School Today and the Male Mind

Back in the day, everyone wanted to go to school. People went to school to learn so that maybe one day, they could educate their children and have a better life. Today, schools have shifted from educating students to testing students. But that just doesn't make sense. The whole point of school for its entire existance is to teach the students. The teachers would teach, the students would learn, the students would grow up and learn a little more, the students would pass that knowledge on to the next generation, and repeat until we have nuclear bombs.

But that's now how it works anymore. People can never learn everything about a subject because there is way too much stuff to learn. So school shifted from teaching about the universe to making sure we have learned about the universe. That was what tests were originally given for, to make sure people had learned the information. In fact, the word test came from the Spanish verb "testicular" which means "to see if one has learned". But schools have never shifted back, and today it is all based on the test system. Just because a student does well on a test doesn't mean he or she knows the information being taught. Just because he or she does poorly doesn't mean he or she doesn't.

I'm not saying that tests should be eliminated. Although, I would like that very much; I hate tests. But they should be used in a way that actually serves a purpose. And that is seeing if we have learned. If the state legislature had come into the junior and senior class rooms while the other grades were taking ISTEPS, I think they would have been appalled at the amount of "learning" going on.

I read an article recently that said males think about sex every fifty-two seconds. I'll admit it, I do that from time to time. We all do. After all, the male's job in biology is to reproduce the species. But I think fifty-two seconds is a little, teensy-weensy, iddy biddy, not rounded with the correct amount of significant figures on the high side. And here's why:

One of the scientists doing the study probably said to a group of guys, "Every time you think about sex in the next five minutes, I want you to raise your hand." No doubt, they raised their hands lots of times during the next five minutes. If you tell someone not to think about something, I guarantee they will start thinking about that more than ever before.

Same idea applies if I say: "Don't think about pandas." Sooner or later, you're going to think about pandas. It's a simple fact, the harder you try to not think about pandas the more you think about pandas. Even if you don't try at all to think about pandas, sooner or later you're going to think about pandas anyway. It's science. By their reasoning, men think about pandas every fifty-two seconds, which is of course foolish. If I had to guess, we think about pandas more like every five to seven minutes.


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