tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post8322668535466375094..comments2024-03-28T12:29:39.157-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: I Blame Al GoreFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-24411453170193728842011-09-16T09:59:10.847-07:002011-09-16T09:59:10.847-07:00Chief,
Asking the right questions is the flip side...Chief,<br />Asking the right questions is the flip side of making proper and realistic assumptions concerning the topic being researched/discussed.<br />jimrangeragainstwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126542922536584950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-58936223400141297042011-09-13T08:57:45.349-07:002011-09-13T08:57:45.349-07:00Yes, there are effective ways to research on the n...Yes, there are effective ways to research on the net. Yes, there are people who could benefit from learning them. Yes, this means a lower signal to noise ratio than I would desire.<br /><br />People will learn and adapt to cultural expectations. A well researched posting "smokes" a poorly done one just like it did in the dead-tree era. It will just take time for people and cultures to take up the slack.<br /><br />Finally, why the pot-shots at wikipedia? The dead-tree era had *nothing* comparable (even the Britannica pales in comparison). Yes, there are deep flaws with it, but everything has flaws. The best screwdriver in the world will *still* make a lousy chisel.<br /><br />In any case, paper libraries are dead (just some of them don't know it yet).Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-34816239885632806662011-09-12T19:21:23.565-07:002011-09-12T19:21:23.565-07:00The thing is, Ael, that there are perfectly effect...The thing is, Ael, that there are perfectly effective ways to research topics on the 'Net.<br /><br />But they are either not being effectively taught, or the students aren't bothering to learn.<br /><br />The thing with the dead-tree skills is that you HAD to learn them, or get smoked by people who had. The ease of Internet "research" is deceptive until you begin to spend some time really digging around your search engine and understand how easy it is to be steered, or to miss critical information because your search category is flawed.<br /><br />It's like the entire shell intelligence that a PC creates. It's so superficially sophisticated that when you fall through the floor you're shocked by how that magic box can be so dumb...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-78237441652743903552011-09-11T10:49:40.056-07:002011-09-11T10:49:40.056-07:00Well, when I was growing up, there was a lot of ho...Well, when I was growing up, there was a lot of ho-hah about allowing them new fangled calculators in school. There was lamenting about the loss of long-division skills in the population.<br /><br />Well, 30 years later, I have not done long division, except when helping my children in school.<br /><br />This just in, I can't flintknap either.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-52728492697269010212011-09-11T09:15:22.461-07:002011-09-11T09:15:22.461-07:00Ah, the CHUDs ... alas. Yes, our monumental egos ...Ah, the CHUDs ... alas. Yes, our monumental egos conflate personal and political, and off we go. We are callow, too emotional and reactive, and have only these fairly brute minds to cope with ever-speeded info feeds.<br /><br />MLK was right: We have guided missiles and misguided men.<br /><br />Aside from the weak North Star that guides most, to a large degree we HAVE lost the rigor involved with locating info from disparate sources. Most do rely on the click of a button, which means we are enslaved to the digerati -- those who post the material we source.<br /><br />From my teaching, I saw an impulse to cheat and fudge, and prior to internet, who could follow up on every fact or contention? So the easy access to material online is a mixed blessing.<br /><br />Most of the journals and much research is posted online, but one must be discriminating in one's viewing. As well, many of the professional journals are privileged for subscription members only.<br /><br />But the flashy and easily-accessible material is so much more attractive ...Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-12683729063726243742011-09-11T00:45:39.754-07:002011-09-11T00:45:39.754-07:00The part of this I just find really disturbing is ...The part of this I just find really disturbing is the death of the older paper-based research skills. They were never widely distributed or all that common, but at least in some places (like academe) were considered the standard.<br /><br />That standard is dead and has been for some time, and has been replaced with "I found it on Wikipedia"...<br /><br />Not a worthwhile trade, IMOFDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-71940737316669294062011-09-11T00:43:42.980-07:002011-09-11T00:43:42.980-07:00Well, Lisa, I think part of the problem is that we...Well, Lisa, I think part of the problem is that we assume that our times are unique and universal.<br /><br />For most of our history - hell, for most of WORLD history - people were badly informed, emotional, stupid, easily swayed, and wont to confuse the personal with the political.<br /><br />For most of the latter half of the 20th Century we had a "neutral" press that did its job fairly well...and the cultural expectation that we would be relatively civilized about iur politics.<br /><br />But all the old demons were there, and the combined stress of Vietnam and Civil Rights were enough to bring them up again. The GOP realized that you could win elections by appealing to the CHUDs, did, then came Fox...and now we all tend to find not just our opinions but our "news" from partisan sources.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-82407053598705813372011-09-10T19:41:30.365-07:002011-09-10T19:41:30.365-07:00"we were never all THAT smart to begin with&q..."we were never all THAT smart to begin with" --<br /><br />Spot-on. With you also on the need to pose the right questions.<br /><br />It seems along with the plethora of media devices comes a tendency to exaggerate one's stance. Nuance goes out the door when some bloviator states something with passion 12 inches from our face. It is like an umbilical feed.<br /><br />And we all know that once accepted as gospel, untruths are very hard to dispel. I feel many go down a slippery slope rather readily what with easy linkage to the first bad allegation.<br /><br />Before, the Weekly World News looked like a tabloid. Today, both good and bad are both dispersed over the same wavelength; discretion is not our forte. The admixture of celebrity with news has confounded the matter, IMHO.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-16121586980456646902011-09-09T19:11:44.081-07:002011-09-09T19:11:44.081-07:00Ummm...say, rather, that it's more like an int...Ummm...say, rather, that it's more like an intellectual paint thinner. It covers a lot more area, but the results are really patchy and in many cases unsatisfactory.<br /><br />Or to put it less metaphorically, most of those people who get good use out of the 'Net would be perfectly capable of doing withOUT the 'Net. Most of those whose use of the 'Net allows them to float out into the deep intellectual waters are doing so without oars, shark repellent, or any clue how to navigate.<br /><br />But the dumb fuckers can vote.<br /><br />And they do.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-28974045694850844142011-09-08T20:53:00.824-07:002011-09-08T20:53:00.824-07:00I get it, the internet is an intellectual amplifie...I get it, the internet is an intellectual amplifier. It makes the peaks taller (yay!) but the valleys deeper (boo!)Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.com