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54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

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Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#131

Post by ClumsyPilot »

mrep wrote: post #79
encryptluks2 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think smart people are going to work for tips because their employers don't pay enough while their employers complain about them going on unemployment while taking huge payouts from pandemic relief and having millions forgiven while everyone else loses their assistance? Or smart people will work for ISPs and large corporations that have turned employment into a one-sided legal agreement that many people feel l…

> Do you think smart people are going to work for tips because their employers don't pay enough I'm not a waiter and hate tipping but don't most waiters like tips because they earn more with them. It looks like the US has the highest paid waiters in the world being 25% more than malta and 50% higher than the UK which are the second and third highest paying countries for waiters [0]. > Or smart people will work for IS…

"It looks like the US has the highest paid waiters in the world"

Consider how much tip you will make as an attractive flirty woman vs someone who is unattractive, regardsless of food and service.

I feel those people shouldn't feel like they work at a strip club.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#132

Post by honkycat »

Most years I read 50+ books a year.

2021 and 2020? Maybe 10 total.

Part of it is I just don't know what to read lately! I look at lists of books and cannot decide! I wish there was a place I could go and find recommendations by authors I admire.

The other part? No bars or coffee shops! I love the bustle of a crowded room full of people. If I get bored with the book, I can order another beer, or eavesdrop on a nearby conversation. Covid has taken that away, and I am trapped in my distraction filled room!

I guess there is a THIRD reason: I've been learning guitar for the past year, and that has eaten up a lot of my time.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#133

Post by darkerside »

jeffbee wrote: post #27
woodruffw wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the key observation: these surveys aim to determine the general English literacy of the American workforce. You don't have to be a US citizen or a voter, or even an English speaker to work in this country. A more accurate metric would be "prose literacy in the individual's at-home spoken language," which would probably yield a significantly less drastic picture. Perhaps not the best one, but nowhere near as e…

Still, it is interesting to look at questions that most people failed. Apparently in the 2003 round of evaluations only 16% of participants could answer the question "What is the purpose of the Se Habla Espanol expo?" after reading this short magazine article. https://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/sample_imgtxtequiv.asp?Imageid=164

What percentage of people started reading that crap and quickly decided, I don't care?

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#134

Post by DarylZero »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #49
okamiueru wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An uneducated population is easier to persuade to vote against its own interests.

What's the difference between voting against one's own interests and voting with one's conscience instead of one's wallet?

None if your "conscience" is installed by capitalist propaganda.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#135

Post by ClumsyPilot »

csdvrx wrote: post #29
encryptluks2 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Leaving asides the offense/racist grandparent comments, the worship of money is what has made America prosperous, and what still allows us to get the best and the brightest. Ask "them enlightened" Europeans (or Australians or...) how much they make, and rejoice we get to live a prosperous life here in America! And no, before someone says "but what about universal healthcare?", health insurance doesn't count, because…

"worship of money is what has made America prosperous"

Ah, so it's a religion and prayer works? It's got nothing to do with US being the only industrial power that wasn't obliterated in WW2 and had debt that took untill 2006 to pay off, like UK did? Or with US being center of global finance, having global reserve currency, etc?

Okay lets take your argument at face value - what's the money for, to lead a better life, right? Look at life expectancy, crime rates, 'satisfaction', is US leading the world? Could it be that a succesfull society needs something in addition to a 'money religion'?

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#136

Post by ClumsyPilot »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #5
nomorecommas wrote: post #3

And they vote. Go figure. Maybe schools should teach literacy skills and other useful subjects. Just a thought.

You act like people that struggle with reading aren't capable of making a decision between usually only two candidates. Seriously, a 6th grade has enough brain capacity to vote in American politics. Also, schools do teach literacy but a lot of funding gets sent to private schools and suburbs while large inner city schools get underfunded. There are also racial issues, where people of other races have continued to be…

>"capable of making a decision between usually only two candidates"

This short sighted attitude is the peoblem.

Do you know your representative? Have you ever spoken to them? How do the two presidential candidates come about? Have you ever been in a political party? There is a lot more to democracy than choosing a front clown

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#137

Post by thrower123 »

Why would anybody be surprised by this? Look around. People, by and large, are not very capable to begin with, poorly educated, and disinterested.

In an earlier age, it was common for newspapers to target a 7th grade reading level.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#138

Post by DavidPiper »

slater wrote: post #75
tamaharbor wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Untied, ey? ;) I'd say it's a lack of funding for general education, and the decades-long prevalence of "lol nerds suck" attitudes to those who even THINK of getting said education.

> and the decades-long prevalence of "lol nerds suck" attitudes to those who even THINK of getting said education.

There was a HN post semi-recently comparing American mathematics textbooks to soviet mathematics textbooks. Basically the Russian school textbook was/is equivalent to the American university textbook.

There were other comments in the thread about education quality, school systems, etc, but the novel takeaway for me was that there are some countries where anti-intellectual stigma doesn't exist at all.

It was quite a moment to realise that a lot of your experiences growing up and going through the education system (as one kind of said nerd) are the result of a mass-cultural and quasi-political _choice_ of attitudes that aren't actually universal.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#139

Post by anonuser123456 »

tamaharbor wrote: post #4
nomorecommas wrote: post #3

And they vote. Go figure. Maybe schools should teach literacy skills and other useful subjects. Just a thought.

Quoted post unavailable.

~50% of people are dumber than average. That's just how averages work.

Re: 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level

#140

Post by jakear »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #124
jakear wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "source" is this? I found https://nces.ed.gov/Pubs2007/2007480_3.pdf , which is considerably more clear as it lists the three statements as entirely separate list items: > Any statement such as the following: > To enable people to better serve and sell to the Hispanic community > To improve marketing strategies to the Hispanic community > To enable people to establish contacts to serve the Hispanic community I t…

The source is the same one linked in the post you're trying to slam. The URL has changed from http://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/sample_question.asp , as written in the post, to https://nces.ed.gov/naal/sample_items.asp . You can easily find the question by using the Text String Search field. > I was genuinely unsure as to the correct interpretation. Who's to say You're arguing at the level of this handless guy now. https://xkc…

You seem to be confusing your argument for my own. I'm the one claiming that the text is ambiguous and shouldn't be, you seem to be outright denying that it's ambiguous at all? You're the handless guy feeling smug about their innate knowledge that the author's intention was "Acceptable answers include statements such as:" rather than "Acceptable answers include a statement such as:", I'm the top-hat dude calling you out.
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