If Genesis is BS, what DID happen?

[5thHorseman]

I go along with big bang for 1 reason. Those fuckers who understand physics know more than me and are in consensus and do not seek riches from their understanding

[LastPoet]

Hell, apologists would need to be contortionists to be able to fit genesis into the available data. What we need is more money towards research and education... EVERYWHERE!

[Rokcet Scientist]

What we need is more money towards research and education... EVERYWHERE!

Even more money towards education is a total waste with the contemporary attitudes towards education and parenting by the parents. Today there are considerably less pupils and students per taxpayer than there were, say, 40 years ago. Yet the education budgets have never been higher! So the education cost per pupil/student has soared! Completely out of control, imo, because the education levels pupils/students achieve, on average, have not risen accordingly, or even noticeably. At all!

It's high time parents paid more attention to their own kids (' education) and got involved.
It's cheaper and more effective too than simply pumping still more anonymous (tax) money into the education system.

[downbeatplumb]

What we need is more money towards research and education... EVERYWHERE!

Even more money towards education is a total waste with the contemporary attitudes towards education and parenting by the parents. Today there are considerably less pupils and students per taxpayer than there were, say, 40 years ago. Yet the education budgets have never been higher! So the education cost per pupil/student has soared! Completely out of control, imo, because the education levels pupils/students achieve, on average, have not risen accordingly, or even noticeably. At all!

It's high time parents paid more attention to their own kids (' education) and got involved.
It's cheaper and more effective too than simply pumping still more anonymous (tax) money into the education system.

The ones who pay the most atention seem to be creationists trying to prevent too much education.

[The Grand Nudger]

Of all the criticisms of education I've seen on these boards I can completely agree with you on that. Parents do need to be more involved. I went to the same public schools that pump out the people who can be argued to have receieved no education at all. My family was always there before and after school, for hours. Anything less than a perfect score on a test was unacceptable, and I went into the whole thing starting with kindergarten already able to read, write, and do simple arithmetic. I'm extremely grateful for the amount of effort that must have been involved in all of that. I think that's the difference between a good education and a bad one. Whether the classroom is seen as a re-enforcement of education, or a cheap baby-sitter. That being said, a lot of money is spent on education, but a large majority of it is soaked up in administration. You get what you pay for. We spend a lot of money on the education system but not much money on the education or the educators that are supposed to be covered in the bill. Maybe schools don't need five principals and two assistants for each, and instead need more teachers and materials. Perhaps instead of building new schools (and creating yet more administrative positions, whilst allowing us to game the system and segregate our children) we should be expanding existing schools, hiring additional teaching staff.

[Minimalist]

It's high time parents paid more attention to their own kids (' education) and got involved.

Over here the problem is that too many do exactly that. They think if they can teach their little bastards only what they want them to know that they can control them.

[The Grand Nudger]

I guess there's the other side of the coin, which I ignored in my enthusiastic endorsement of parent involvement. Leave it to Min to point it out. So, to recap, kudos to parents who engage their children's minds in actual knowledge and education...but they probably can't be trusted as a whole..lol.

[Rokcet Scientist]

Well, some people shouldn't be allowed to have kids, of course. They're not worth 'm. But the really sad part is that it's those kids that really pay the price...

[Aegrus]

What we need is more money towards research and education... EVERYWHERE!

Even more money towards education is a total waste with the contemporary attitudes towards education and parenting by the parents. Today there are considerably less pupils and students per taxpayer than there were, say, 40 years ago. Yet the education budgets have never been higher! So the education cost per pupil/student has soared! Completely out of control, imo, because the education levels pupils/students achieve, on average, have not risen accordingly, or even noticeably. At all!

It's high time parents paid more attention to their own kids (' education) and got involved.
It's cheaper and more effective too than simply pumping still more anonymous (tax) money into the education system.

Agreed, the budget is not the problem. Where I live, (northwest USA), people's beliefs are so convoluted that they reject basic scientific fact (such as the fact that cells exist) and substitute superstition, even after being taught the real answers. It's as if many people here think that human bodies are filled with fluff and magic. They have no idea how much scientists know, or how much they depend on scientists.

It's appalling. But it's not the school's fault- their parents pump them full of garbage before they ever get near a science book, so they just never consider alternatives.

[Diamond]

This is a pretty long video but I think it goes along the lines of what this thread is about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQhd05ZVYWg