Poll: 1/3 of Youths Can't Find La. on Map

HomeLAN

New Member
rrfield said:
When, God-willing, we have kids we plan on sending them to the local Catholic elementary school...if we can afford it.

Like anything else, if you're properly motivated, you'll find a way.
 

2minkey

bootlicker
SouthernN'Proud said:
Source please.

why? whatever i post yer not gonna believe anyway.

...

this article seems to be fairly widely cited.

http://undergraduatestudies.ucdavis.edu/explorations/2004/clark.pdf

'The main purpose of the study was to determine whether religiosity is negatively related to intelligence,
and if it is, whether the same negative relationship exists for spirituality. I also wanted to know whether a well-validated measure of intelligence, the WAIS-III, would reveal a negative relation between religiosity and intelligence. The findings indicated that religious participants did have significantly lower QSAT scores than members of the other three relationship-to-God categories (spiritual, agnostic, and atheist). This result suggests that religious individuals are somewhat lower in quantitative ability, perhaps suggesting less rigor in certain kinds of reasoning. This pattern did not extend to the other relationship-to-God categories, suggesting that there is something special about the people who identified themselves as religious."


now, i would not make the leap from education to intelligence. i'd suggest that the reason the religious folks didn't do so well on the tests wasn't a lack of innate smarts but rather a social deprioritization of some educational values that don't fit into their world view.

i would not base my argument on statistics and survey-based studies anyway, though, because they're too easy to manipulate.

i see certain forms of religion - the whole evangelical thing - to be an impediment to education to the extent that it denies basic biological science and pushes students toward a view of the world that i consider, more or less, superstitious and fairly equivalent to the pre-literate societies that existed in places like new guinea before westerners showed up and ruined their parties. or, perhaps, like europe during the middle ages when everybody was all gloom and doom all the time. that kind of stuff is inconsistent with post-enlightenment science and rationalism.

this to me doesn't suggest that ANYBODY is STUPID, just that certain folks have bought into certain ways of thinking that don't hold the same priorities that my thinking does. and i do believe that those certain folks are making a contribution toward america's decline in the sense of our abilities to compete in the international marketplace, by regressing into tired ideas from the past instead of moving forward.

like i said before, if you don't like my opinion, ignore it.

isn't kinda funny though? i mean, come on, obviously the problem with american education has everything to do with welfare moms, immigrants, the immoral homo agenda, pro-choicers, and all those other uppity folks. it can't possibly have anything to do with backwards attitudes in good old "real" americans.

...

and to winky's point - yeah, catholic schools do a great job.
 

Altron

Well-Known Member
My point is that without any more specific details, that statistic doesn't mean anything. People might have mixed up Louisiana with Mississippi. They're both really close, on the coast of the Gulf, and have the Mississippi running through them. Easy mistake. Or they might have had no idea where it was. Statistic doesn't say.
 

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Altron said:
My point is that without any more specific details, that statistic doesn't mean anything. People might have mixed up Louisiana with Mississippi. They're both really close, on the coast of the Gulf, and have the Mississippi running through them. Easy mistake. Or they might have had no idea where it was. Statistic doesn't say.

Umm, the Mississippi river doesn't actually run THROUGH Mississippi. It runs alongside it, making up most of its western border. Also, I should point out that Louisiana isn't exactly what I'd call "near the Mississippi Delta," seeing as that delta is in Louisiana.
 

TexasRaceLady

Active Member
Inkara1 said:
Also, I should point out that Louisiana isn't exactly what I'd call "near the Mississippi Delta," seeing as that delta is in Louisiana.

As low as the southern part of Louisiana is, relative to sea level, I'd say it IS the Mississippi River delta. LOL
 

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
TexasRaceLady said:
As low as the southern part of Louisiana is, relative to sea level, I'd say it IS the Mississippi River delta. LOL

I'd tend to agree for southeastern Louisiana, basically the part that's tucked under Mississippi's southern border there. I always thought New Orleans was right about at the edge of the delta, give or take.
 

Gato_Solo

Out-freaking-standing OTC member
2minkey said:
why? whatever i post yer not gonna believe anyway.

...

this article seems to be fairly widely cited.

http://undergraduatestudies.ucdavis.edu/explorations/2004/clark.pdf

'The main purpose of the study was to determine whether religiosity is negatively related to intelligence,
and if it is, whether the same negative relationship exists for spirituality. I also wanted to know whether a well-validated measure of intelligence, the WAIS-III, would reveal a negative relation between religiosity and intelligence. The findings indicated that religious participants did have significantly lower QSAT scores than members of the other three relationship-to-God categories (spiritual, agnostic, and atheist). This result suggests that religious individuals are somewhat lower in quantitative ability, perhaps suggesting less rigor in certain kinds of reasoning. This pattern did not extend to the other relationship-to-God categories, suggesting that there is something special about the people who identified themselves as religious."

Notice the purpose, plainly stated. They were looking for a way to say religious folks were on a lower plane than non-religious...

2minkey said:
now, i would not make the leap from education to intelligence. i'd suggest that the reason the religious folks didn't do so well on the tests wasn't a lack of innate smarts but rather a social deprioritization of some educational values that don't fit into their world view.

So by deciding that some things are unimportant, religious people are deemed to be of lower quality...

2minkey said:
i would not base my argument on statistics and survey-based studies anyway, though, because they're too easy to manipulate.

Good thing, too. I wonder what the questions were, and how many of them dealt with things like homosexuality, drugs, etc...

2minkey said:
i see certain forms of religion - the whole evangelical thing - to be an impediment to education to the extent that it denies basic biological science and pushes students toward a view of the world that i consider, more or less, superstitious and fairly equivalent to the pre-literate societies that existed in places like new guinea before westerners showed up and ruined their parties. or, perhaps, like europe during the middle ages when everybody was all gloom and doom all the time. that kind of stuff is inconsistent with post-enlightenment science and rationalism.

And your personal anti-religious statement to clarify your view...

2minkey said:
this to me doesn't suggest that ANYBODY is STUPID, just that certain folks have bought into certain ways of thinking that don't hold the same priorities that my thinking does. and i do believe that those certain folks are making a contribution toward america's decline in the sense of our abilities to compete in the international marketplace, by regressing into tired ideas from the past instead of moving forward.

You don't say it, but it's implied by this post. Here's a question or two for you...since you think having a belief system is dragging down our society...

1. When did the people sampled in the study get their education? (years)
2. Where did those people get their education? (public or private)

2minkey said:
like i said before, if you don't like my opinion, ignore it.

isn't kinda funny though? i mean, come on, obviously the problem with american education has everything to do with welfare moms, immigrants, the immoral homo agenda, pro-choicers, and all those other uppity folks. it can't possibly have anything to do with backwards attitudes in good old "real" americans.

...

and to winky's point - yeah, catholic schools do a great job.

If the opinions of the majority are backwards, then why are our schools teaching things like alternative lifestyles instead of focusing on things like math and science? I'm sure you'll bring up Kansas, but Kansas is not the only state in the union...

One more thing...As long as we're on the subject...the University of California, Davis, says a lot about the study in and of itself. ;)
 

Altron

Well-Known Member
It also doesn't say where they did their survey. Did they survey a bunch of college dropouts in the far Northeast and the far Northwest, or Alaska or Hawaii, all of which are very far away from Louisiana. Or did they survey 'smart' kids near Louisiana?

I'm not saying the educational system is great, but I am saying that you can't judge the entire United States based on one survey.

Oh, that and, most people don't care that much about politics. I know people whose only concerns are making enough for this month's rent with enough left over for car payments, gas, food, and a trip to the bar on Saturday.

People like that tend to not really care about global politics. I wouldn't expect someone like that to know the location of every state, because it's just not where their priorities are.
 

Professur

Well-Known Member
Altron said:
It also doesn't say where they did their survey. Did they survey a bunch of college dropouts in the far Northeast and the far Northwest, or Alaska or Hawaii, all of which are very far away from Louisiana. Or did they survey 'smart' kids near Louisiana?

I'm not saying the educational system is great, but I am saying that you can't judge the entire United States based on one survey.

Oh, that and, most people don't care that much about politics. I know people whose only concerns are making enough for this month's rent with enough left over for car payments, gas, food, and a trip to the bar on Saturday.

People like that tend to not really care about global politics. I wouldn't expect someone like that to know the location of every state, because it's just not where their priorities are.


I've no problem with people like that. ...... until they demand the right to vote.
 
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