Thoughts on Education

Aristotle, one of the great thinkers of ancient Greece, is known for his views on democracy in his work Politics. On the website www.potitics.stackexchange.com , it states that Aristotle wrote that “A good citizen should be knowledgeable in politics, should be able to analytically dissect arguments, and make good decisions for their community.” I don’t think it is a stretch to contend that these qualities are not innate but require a good education.

When I grew up in the 1960’s, it was widely believed that going to college was necessary to having a good life. Contrast that with the widespread belief today that one doesn’t need a college degree to be successful. Even my own career bears this out. I couldn’t afford college until I became a union electrician. When I finally graduated with a BSEE in 1990, I had to take a cut in pay and benefits, to start an entry level job as an engineer. With only three years of engineering experience under my belt, I decided to return to the trade, where I remained for the next thirty years. Today I must admit that I’m thriving because of that choice and make more per year now than I did in the many lean years that I experienced unemployed in the trade. If you happen to get in a situation where you can’t buy a job, then most certainly more education or training will be required. I also believe many of the people who in the last few years died from COVID would have fared better if they were more knowledgeable about diet, health, and exercise.

I've acquired quite a thirst for knowledge in my nascent old age. I have bought dozens of online courses from Udemy.com on various topics such as web development, IT, Business Analytics, etc. When I worked the last seven years as an electrician in the Bay area, I started to attend PG&E classes in San Francisco on a variety of topics related to green energy such as solar energy, energy efficiency, and heat pumps. When Covid hit, I returned home to Troy and PG&E went to a totally remote learning webinar format for their energy classes and I continue to learn from them. I also go to the Troy Public Library regularly, and always leave there with a bag of books.

Some people may think that I wasted my time attending Lawrence Technological University from 1982-1990 to get my BSEE degree because I didn’t finish my career as an electrical engineer. Learning anything, per se, is never a waste of time. The skills that I developed to get my degree have proven to be invaluable as I have applied them to other things in my life. I have been able to take an engineering approach to problem solving and supplement that with an amicable approach to conflict resolution, which I have learned from being a union electrician.

The biggest benefit for me was by the time I graduated I had finally learned what I needed to do to get the “A”. It was quite simple. Every chapter in my textbooks that I was assigned to read, I read at least three or four times, making sure that I was well rested in between. The first time I would read a chapter it was just words on a page mostly with very little retention. The second time I read the chapter it was still mostly words on a page with some familiarity and awareness that I had read the material before. Usually by the third time a curious phenomenon occurs. I started to connect the dots and it was much easier to focus and comprehend what the author was writing about. By the fourth time it seemed like all the individual facts “were on the same page”, as it were, and it was almost as if my mind had created a memory macro where everything that I was supposed to get out of the chapter became embedded into my long-term memory.

Several years ago, when I was researching for myself on how I could improve my memory power further, I learned two important facts. One was that a person, generally, will not be able to retain anything in their long-term memory that they have not expressly focused on. The second is that visual memories are the easiest to retain. It seems like a no brainer now to apply the method of re-reading textbooks to developing a vast library of short mp4 videos of the best lectures on every possible topic, which the learner can access at his own pace, stopping and rewinding when he gets distracted. And of course, watching the lecture as many times as it takes to learn it completely.

Reading each chapter was still only half of what was required to excel in electrical engineering. The tests for math and science courses are all exclusively “problems” to be solved. Math is for sure pretty much all problem solving. Saying that “I was never any good at math” translates directly into “you didn’t do enough problems”. I found that for me I could learn the steps to solve many problems without having a complete understanding of what I was solving. This was especially true when I took Calculus. I also found that if I first learned the steps to solve, let’s say, a particular problem, it made understanding the “why” of the problem so much easier when it was subsequently covered in the lecture or the text. This is why I think it would be beneficial to establish databases of totally worked out problems in math and science disciplines, which the student could access as needed to help them with their homework.

I recall that when I tried to take a class in feedback controls, I had a particularly hard time trying to comprehend the “difference equation”. This was before the internet. My textbook only had one example problem that was solved, which wasn’t enough for me to understand. I went to the library and found two books that covered” difference equations “but they both had the exact same example problem as my textbook. One might argue that now the student could just search the internet. But that takes time and is inefficient. Learning math problems shouldn’t be a research project. Let’s get everything necessary to master the course in the student’s toolbox.

It should be obvious by now that one of the points that I’m trying to make is that from the very beginning of a child’s education the focus should be on teaching the student to “teach themselves”. The beginning of the student’s education is of those times when micromanaging is absolutely necessary. We are creatures of habit, and the sooner the kids learn good habits, the better. I was listening to NPR a while back and some lady was describing a few of the new approaches that were being used to help kids to learn how to read. They sounded overly complicated. I don’t think one teacher trying to teach thirty kids how to read is the best approach. I think the best approach is for one or both parents to sit down one on one and teach the child how to read starting with one word and then progressing on to one sentence at a time, with a particular emphasis on developing vocabulary. As the child gets older, the parent could put to the test what I had stated earlier regarding re-reading, to see if it works for them.

Directly related to this, we should eliminate carrying backpacks loaded with books back and forth from school. Either buy two sets of textbooks, one for home, and one for class, or come up with some combination of textbooks or tablets that works the same. This is not the time to be cheap. If we can’t pass legislation to provide funding for this, then maybe we could start some kind of legacy funding where people of affluence, who oppose paying taxes might be willing to donate to this cause if some form of recognition would be given to them for this. This could be started first on a small scale, directed towards students and parents who would like to participate, but can’t afford it, and if it succeeds, then expand it to everybody.

Ever since Covid there have been several times when parents have said that the mandatory social distancing has caused their child to fall behind. The thing about it is that even with the schools being closed, there have always been those students who have managed to excel. If we could develop a website where we ask 10-25 of the top students in the state how they were able and what they did to excel academically, and have them explain their methods, it would be very enlightening for students who are struggling. Parents and students alike would be able to see that success in education takes a lot more effort than they previously thought. One more thing that I would like to initiate that I think would benefit future students. That being developing another website, this time for the purpose of creating a model of the best possible school that is relevant to today. Give everyone the opportunity to contribute their ideas. I think the perfect school should be modeled with a more holistic approach in mind. Maybe expand the department of mental health and bring the department of education into it. Get the kids to participate in group sessions where they could learn and discuss their feelings, emotions, and fears, to give them a better understanding of themselves and others. One of the only reasons kids like to go to school is because they get to spend time with their friends. But teaching kids in a group setting is not quality time for this and furthermore provides too many distractions. I think that at least a couple of hours a day should be spent alone in a cubicle doing problems, or watching a video on the current subject, or even reading.

Instead of the traditional elementary, middle and high schools, establish regional centers around the district that would also serve as free day care centers and cater to the needs and wants of senior citizens as well. The student’s day starts by getting up, and getting dressed, putting on whatever coats, boots, hats, etc. that are appropriate for the season, getting them on the bus or drive them to the center where they will be met with a loving support staff, and they will be taught to contribute to the choosing and preparation of their meal(s). The day will be a fast-paced action packed affair which correlates better with their short attention spans. As the kids approach puberty, they would start to be exposed to the day care of the preschoolers so that they can learn about child development, so that when they are able to reproduce, they would at least have a better idea of what the responsibilities and hard work that entails raising a child. After the business part of the day is over, then those students who have done what they were supposed to do can take a bus to the community center where they can enjoy their friends without the distraction of the academics. In conclusion, here is a short list of the achievements a typical graduating senior might want to have accomplished:

LGBTQIA+

I grew up in Royal Oak, Michigan and in the first ten years of my life our family lived in a house on the north side of 12 mile road, east of Rochester Rd, and west of a street named Westgate, which runs north and south, and borders the Red Run Golf course. One day when I was about five years old, a friend and I were riding our bikes on the north end of Westgate when we noticed something peculiar in the bushes, so we stopped to check it out.

It turns out it was somebody’s personal collection of playboy type pictures of topless women. My friend and I were instantly intrigued, so we decided to take them to my backyard where we had built a make-shift fort in the sandbox there, and we gave the pictures some further review. Neither of us had ever seen anything like them before, but for some reason, found them appealing. I had no clue what art appreciation was or even if this was art that I was appreciating but very shortly I noticed that I had gotten my first erection, that I can remember. I looked over at my friend and could tell that he was having the same reaction, and we both kind of had this huge “WTF?” thing going on in our heads because it was apparent that this nascent response happened as a direct reaction to looking at the pictures of topless women. Now I know that some of you are thinking that it was too bad Donald Trump wasn’t there to show us that technique he does with his huge hands, which he uses to supply replacement follicles to that thing growing on top of his head. That could have started us out on the path of being future conservative, right wing republicans, and it would have been all good.

Turns out that it wasn’t until about six years later that I finally learned the truth at my first sex education class that I attended at church choir camp. My point here really is that I have never thought of my sexuality as being a choice. I could never understand why some people are so concerned about the sexuality of others as if it were a choice. If you can remember back to those early days of your own sex education, and if first impressions are lasting impressions, I think you can see how one could argue that all sex is pretty much disgusting. What pisses me off the most is that when I tell my experience to a gay basher, and then ask them about the time they first learned of their sexuality, they always say “Ah, er, oh…” or something to that effect, and then they change the subject. And what really pisses me off is when a “Christian” says that homosexuality goes against their faith. I attended the methodist church on sixth street in Royal Oak until my senior year in high school. I don't recall homosexuality ever being mentioned.

Furthermore, I would like to make a couple more points. Gay bashing or any other type of sexual orientation bashing is abject bullying. Bullies are the number one reason why stupidity should be painful. The late Rush Limbaugh was a prime example. I tried to listen to him back when he started on radio in the early 1990’s. It was only a couple of weeks when I decided he was not only uninteresting but had very little to offer me.

One day though about twenty years ago, I was driving and flipping through the stations on the radio, and Rush Limbaugh was on. This one time he was ranting how he was against same sex marriage because it went against the sanctity of marriage. I found his argument mildly amusing because nothing goes against the sanctity of marriage like divorce. I think it’s a well-known fact that Limbaugh experienced more than one divorce in his life.

Lastly, my daughter has a friend who’s gay, and told my daughter that her mother had disowned her for being that way, because her mother’s Church said she was “damned”. I would like the opportunity to ask this mother how could she possibly hate her daughter for the genes she gave her?

Abortion

My thoughts on abortion are quite simple. A woman unquestionably has the right to choose to have one. However, I think it’s obvious that many abortions could have been prevented if either or both prospective parents had chosen another method of eliminating the possibility of conception, in the first place.

One problem, I think, is that some people who are against abortion are also against the use of contraceptives. There may be a few reasons for this, but the main one, I think, comes from the first book of the Bible’s Old Testament, Genesis, where God makes a directive to Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply”. Did God really speak to Adam and Eve or did the author of Genisis surmise that this is nature’s plan due to the overpowering libidos that many of us have?

Other people are not against using contraceptives, per se, but are really against the government paying for the contraceptives, and this has the de facto effect of being against abortion due to cost.

Another problem related to this issue is that so much of what we know about what happens between conception and birth is dogmatic and is interpreted differently based on belief. A Supreme Court decision should not be based on dogma. I used to share the Christian belief that a person gets one shot at life on earth, but now I share the belief of many Buddhists that life is a continuous cycle of birth and rebirth. If I were an unborn child and I was faced with being born into this life where I’m not wanted, and could face the troubles of living in a single parent household, cut me loose, and I’ll take my chances for something better. Consider the nature of childbirth. For all humanity, the female has been nature’s chosen, and the female body has evolved with attributes, different than the male, which are specific for that purpose. No law, passed by congress, or interpreted by the courts, can change that. This raises the question “what jurisdiction does any court have regarding natural law?”.

Furthermore, how does it pass the litmus test of the 14th amendment? Up until now, there has been no equity in childbirth, since the mother carries most of the burden. Also, I think that one could argue that mandating the mother to carry the burden of childbirth, at the same time allowing the father to avoid his fair share, would, at the very least, have a semblance of lack of due process for the mother. I think it is reasonable to believe that the courts don’t have jurisdiction over natural law, and the only say that they would have in the matter is in ensuring that any related procedures shall be performed by someone who is licensed and qualified. Otherwise, a woman’s body, regarding childbirth, is sovereign to herself alone, and even though anybody else has a right to disapprove, it is not their call to make.

This philosophical approach does little to remedy the situation where better choices should have been made to avoid conception in the first place. More emphasis needs to be put on the male involvement. It’s time to “nut up” fellas. If you want to play, the ball is in your court. Fix it

Right to Work

First of all, the term “Right to Work” is somewhat of a misnomer. It would be more accurate to to call it “Right to be a jerk”, or possibly “Right to be a Cheapskate “. The issue really boils down to a simple “quid pro quo” where a person is employed in a job where his wages and benefits are negotiated and established by a collective bargaining agreement and he’s too cheap to pay for the services that he has benefitted from.

The main problem with this issue is the National Labor Relations Act is poorly written. It will follow some long, confusing verbage with “…except where stated in Sec. such and such…” So I end up flipping back and forth and I find it difficult to follow.

Aside from that, a bigger concern for me is the how the tenth amendment of the US Constitution, which is about the separation of powers between the federal government and the states, is interpreted. In Sec. 14. (b) of the NLRA there is somewhat of a contradiction between the two. Early on in the NLRA the federal government seems to establish jurisdiction in its role of regulating commerce. Does the Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution) assure total federal jurisdiction? Are NLRA and individual right to work laws of the states even comparable?

The question that seems relevant is what is the essence of democracy? When everybody in a group vote on something, does the minority get to pick up its toys and go home? The NLRA requires union representation to be decided by majority vote. A state law would be able to overrule?

I think the bottom line is money. There are lots of union members who don’t read their contracts, who choose not to vote to ratify contracts or elect union officials, and generally don’t participate, but they still pay their dues. A person doesn’t want to belong to a union where he can vote? Fine, he still has to pay for wages and benefits that are negotiated for him. Or he can exercise his right to go work somewhere else.

the Supreme Court

I have a lot of thoughts regarding the Supreme Court. There is one issue that probably isn’t a real concern, but bugs me, nonetheless. America’s religious landscape is quite diverse. It is my understanding that there are about 172 different Christian denominations alone, and when you also figure in Muslims, Jews and Buddists, etc., it is easy to see the diversity. So why are six of the nine Supreme Court Justices Catholic? Don’t want to scare anybody but if you divide 6 by 9 on one of your demonic devices, it’s got to be just coincidence.

One would think that religion mattered to the Founding Fathers because in the First Amendment, before the freedom of speech, before the freedom of the press, or to assemble peacefully, the first words of the first amendment are “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...” And yet I am not aware of anybody, but me, even saying that having a majority of Catholics on the court could be an issue.

I try to look at it logically. Let's just look at any one of the six Catholic justices. There will be times when that one will be a good judge. There will be times when that one will be a good Catholic. There most certainly will be times when that one can’t be both. Would it be unreasonable to get the Pope’s take on any given case before the court?

There is a particular Bible verse that I remember from so many years ago which I think would make a good confirmation question for a justice nominee. I think a current response would be even more relevant. That verse comes from the New Testament of the Bible and is Matthew 6:24. “.... a man cannot serve two masters...”. if you are not familiar with the verse, I encourage you to research it, as there is more than one version. I think it’s a fair question to ask a judge where his alliances are.

Separate the dogma from the truth.

Immigration

Overall, I spent ten of the last twenty years before I retired working in the San Francisco Bay area. In that time I have met countless Hispanic people both on the job and in my day to day life. I really have only positive things to say about them. If I were to smile and say good morning to a Hispanic person they pretty much always smiled and said good morning back. Try that here in Michigan. They have many qualities that we could use in our gene pool, I’m sorry to inform you. As a rule they are friendly, they stick together, and they work well together. They are some of the best workers.

What infuriates me is that the republican party has made it part of their platform to exploit the plight of the Hispanics, who they have no compassion for whatsoever. One of the biggest reasons we have such a big illegal immigrant issue today is because Trump didn’t resolve the issue when he was in office.

Ronald Reagan wasn’t the most educated president we ever had but he was smart enough to think that part of the illegal immigrant solution is to find jobs for them and turn them into taxpayers. Trump has no interest in that. He just wants to suck you into his hate machine so you’ll vote for him.

Trump’s latest thing is mass deportations. Sounds so simple really, until you read the 14th Amendment. The last part of section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Reading the above quotation makes me think that the resolution of the border crisis has to be done on Mexico’s side of the border. Allow me to blow a little smoke your way by saying first off you take the total dollar amount spent on the border, and cut it in half. Then you get with the president of Mexico and offer to pay the money in installments, but we will be flying drones up and down the Rio Grande, and we will deduct $10,000 for every person who crosses over. I have to think there won’t be anybody crossing over.

That’s only part of the solution. What needs to be addressed is why so many people are trying to leave their homes and come here. That’s the real problem. We need a plan to deal with the cartels, and the corrupt governments. We also want to make it safe for Americans to travel south of the border. I’m sure more can be done to find jobs, shelter, and assure that these people could better assimilate. This could be easily accomplished because Hispanics do very well at taking care of their own.

There will always be that prejudicial element, especially in the auto industry, with the threat of stealing our jobs. The last ten years or so my hair has been completely white. In the last few years of my career I was always cognizant that my job was threatened by just about anybody whose hair wasn't white. It's not that I was discriminated against, it's more because most people work because they have to. Competition is the name of the game in a free market economy. The auto industry knows that before Mexico, there was Kentucky, Missouri, Georgia, and others who not only undercut their wages, but some weren't interested in unionizing either. There will always be competition that you have to contend with. The only safeguard is to not be satisfied with an unskilled factory job, but to seek out education and training to get yourself a better one.