Posted 5/25/2006 05:09:00 PM by Douglas

I've been looking for an article like this for a while. Not really all to poignant, but it says what I've been noticing. Stupid is cool:

The deadliest business hazard of our time is the result of a sea change in the American approach to education that occurred early in the 1970s. Across the United States, conventional educational standards were tossed out the window, replaced with feel-good theories like "whole-language learning" that emphasized personal fulfillment over the accumulation of hard knowledge. As a result, we now have two generations of men and women who expect gold stars not for succeeding, but simply for trying. And, sometimes, merely for showing up.

But sheer stupidity is not the greatest danger presented by the current crop of blank slates. It is the arrogance bred of ignorance that constitutes an unparalleled descent into goofiness. The most profound risk they represent springs not from their cluelessness, but from their inability to recognize their own limitations.

The arrogance bred of ignorance. What a perfect description. Being the smart nerd has never been cool, but as I recall my primary education, equal ridicule was bestowed on the dumbass that didn't know anything, either. Not the case now. I was speaking with a graduate from one of the best engineering schools in the country when I was informed the answer to my question was something that they weren't "supposed" to know. I was floored. When this trend can zap the curiosity out of engineer, I don't think there's much hope for anyone.