# That'll Learn 'Em **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712 "2004-11-19T20:38:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/21 "2004-11-23T19:12:03Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Er, let me get this straight . . . You _don’t_ think it’s possible that an asteroid could hit the Earth with devastating consequences? I said ‘plausible’ not ‘possible’. Certainly it’s _possible_. Just not _plausible_. Not likely. ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/22 "2004-11-23T19:20:35Z")
> [@](#): > > The teacher then admitted the story was a stunt aimed at underlining the theme of the assembly - “living each day to the full” I really find it hard to believe that people would fall for that. “Remember kids, live each day to the full. In other news, asteroid on a collision course etc etc etc” At my school a cry of shenanigans would have been shouted. I mean how thick are the kids? It’s so bloody obvious what he was trying to do. Even without the obvious link in to the theme of the assembly I find it hard to believe anyone would fall for it. A sad day for the future of Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/23 "2004-11-23T19:28:29Z")
The world was ending, and not one of the little brats went on a tri-county robbery spree? Kids today. No ambition. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/24 "2004-11-23T19:30:01Z")
Actually, you spoke of finding “the possibility of such an event plausible,” whatever that means, which is why I asked for a clarification. IIRC, some other Brit was going off in the Pit about having to write an essay on impact threats, dismissing it because there were movies about it. Just wanted to make sure that our Dear Friends Across the Pond are aware that rocks occassionally fall out of the sky and, y’know, create an explosion equivalent to every nuclear weapon on Earth being simultaneously detonated in the same place . . . times a million. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/25 "2004-11-23T19:40:07Z")
You know l **obsong** , when these kids were 11 some teacher walked into the room and said someone has flown passenger planes into the World Trade Center towers in NYC. I bet some of those kids didn’t believe it at first. You are right, things were different when you were a kid, but the idea that none of you 14 year-old comtemparies would have been upset by the news that the world was going to end is exactly a ringing endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/26 "2004-11-23T19:40:39Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Just wanted to make sure that our Dear Friends Across the Pond are aware that rocks occassionally fall out of the sky and, y’know, create an explosion equivalent to every nuclear weapon on Earth being simultaneously detonated in the same place . . . times a million. And I just wanted to make sure _our_ friends across the pond are aware that when told that this once in a hundred million year event is about to happen a british kid of 14 is not supposed to automatically believe it. And that when we were 14 we wouldn’t have believed it quite so quickly. Maybe one or two of the more gullible amongst us would have felt slightly aprehensive, but certainly no torrent of tears would result. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/27 "2004-11-23T19:50:11Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > You know l **obsong** , when these kids were 11 some teacher walked into the room and said someone has flown passenger planes into the World Trade Center towers in NYC. > > I bet some of those kids didn’t believe it at first. 9/11 was a very rare event. The kids would be right to disbelieve it. Are you saying people should believe everything they are told? > [@](#): > > You are right, things were different when you were a kid, but the idea that none of you 14 year-old comtemparies would have been upset by the news that the world was going to end is exactly a ringing endorsement. I think we should agree to disagree on this. I think the world isn’t going to end any time soon, I believe it is right for people to be very sceptical of such things. You disagree. You believe that if told the world is about to end that people should automatically believe it. We are worlds apart. I beleive the ‘climate of terror’ is a fraud and that people should stop thinking they and their families are personally targets of terrorism. Even with the events of 9/11, the chances of the average American or Brit dying or suffering from a terrorist attack are extremely remote. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/28 "2004-11-23T19:51:21Z")
From [NASA.](http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html) > [@](#): > > There are currently 653 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. > This "potential’’ to make close Earth approaches does not mean a PHA will impact the Earth. It only means there is a possibility for such a threat. [Here](http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Dangerous.html) is a nice list. [Here](http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/InnerPlot2.html) is a graphical version of that data. This is not some abstract ‘pink spider’ threat. This is a real possibility, one that might well be communicated to children just as this scenario presents. I maintain that is was irresponsible and cruel to do so needlessly (prematurely?). I sympathize with the children who were scared. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/29 "2004-11-23T19:58:35Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > From [NASA.](http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html) > > [Here](http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Dangerous.html) is a nice list. [Here](http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/InnerPlot2.html) is a graphical version of that data. > > This is not some abstract ‘pink spider’ threat. This is a real possibility, one that might well be communicated to children just as this scenario presents. I maintain that is was irresponsible and cruel to do so needlessly (prematurely?). I sympathize with the children who were scared. Right, so… How many of these PHAs have hit earth in the last…2 million years? (btw I sympathise with the kids if they were worried. my point is it’s a sad state of affairs if kids these days are so quick to believe things like this) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/30 "2004-11-23T20:29:30Z")
I’m just saying these kids have already lived through one rare, ‘dude that soooo f\*\*\*ed up’ moment and that may make them more ready to believe bad news. It is also worth a note that people in large groups get clues on how to react by those around them. So if the first person to react, reacted with belief and displayed shock and fear, that would make others in the group do the same. All and all, I just think the teacher had a really lame idea on how to teach the kids to ‘live each day’. Actually I’m opposed to the idea of teaching kids to live each day as if it were thier last because for one thing, childern tend to act that way anyway and for another I think the kids would be better served with a course on how to save for retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/31 "2004-11-23T20:37:22Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > You people are just not listening. These are British schoolchildren Lobsang I can’t agree with you on whether or not British school children should or should not be more skeptical. I happened to embrace the joys of the British education system for two years between the ripe mature ages of eleven and thirteen. We were definitely NOT taught to be skeptical or cynical or mistrusting. We had it beaten into our heads that NO we WILL NOT get to stick to our opinion, NO we WILL NOT get our own way, and that YES you always listen to those older then you and obey them. The typical outcome of even arguing with a teacher (even if you are right 😃 ) was cleaning of tables in the cafeteria for a week. I don’t know what the natives made out of that, but I sure as hell knew better then to try and be smart or skeptical around adults that had us in a grip like that (took me some time and a lot of other people’s dirty trays to learn that, but I managed 🙂 ). Could you perhaps explain what it is about the British education you’ve grown to know and love that is so different from my view on it? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/32 "2004-11-23T20:41:51Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I’m just saying these kids have already lived through one rare, ‘dude that soooo f\*\*\*ed up’ moment and that may make them more ready to believe bad news. Ok maybe you are right there. If it turns out to be true that such scares _moist_ 14 year olds then I just think it’s sad. I believe a terrible event is extremely unlikely and that the govornments have taken advantage of 9/11 to increase their own power in a world where the average westerner is still perfectly safe from this type of harm. > [@](#): > > It is also worth a note that people in large groups get clues on how to react by those around them. So if the first person to react, reacted with belief and displayed shock and fear, that would make others in the group do the same. Maybe, but this might also make others in the group just roll their eyes at the first few reactors. I think poeple in large groups can also get clues on how to react from their own (pardon the phrase) ‘bullshit meter’. > [@](#): > > All and all, I just think the teacher had a really lame idea on how to teach the kids to ‘live each day’. It turned out to be a bad idea, yes. But I sympathise with the teacher for he, like me, would completely not have expected such a reaction. For whatever reason he and I are wrong, but that doesn’t mean we should be blamed for such a completely unexpected outcome. And it IS unexpected. > [@](#): > > Actually I’m opposed to the idea of teaching kids to live each day as if it were thier last because for one thing, childern tend to act that way anyway and for another I think the kids would be better served with a course on how to save for retirement. I agree. And not just children. I am strongly opposed to adults fearing death from unlikely events. I believe this is a totally false ‘issue’ that gets bad leaders elected and re-elected. People’s quality of life is ruined by believing the next big terrorist attack is around the corner, and that they could easily be one of the victims. Bullshit. I watched the American Election and I _cringed_ everytime someone said they would vote for GWB for the safety of themselves and their families. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/33 "2004-11-23T20:46:57Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Ok maybe you are right there. If it turns out to be true that such scares _moist_ 14 year olds Er… that should be ‘_mos_t’, and I missed ‘things’ before ‘scares’. **faldureon** I am not saying kids should be _taught_ to be sceptical. I’m saying it’s something they should culturally already have. And _not_ regarding what teachers tell them. Kids should trust what teachers _teach_ them, sure, I don’t argue with that. But the kids should also be sceptical of unlikely things because culturally that’s the way we are (or were, as it now seems) ---
**Author:** ![Aagramn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Aagramn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aagramn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/34 "2004-11-23T20:47:47Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > (btw I sympathise with the kids if they were worried. my point is it’s a sad state of affairs if kids these days are so quick to believe things like this) I think you are reading too much into it. The report doesn’t say how many were fooled, and even the most skeptical of people can get blind-sided by something unexpected, or coming from an un-expected source. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/35 "2004-11-23T21:52:13Z")
So you think British kids should not have reacted this way. American kids would have been different. 51% of American kids would have looked up to see if Jesus was riding the asteroid or they would have gone home to their well stocked underground bunkers. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712/36 "2004-11-23T21:57:35Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > So you think British kids should not have reacted this way. > > American kids would have been different. > > 51% of American kids would have looked up to see if Jesus was riding the asteroid or they would have gone home to their well stocked underground bunkers. I am just saying we are culturally very different in this respect. _no-one_ should be in a position to believe far-fetched stories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-learn-em/275712.md?page=1)