue and blue states which tend to be net exporters.
Who said anything about blue/red? Not all blue states support big government and not all red states are fiscally conservative. There are also many variables besides voluntary support of a nanny state that influence net revenue movement.
Besides, it’s my opinion - like butts, everyone has one and everyone’s stinks.
Really? Everyone on here seems to think it was caused by lead - or to be more specific, reduction in lead, and I find the arguments quite convincing. I am not really committed one way or the other. From the other posts(excluding the wacky off the wall ones you write for amusement and to get a rise out of dopers) you seem to generally know what you’re talking about so that’s why I’m asking.
- Corporations are more important than income parity.
- Walmart is a godsend.
- The Supreme Court hurts, rather than helps, individual rights.
- America needs to not fool around with Russian rights/activities/etc, unless America wants other nations to fool around in America’s rights/activities/etc.
- Indie/alt in front of something does not automatically make the something high-quality.
I find I agree with a bunch of these. Hmm…
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The economy (and especially the middle class) is doing just fine.
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Drug abuse is not a disease.
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Teenagers today are 100 times better (in almost every way) than the teenagers of 15-20 years ago.
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Being John Malkovich is just a shitty Adam Sandler movie with a better cast.
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Racism/sexism/homophobia are 99.5% solved in the US. In ten years only absolute loons will state they still exist.
Drug abuse is not the same thing as drug addiction. I dont think anyone would consider drug abuse a disease. It the addiction to abusing them that many consider a disease.
Drug addiction, whatever. You clearly knew what I meant. Alcoholism too, while we’re at it.
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Pakistan is the threat #1 to the world, and must be cut into tiny pieces for world safety.
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The world needs to be urgently depopulated to 2 billion or less humans. Most problems will then resolve themselves over time. A virological mechanism must be used for the depopulation.
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There is no essential difference in the characters of the USA and China as far as the outside world is concerned. A world where China is the sole economic, military superpower would largely resemble the current world we live in.
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No two people are ever born equal, and never will be. It is just politically correct to claim otherwise, but this claim has no basis in reality.
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Islam and Christianity are responsible for a lot of the world’s sufferings.
Advocating genocide on a scale a whole order of magnitude greater than achieved by Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler combined. Ladies and gentlemen I think we have officially hit a new low.
I hold another unpopular opinion related to this: The Roman emperors were bonkers, and the Romans in general were so crazy about violence, because of lead poisoning. They used lead pipes for their plumbing (in fact, the Latin word for lead is where the word “plumbing” comes from).
Although I suppose most of the board might not have an opinion of that one way or another. If you ever acquire one, though, you’ll disagree with me.
Man, for some reason, this struck me as even more wrong than the “genocide 5.5 billion people with viruses” one…maybe because that one is clearly just there to shock, whereas this looks like a sincerely-held belief.
I was not feeling genocidal this morning; I merely wanted to state that it would do the world a lot of good to be largely depopulated of humans without wiping out the environment as well. But I have apparently misquoted myself, :smack: