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There is genuinely
worrisome news about our culture. There is
a vast knowledge, intellect, and arrogance displayed by so many
juvenile people of all ages. And this trait is alarmingly prevalent
in US teenagers. |
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An
internationally-administered test that focuses on juveniles of the
age of 15 has produced a portrayal of ignorance and arrogance in the
US. The results of this international test
illustrate that American 15-year-olds don't know much
about science and they are falling behind their peers in other
industrialized nations. |
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But why get depressed?
There is an plastic lining
to this story.
The test also found that these same teenagers don't
allow their ignorance
to bother
them. The US students do not know as much as students in Finland, Canada or
New Zealand, but they think they do. |
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When the US students
were asked to rate their own scientific abilities, they
placed themselves right
at the top up there with their
better-educated peers. |
| This is the trend in American
education. That is, no one can match us when it comes to self-esteem.
Who is concerned that American students ranked 21st out of 30 industrialized nations?
Who cares if we are
even worse than that in math,
ranked at 25th? |
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We all know that we
geniuses in the US are more ethnically diverse than those
other countries. We have more poverty.
More immigrants. However, the poor and
immigrants and the ethnically diverse in other countries scored
higher than our US counterparts. |
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Our students
prance around totally blissful
in their ignorance. |
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Test analysts found that the less students
knew about science, the more optimistic they were that the
challenges of global warming can be overcome. |
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We often observe this
behavior in the streets, homes, schools, sports arenas, and
everywhere. The question is, "How did they all get so very smart,
knowledgeable, and confident?" |
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The wise person knows
that the more
he knows, the more he needs to learn. |