No, you were trying to redirect the conversation away from the absurd actions of the school authorities and the police by mocking a teenager and his electronics project. We ain’t buying it.
Please don’t lump me in with the right wingers who are defending the school. I am nothing if not consistent in my scorn and contempt for red Southern states and the rednecks therein. I’m just not willing to say “hey, the kid busted these bigoted assholes nicely, so I’ll play along and pretend there’s nothing fishy here”. I like digging into the actual truth, as best as I can perceive it–and what it looks like to me (admitting I don’t really know for sure and probably never will) is that the school officials and the police are predictably overreacting xenophobes, while Ahmed and his dad are crafty provocateurs.
Oh, please. Hyperbole is the worst explanation, it’s the best. And the kid not only uses the word, those in awe of his ability to invent (:dubious:) do this kid a great disservice by propping him up. What they should have been doing is aging, “Oh, you took the case off a clock and it still worked. Great. Lot’s of scientists and engineers start by doing stuff like that.”
The point is that what the kid had was NOT an “invention”. The adults around him should have explained that to him. If he had created that from scratch, that would be one thing, probably even an invention. What he did is as much of an invention as a beer bottle with the label peeled off.
Yeah, right. The same way what I write is irrelevant when you mischaracterize what I write? Words matter, you fucking dolt. If one is going to have praise heaped upon him for an “invention” of his, his “invention” should actually qualify as, you know, an invention.
So who’s praising him for “creating an invention,” and not for showing a curiosity and interest in science and technology that kids his age usually don’t even go that far with?
Look, I agree that scientific interest should be rewarded and encouraged. But praise needs to be commensurate with one’s creations. Here’s a quick look at what some other kids are up to:
And here’s a bunch of kids a year or two older coming up with brilliant stuff:
Check out the last picture. The only good thing to come of this is to see how stupid people can look when they use their own PC racism to rich to judgement. I’m talking to you Google, Barack, MIT, etc.
Here’s a cool idea from another 14-year old:
And from a 13-year-old:
Here’s what some other 7th to 12 graders are up to at one school:
And that’s a good place to pause. How would what Ahmed did be described if it were entered in a science fair?
“Method for transporting inner workings of a timing device into a suitcase?”
“Removing the housing to reveal the manufactured innards of a common alarm clock?”
There’s not even an idea there worthy of praise. It’s merely the the tinkering you’d expect from kids interested in electronics. And I’d bet anything that there have been kids doing what he did at a much younger age. We probably never heard of them because there was no arrest. That and the adults around them had a more appropriate response. I grew up with a kid that was very mechanically inclined and was constantly taking things apart to see how they worked. While he was complimented on his interest and ability, that would immediately be followed up with.
John please put the _____________ back together. And it better work right when you do!?
To be clear, I do not begrudge the kid being encouraged by his teacher. I don’t hold it against him that his non-invention falls well short of ideas some other kids his age come up with. His interest in scientist is good, and he should be encouraged. But science deals with reality, and the adults around him, not to mention the those who have showered praise, would have served him better if they reserved such praise for inventions and scientific creativity for those who deserve it.
None of them were arrested. He gets praise because of his curiosity, and to make up for his arrest. And to signal to others that it’s not okay to arrest kids for doing nothing because they’re brown. And to signal to other kids that such tinkering and curiosity deserves praise.
He’s not being praised for the technical brilliance of his clock. He is being recognized to rebuke the school authorities and the police who overreacted. His skill as an inventor is not the point. Those who cannot defend the authorities are trying to redirect the conversation to a straw man. Mocking the clock is just hand waving the real issue: the absurd reaction of school authorities and police. Nice try.
It is comical that magellan01 believes he is in any position to lecture others about words mattering. It was also awesome that he went on to compose a huge post after this of totally irrelevant anecdotes!
Hey dummy, he hasn’t gotten praised heaped on him for the clock.
I predict magellan01 will still be incapable of figuring out what is happening here. He cannot step back and think, and even if he did, he still would struggle at the thinking part.