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Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

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Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#31
post #28

I think this is just the other extreme of unschooling. The focus is on blindly excelling. I "went" to high school. I graduated with a 95% average. In high school, there was a tie between me and some blonde girl to get valedictorian. I told my physics teacher that I didn't even care and to give it to her because for her, it was a huge point of self-validation. I got 100% in physics and calculus because I loved the sub…

[deleted]

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#33
post #2

I find that hilarious. Particularly "While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment", "while others sat in class and doodled..." and "while others were creating music..." This seems remarkably naive. The doodlers did not all become artists, many were just bored or uninterested. The ones missing assignments were probably…

I disagree. While the majority of smart kids at school do follow the traditional route, doing their work, conforming to the system (sometimes because it's easy for them, and they may as well take advantage of their brains to get a decent job, and sometimes because they're simply blind), there are always a number of exceptions. You have exceptionally-bright kids who don't know what to do with their lives and slack in school because they're bored and lazy, but you also have exceptionally bright, almost enlightened kids who are extremely passionate about learning, but find themselves disgusted by the mindless conformism required to excel in such an institution. Not every person who can excel wants to excel at something so pointless.

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#34
post #30
post #28

I think this is just the other extreme of unschooling. The focus is on blindly excelling. I "went" to high school. I graduated with a 95% average. In high school, there was a tie between me and some blonde girl to get valedictorian. I told my physics teacher that I didn't even care and to give it to her because for her, it was a huge point of self-validation. I got 100% in physics and calculus because I loved the sub…

> I stopped attending classes during high school You got away with that? Count yourself extremely lucky.

Why wouldn't I get away with it?

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#35
post #34
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I stopped attending classes during high school You got away with that? Count yourself extremely lucky.

Why wouldn't I get away with it?

Public High School students in the US can't miss more than a pre-declared maximum number of days per year and often face consequences if they miss class after they've been verified to be in attendance that day.

Truancy is taken seriously in the US.

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#36
post #10
post #2

I find that hilarious. Particularly "While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment", "while others sat in class and doodled..." and "while others were creating music..." This seems remarkably naive. The doodlers did not all become artists, many were just bored or uninterested. The ones missing assignments were probably…

>The doodlers did not all become artists, many were just bored or uninterested. In fact, the doodlers were likely attending to the lecture, e.g. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1882127,00.ht...

This is not so much motivating, as in saying doodlers actually doodle to absorb content without letting the mind wander. I don't attend to classes for absorbing content (books are fine for that), I do to think deeply about the subject as it's exposed and interact with the teacher with questions, making the exposition richer. This just confirms the doodler stereotype.

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#37
post #33
post #2

I find that hilarious. Particularly "While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment", "while others sat in class and doodled..." and "while others were creating music..." This seems remarkably naive. The doodlers did not all become artists, many were just bored or uninterested. The ones missing assignments were probably…

I disagree. While the majority of smart kids at school do follow the traditional route, doing their work, conforming to the system (sometimes because it's easy for them, and they may as well take advantage of their brains to get a decent job, and sometimes because they're simply blind), there are always a number of exceptions. You have exceptionally-bright kids who don't know what to do with their lives and slack in…

Mind if I quote that sometime? You explained my thoughts on the issues of education exactly.

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#38
post #34
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I stopped attending classes during high school You got away with that? Count yourself extremely lucky.

Why wouldn't I get away with it?

At least at my school, there's a very low limit (i think 12 unexcused periods) before they just expel you. My impression was policies like that were standard.

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#39
post #28

I think this is just the other extreme of unschooling. The focus is on blindly excelling. I "went" to high school. I graduated with a 95% average. In high school, there was a tie between me and some blonde girl to get valedictorian. I told my physics teacher that I didn't even care and to give it to her because for her, it was a huge point of self-validation. I got 100% in physics and calculus because I loved the sub…

Cool Story Bro

Re: Being an excellent robot (Erica Goldson Graduation speech)

#40
post #35
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn't I get away with it?

Public High School students in the US can't miss more than a pre-declared maximum number of days per year and often face consequences if they miss class after they've been verified to be in attendance that day. Truancy is taken seriously in the US.

I guess my mom had a talk with the school.
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