RE: Common sense studio sessions

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The search engines of today don't give whole answers, they give solid clues. I think the process is incredibly valuable but what we learn needs to change.

I am appalled at what has become of arithmetic. It no longer exists. I see it every day with people struggling to count change, or even add the numbers up to produce the appropriate amount.

If you can't do simple math how do you know what your gas mileage is? How do you know how long it will actually take you to get someplace? How do you know if you are getting the correct deal?

I don't think anyone needs to know the date of the start of the American Civil War. If you need it for a report or an article Google knows and there is no reason for me to retain that information. There are compelling reasons to know why that war started but not when.

In the US approximately one third of the population never reads a book after they have graduated High School. Roughly 20% of the college graduates never read another book. NOT ONE How can they keep current with whatever it is they are doing?

AAcckk. That really puts a bad taste in my mouth. Education only gets you started.



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The search engines of today don't give whole answers, they give solid clues.

"close enough" for most people. Remember that even most articles shared are not read by something like 80% of the sharers.

I am appalled at what has become of arithmetic.

One of the things that has changed in this regard is people's ability to visualize well. The imagination is being lost and with it - the ability to problem solve.

If you can't do simple math how do you know what your gas mileage is? How do you know how long it will actually take you to get someplace? How do you know if you are getting the correct deal?

Google tells you.

The move away from having information learned applicable to daily life is a scourge on us all.

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You are correct. It is the visualization that is just suffering horribly. Obviously we are moving to a complete card based exchange system where the amounts are presumed to be correct in every instance.

I heard about a pharmacists mate in the Navy stationed at the Pentagon who hatched a scheme to divert on Oxycontin per each prescription filled in the Navy system to an account he controlled. He ended up turning himself in for protection. The quantity he was dealing in required very top level dealers and he was afraid for his life after he made millions.

So. What if somebody figured out how to liberate 1 cent per Visa transaction? How would anybody today catch it? What if it was Amazon that wanted to improve their bottom line?

With people that can't visualize their money as a number there is no hope.

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So. What if somebody figured out how to liberate 1 cent per Visa transaction? How would anybody today catch it? What if it was Amazon that wanted to improve their bottom line?

This is interesting! I have written about it before. In Australia a bank manager did just this about 20 years back for a staggeringly large amount from one of the big banks - skimming from the paid interest. He was caught by an old female pensioner who had the habit of checking her interest earnings each month and after it being slightly off after several, she went to her bank. He was skimming Australia wide.

I work with a lot of engineers of different kinds - the young one's have no idea of what they create in CAD until they see it in real life. The old ones can visualize what they are doing as they do it.

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When I went to college there was a lady that everyone knew. The cashier at the tuition/fees office. Incredibly pleasant, she was just beloved by students and co workers. About 10 years after I left she got caught embezzling in a just stupid fashion. The University confronted her and she explained that her father was ill and she was trying to help. They arranged for her to plead guilty to a minor charge and be put on probation.

One week after that the University received a registered letter from her detailing how she stole 2 million dollars. They couldn't touch her because she had already been tried in the case. And the letter came from Rio. Brazil does not have an extradition treaty with the US. Turns out her father had died two years before...

That's interesting. CAD is purely visual to me.

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