It's never been easier to be a self-learner. All the libraries, interlibrary loans, the Internet, affordable & plentiful books. Hey, if one wants it, it's there for the taking. And taking. And taking.
But Bill Gates, obviously very cognizant of the importance IQ points even if he won't go where logic dictates in having a more meritocratic educational system--see Thomas Jefferson's harsh description of what it would look like in heartless form at the end of Chapter 14 in his Notes on the State of Virginia--lauds this wonderful guy who is now instructing Gates's own children, Sal Khan.
The Khan Academy is a place where one can go and learn from a better teacher than is likely present in his or her own public or private school.
I am also interested in IQ and education. I agree with Jefferson more than the modern followers of John Dewey, or the latest imitator. One of my great teachers Ernest van den Haag, who is vilified on Wikipedia--a dead white conservative (former Marxist)--made the point that Charles Murray has echoed in his must-read book, Read Education: college should be for smart guys (and, increasingly, gals). One hundred fifteen IQ, approx. But we've opened the doors, made going to college an entitlement, and watered it down to meaninglessness. The bachelor's degree? What's that worth today?
I went to college for seven years. Yes, a superannuated student was I. My sister, never having gone, makes more money working her one very successful job than I do in working two. (School starts Wednesday for me.)
Mr. Murray, the second smartest man I've ever met, says the modern educational system is "living a lie." That's powerful stuff. I happen to agree with it. I mean, it's incontrovertible.
Life's unfair. Just look at this datum from a remarkable George Will column:
But Bill Gates, obviously very cognizant of the importance IQ points even if he won't go where logic dictates in having a more meritocratic educational system--see Thomas Jefferson's harsh description of what it would look like in heartless form at the end of Chapter 14 in his Notes on the State of Virginia--lauds this wonderful guy who is now instructing Gates's own children, Sal Khan.
The Khan Academy is a place where one can go and learn from a better teacher than is likely present in his or her own public or private school.
I am also interested in IQ and education. I agree with Jefferson more than the modern followers of John Dewey, or the latest imitator. One of my great teachers Ernest van den Haag, who is vilified on Wikipedia--a dead white conservative (former Marxist)--made the point that Charles Murray has echoed in his must-read book, Read Education: college should be for smart guys (and, increasingly, gals). One hundred fifteen IQ, approx. But we've opened the doors, made going to college an entitlement, and watered it down to meaninglessness. The bachelor's degree? What's that worth today?
I went to college for seven years. Yes, a superannuated student was I. My sister, never having gone, makes more money working her one very successful job than I do in working two. (School starts Wednesday for me.)
Mr. Murray, the second smartest man I've ever met, says the modern educational system is "living a lie." That's powerful stuff. I happen to agree with it. I mean, it's incontrovertible.
Life's unfair. Just look at this datum from a remarkable George Will column:
By age 4, the average child in a professional family hears about 20 million more words than the average child in a working-class family and about 35 million more than the average child in a welfare family -- a child often alone with a mother who is a high school dropout.It's all about family, IQ, and attitude. The schools aren't as meaningful as commonly thought.
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