Took Ariel into the city to meet Ken Jennings, Jeopardy’s all-time champ, who was doing a book signing at the B&N in Union Square. Nattily attired, he kept the audience entertained with a discussion and selected readings of his latest book, “Brainiac” (which, tragically, has nothing to do with supervillains) while discussing his slow progression from closeted trivia master to the poster boy for knowing tons of information others would deem useless (although how anyone can deem something useless when you can use it to rake in $2 milliion-plus is beyond me.)
Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. Whether it’s the disdainful description of experts on topics as “geeks” or “nerds,” or the fact that a minuscule percentage of the consumer base is responsible for the vast majority of books bought, or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.
I’d like to claim that Jennings’ book is next on my list to read–we got two signed copies, one for Ariel, the other for Kath and myself–but it was abruptly displaced when I noticed to my shock that there was a John Mortimer “Rumpole” novel out that somehow slipped under my radar when it came out in 2004. It’s entitled “The Penge Bungalow Murders,” which Rumpole fans will instantly know as the case the British barrister (so memorably played by the late, great Leo McKern) regularly cited as his career highlight. It’s like stumbling over a Conan Doyle manuscript entitled, “The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra.” But “Brainiac”–which is not merely autobiographical, but instead an overview of the grand obsession of trivia–is right after that.
Strangest question Jennings got: An arena battle between a T-Rex and one thousand turkeys. Who would win? Jennings opined that it would likely be the T-Rex, but I’m not sure about that. Assuming that the T-Rex would probably be eating the turkeys as he went, I’d think all that tryptophan might start to make him drowsy, and the turkeys could eventually wear him down. In terms of pointless discussions, it’s probably right up there with cavemen versus astronauts.
PAD
• 
But what if the cavemen and the T-rex teamed up to fight the astronauts and turkeys? Then what?
Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess…
I know what you mean. Aaron Sorkin touched on the subject in one of his West Wing episodes, where Bartlett lamented people’s sometimes preference for simple plain-spokenness over informed intellegent understanding. One of those moments where I nodded in familiarity and acknowledgement at the TV.
But in other (perhaps more generous) moments, I sense that it’s not knowledge that some people are hostile to, but rather knowledge without promise of practical application.
Not that that paints a particularly rosier picture of the culture. But if you believe that, say, science is about two things: (1) helping us know things and (2) helping us do things, and if people are increasingly focused on the second aspect as being more important, well, I can sorta get where that feeling comes from.
Of course, Jennings’ knowledge did allow him to do something–to earn a lot of money. But that’s not the sort of disease-curing, technology-improving, human-condition-improving application some folks prefer.
Eh. Food for thought, as always…
Not that I wouldn’t pay big money to see a T-Rex fight some tom turkeys, Peter, but the idea that eating a turkey meal can you sleepy is an urban myth.
On the other hand, the page I’ve linked to does admit: “Tryptophan doesn’t act on the brain unless it is taken on an empty stomach with no protein present, and the amount gobbled even during a holiday feast is generally too small to have an appreciable effect.” So possibly one thousand turkeys might have an effect on the King of Dinosaurs; I don’t know enough of the size and mass of T-Rex to calculate whether ingesting one thousand of ’em could affect him. (Keep in mind he’d probably tramble several hundred of that thousand into flat turkey pancakes).
Doncha hate it when someone comes along after you make a funny analogy and applies real world logic to it?
T-Rex v. Turkeys? Not enough info.
Do the turkeys have bird flu?
Bully:
But tryptophan doesn’t act on the brain unless it is taken on an empty stomach with no protein present, and the amount gobbled even during a holiday feast is generally too small to have an appreciable effect. That lazy, lethargic feeling so many are overcome by at the conclusion of a festive season meal is most likely due to the combination of drinking alcohol and overeating a carbohydrate-rich repast, as well as some other factors
Hmmm… well considering before Thanksgiving dinner we usually don’t eat to make room (empty stomach) and the fact that my family doesn’t drink alcohol on that holiday leads me to believe that it’s either the tryptophan or it’s one HÊLL of a placebo. 😉
“Not that I wouldn’t pay big money to see a T-Rex fight some tom turkeys, Peter, but the idea that eating a turkey meal can you sleepy is an urban myth.
On the other hand, the page I’ve linked to does admit: “Tryptophan doesn’t act on the brain unless it is taken on an empty stomach with no protein present, and the amount gobbled even during a holiday feast is generally too small to have an appreciable effect.””
Yes, I know, I read the wikipedia.com entry when I was double checking the spelling of “tryptophan.” But I reasoned as you did: That while the amount taken in during a holiday feast might be too small, a hundred, two hundred turkeys…that’s got to start adding up, even for a T-Rex.
PAD
Caveman vs. Astronauts…
Didn’t William the Bloody and Angelus have this “discussion” in season 5?
Classic.
Regards:
Warren S. Jones III
“Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. …or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.”
In this country, stupidity has been embraced. Intelligence is to be feared. This is part of the reason Bill Clinton was hated so much. Conservative politicians and pundits have made it a part of their agenda to continue and to expand this belief among their knuckle-dragging constituents.
What are the most popular entertainments today?
NASCAR, professional wrestling, and country western music. Not exactly mind bending activities.
A recent article I read in USA Today showed that only 17% of the US population graduates college with a 4-year degree. Is it any wonder that other countries are doing so much better in the marketplace today?
In Ohio, a family can expect to spend over 40% of its income on a child’s college education. Some students can get scholarships, but what are the rest supposed to do? With the Middle Class shrinking in size, there are more families that cannot afford to send their kids to college. Pell Grants have been cut in number.
With the recent mass retirements through buyouts of workers at GM and the soon upcoming same thing happening at Ford, there will be many more people leaving the Middle Class.
The Neo-Fascist Conservatives are leading the way to shrinking the Middle Class, breaking the Unions, lowering wages for all workers, and pretty much just making sure that there will plenty of unthinking drones to work at McDonalds or Wal-Mart so that corporate profits will continue to grow.
And by the way, did anyone notice that the price of gasoline finally came down just as the election campaigns started? They want the common man to forget his anger before election day.
It’s time for the American people to wake up and realize that intelligence and education are not EVIL. They are a necessity to a growing and thriving country.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
RJM, Earth turkeys cannot fly. Kryptonian turkeys, however, can fly if they are on a planet with a yellow sun such as Earth. They also have super-strength, invulnerability, x-ray and heat vision, super-strong and super-cold breath, and are just all around bad-ášš. Hunt them at your own risk.
Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. …or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.
My solution? Have Angelina Jolie do a bunch of READ! and Knowledge is Good PSAs dressed as a hot librarian/professor.
… considering turkeys are still around and T-Rex is long gone extinct… Haven’t the turkeys already won?
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
I loved that episode.
However, we have to decide whether the T-Rex is fighting wild or domestic turkeys. Wild turkeys actually can fly. Domesticated ones, however, have been bred to grow breats so heavy that they can’t fly.
It was wild turkeys, while the T-Rex is gobbling up some of the turkeys, others could fly out of his reach, regroup and then launch an aerial assault. And, if we assume that the T-Rex is starting the fight on an empty stomach, the tryptophan will add up after he swallows a few hundred of them.
My money is on the turkeys. Numerous will prevail in the end.
BTW, forget Angelina Jolie. I can’t look at her without thinking that she touched Billy Bob Thornton.
Now, Erica Durance as a naughty librarian. That would get anyone red-blood American boy to read. And for the girls, I guess we can do posters with Justin Timberlake or some other boy band “face” if must.
Heck, if all you want is the Giant Rat of Sumatra…
I’d suggest you notice some of the posters at the ALA’s (American Library Association)gift shop at http://www.alastore.ala.org/. Best they do for the fanboys are Keira Knightly,
Tara Dakides, Julia Stiles? And there’s Neil Gaiman and Ray Bradbury. Why aren’t you on one of the author posters, PD?
Peter, how can you say that Bush is intellectually stunted? Didn’t you watch that interview on NBC Nightly News where he revealed to Brian Williams that he just read ‘Three Shakespeares’?
As a journalist and an interviewer, am I the only one who was disappointed that Brian Williams didn’t follow up that statement asking for a favorite quote, scene, character or whatever, that would made it obvious that Bush has probably never read anything by Shakespeare, let alone be able to spell his name? I would have paid good money to see that.
Uhm… okay, what I meant to say is that Earth turkeys cannot fly through space like Kryptonian turkeys can (I don’t know if Superman can fly through space unaided these days, but the Kryptonian turkeys I’m talking about are pre-Crisis).
I mean, you people don’t actually think I was ignorant about something, do you???
(Rhetorical question, no need to answer. Move along, move along, nothing to see here…)
“Peter, how can you say that Bush is intellectually stunted? Didn’t you watch that interview on NBC Nightly News where he revealed to Brian Williams that he just read ‘Three Shakespeares’?”
No,no, Bush said that he’d just listened to “Trip Shakespeare”.
Responding to PAD and then Alan Coil:
“Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. …or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.”
It’s been shown that GW’s grades were higher than Kerry’s. Plus Bush has a Master’s Degree. Power and money might get you into school, but it can’t make you graduate. Democrats have been trying the ‘republican candidate is stupid’ card for so long, the majority of swing voters just aren’t buying the hype anymore.
“In this country, stupidity has been embraced. Intelligence is to be feared. This is part of the reason Bill Clinton was hated so much. Conservative politicians and pundits have made it a part of their agenda to continue and to expand this belief among their knuckle-dragging constituents.”
Is this the same Bill Clinton that thought that the most watched man in the world could get away with an affair with an intern and then lie about it? Is it the same one that claims he tried pot but didn’t inhale? The problem is that many democrats consider themselves smarter than anyone else..thus everyone else is stupid.
“What are the most popular entertainments today?
NASCAR, professional wrestling, and country western music. Not exactly mind bending activities.”
As opposed to watching baseball, football, or pretty much anything on TV, or listening to pop music or rap? People generally want their entertainment to entertain them! After a long day at work, the last thing most folks want is to have to think more.
“A recent article I read in USA Today showed that only 17% of the US population graduates college with a 4-year degree. Is it any wonder that other countries are doing so much better in the marketplace today?”
Anything using USA Today as a source defeats any arguement about intelligence. USA Today…the newspaper for people that thing broadcast news is too complex.
“In Ohio, a family can expect to spend over 40% of its income on a child’s college education. Some students can get scholarships, but what are the rest supposed to do? With the Middle Class shrinking in size, there are more families that cannot afford to send their kids to college. Pell Grants have been cut in number.”
The government already pays for 12 years of education for kids. And not every kid needs to go to college. There are technical schools that cost less and actually provide a better education. Plumbers and welders actually make good money and most don’t have a 4 year degree.
“With the recent mass retirements through buyouts of workers at GM and the soon upcoming same thing happening at Ford, there will be many more people leaving the Middle Class.”
And why are GM and Ford needing to do this? Could it have something to do with the agreement in the past that would provide full pensions to retired people? Basic math. Joe the steering wheel attacher retires and receives full pay and benefits. GM then needs to hire Bill to do the job. It now costs the company 2x (or just a little less because we can assume that Bill isn’t making as much as Joe was) to have someone attach steering wheels.
“The Neo-Fascist Conservatives are leading the way to shrinking the Middle Class, breaking the Unions, lowering wages for all workers, and pretty much just making sure that there will plenty of unthinking drones to work at McDonalds or Wal-Mart so that corporate profits will continue to grow.”
Ooooh. Name calling. That’s the way to present an arguement. And just imagine…a company that wants to make a profit! Who would have thought that would ever happen?
I suppose you don’t find it somewhat facist for democrats to threaten ABC over a movie? Let’s see. Leaders of the government threating the broadcast liscense of a network because the govt. officials don’t like the topic. Censorship? What about the fact that ABC doesn’t have a broadcast liscense, those are held by individual stations, not the network. Would this threat fall under lack of intelligence?
“And by the way, did anyone notice that the price of gasoline finally came down just as the election campaigns started? They want the common man to forget his anger before election day.”
Someone forgets that gasoline prices always come down after the summer driving season. Plus, the high prices earlier had people driving less and increased the supply. More supply, lower prices.
“It’s time for the American people to wake up and realize that intelligence and education are not EVIL. They are a necessity to a growing and thriving country.”
Intelligence and education are not interchangable terms either. Bill Gates did pretty good as a businessman without a college degree. The plumber that will come over to fix your waterheater and charges $60 per hour probably doesn’t have a college degree. Heck, he might not even have a high school degree. There is currently and overabundance of lawyers in the country, but law schools are having to turn away admissions. How intelligent is it to be trying to do what so many others are doing?
Jeff, I have to agree with you that it wasn’t right for certain politicians to threaten ABC with prior restraint regarding the 9/11 mini-series. It’s important to point out inaccuracies and hold them accountable if they’re not addressed, but it’s not right to threaten them ahead of the fact.
And much as it pains me, I’m not sure I can draw a correlation between lower gas prices and the upcoming elections. Having spent endless hours listening to analysts explain why gas prices were driven above three bucks a gallon over the past year, I’m no longer convinced that our Republican-controlled government can make a few phone calls and gas prices drop overnight. If so, there were certainly a couple of times over the last several months where it would have served their purposes to do it then.
But I’m afraid I can’t agree with you that just because Bush has a graduate degree, he’s not, well, intellectually challenged. I’m sure lots of my fellow high school and college grads knew people who managed to get through school by taking classes that weren’t all that challenging. If you told me that Bush graduated with a 4.0 average, I might cut you some slack on this one, but just the fact that he came out with a couple of degrees holds no weight for me, particularly when you add in the potential for political pressure that can be brought on educators to make sure that certain students get a pass. I won’t argue whether Bush is smarter than Kerry, but I’m not going to support the contention that Bush is intelligent just because he has a couple of degrees. After six years of watching him in action, I feel I’m able to draw my own conclusions in that area.
“What are the most popular entertainments today?
NASCAR, professional wrestling, and country western music. Not exactly mind bending activities”
Have you listened to Country Western Music lately? I detest Rap, and I cannot get into these current bands whoselyrcistrytocrameverhtingtheywantotsayintoonestanza…
I find a lot of it to be very poignant and soothing…sometimes even thought provoking…
I’ll take the positive messages of Tim McGraw’s “Live like you were Dying” and Toby Keith’s “Beer for My Horses” over The Black Eyed Peas talking about her ‘lovely lady hump’ any day…and don’t get me started about Rap…geez, everyone wanting to ‘cap’ everyone else…not my idea of entertainment…
I’d betcha anything that Hemingway would’ve been a C/W fan …
Batman, if he’s prepared.
With regard to GWB’s intellegence: though a topic that often seems to degenerate into useless ad hominem attacks, I will admit that increasingly, I’m coming around to the suggestion posited by, I think, Jon Stewart: I don’t think the president is stupid. But I think he thinks we are…
Rumpole and the Punge Bungalow Murders is great. I listened to the unabridged audio CD of it back in April, 2005. It was read by Bill Wallis. Have a fun time reading it.
Neil
http://www.toadmail.com/~nonews/2005_04_03_archive.html
By the way, you might want to hear a radio interview with Ken Jennings from KMOX on Paul Harris’ webpage at http://www.harrisonline.com/
Neil
I actually think the turkeys might stand a decent shot. Think about us. If we’re in a swarm of mosquitoes, or if you really wanna scare some people I know, bees, we’re off balance, we’re swatting at where these pests WHERE, more often than where they actually are, so, once the Rex picks up his leg to stomp on some turkeys, they gather en masse on his other leg, knock his ungainly butt over, then peck him to death, whilst discussing amongst themselves who’s going to get the Rex’s drumsticks and what to do with the wishbone. And Bill-these Kryptonian Superturkeys, what would you stuff them with? And can you buy them anywhere, or just Superfresh?
I know a woman, with a master’s degree, who was a teacher, yes, a teacher, before she retired. One Thanksgiving, we went over to her house for dinner. She was making the (Non-Kryptonian) turkey, which required cooking for twenty minutes per pound. It was a 16 pound turkey. She wrote “20” 16 times on a piece of paper next to the stove, set the timer for twenty minutes, then did that 14 more times until my high-school graduate mother told her to just multiply the weight by the cooking time. My point, other than weaving more turkeys into this discussion? College degrees don’t mean (necessarily) that a person is smart. They may know ONE TOPIC really well, but be a complete zilch in other areas. Just because Bush is a graduate doesn’t make him a hyper-intellectual. Not having one may mean nothing more than you couldn’t afford to GET one.
Know where I think the hostility toward smart people come from? Americans, as a whole, think of ourselves as VASTLY superior to the rest of the planet. We invented stuff! We did stuff! But, the vast majority of people haven’t invented stuff, haven’t done stuff, and are just riding along on others acheievements. So, you have a small group of people with superior knowledge or experience that seem able to do things the Common People couldn’t, so they are seen as Acting Like We’re Better Than The Rest Of You Slobs. People don’t like to be reminded, by and large, that there’s something they don’t know or can’t understand, so they try to belittle the ones that they see as above them. Kind of like a company that has a lot of employees. 98 per cent of those employees will resent the Boss, because he’s above them, so they make fun of him behind his back and in the bathroom.
Power and money might get you into school, but it can’t make you graduate
Sure it can. People who write your papers for you. Suggestions from Daddy that if Junior graduates, the college gets another building.
Bill Gates did pretty good as a businessman without a college degree
And a mother who served on the United Way board with IBM’s chairman. That’s how he got the MS-DOS contract that made his fortune; look it up.
Posted by: Sean Scullion at September 15, 2006 12:53 PM
And Bill-these Kryptonian Superturkeys, what would you stuff them with?
Kryptonite. Otherwise the meat is too tough to eat.
Posted by: Sean Scullion at September 15, 2006 12:53 PM
And can you buy them anywhere, or just Superfresh?
They’re an endangered species. So you can only get them through extra-legal channels.
Posted by: Sean Scullion at September 15, 2006 12:53 PM
People don’t like to be reminded, by and large, that there’s something they don’t know or can’t understand, so they try to belittle the ones that they see as above them.
I think you hit the nail right on the head, Sean.
“Heck, if all you want is the Giant Rat of Sumatra…”
Except I specifically said by Conan Doyle.
PAD
I’m just glad someone already dropped the WKRP reference. 🙂
I’m not going to get into the Bush argument, since I think my opinions on the subject are already sufficiently public to get me onto several fascinating lists.
As for “this country doesn’t value knowledge”, however, I’m going to completely agree. Look at who makes the big money, just for starters.
It even goes as far as, oh, comic books. People used to learn to read on Marvel books (way back when), and there are certainly some creators out there (PAD among them) who have no fear of complex vocabulary and the idea that readers might actually be willing to see something new. Hëll, the very first comic I remember reading (Amazing Spider-Man 164, by Len Wein and Ross Andru) drew a lot of letters a few months later because Len had misused the word “enervate.” Could you imagine any such letter getting printed these days without being a setup for something massively snarky in response?
And what’s the biggest seller Marvel has these days? New Avengers, which for the sake of being “cinematic” has gone through massively decompressed stories and far less dialogue than was previously the norm. I’m all for letting the visuals tell the story, but the dictum “keep it simple and obvious” seems to be written very large for that book.
Being educated and/or knowledgeable (yes, I realize they’re not the same thing) used to be something we as a culture aspired to. Now it’s more often dismissed as something that can be used to win trivia games and not much more.
And regardless of Bush’s intelligence or lack thereof, I think this administration has taken very open anti-intellectual stances. Bush has all but said “I know where I stand, don’t bother me with facts” on many a topic, and there has been relentless spin on topic after topic indicating that science is no more than one other “side” in a political process. Forget the facts — what matters is being able to win.
Add in the number of students, even very bright ones, who say that they “don’t read much,” and I fear we’re not much more than a generation or two away from being a post-literate society. I’m not looking forward to that.
TWL
Perhaps it has something to do with the elitist attitude of the so-called intelligentsia turning to ad hominem attacks against their political antagonists, referring to them as “knuckle draggers”. The vocabulary may be sesquipedalian, but the end result is still recieved as an, ‘Oh yeah? Well you’re stupid!’
Ah, but what would be the result of a T-Rex drinking one thousand “Wild Turkey”s? 🙂
Perhaps it has something to do with the elitist attitude
You know, I don’t know if this is a chicken-egg situation, but who came up with this “elitist attidue” bs, anyways?
Since most of those ‘elists’ are liberal college professors, I would have to guess it came from the Right.
So, who called names first? Was it the professors thinking everybody else is stupid? or was it the right-wingers telling everybody that college professors are evil liberals?
The Right certainly seems to enjoy preying on the stupidity of this country. I’m always amazed by the fact that the rich and the poor tend to be conservative, while the middle class are liberal. Why the hëll are the poor conservative? It’s Democrats who have done everything in their power to improve things for everybody as a whole.
Draw your own conclusions, I suppose.
Tim, Tim, Tim–did you really say “dropped” about the KRP reference? DROPPED? Have you no heart, man??
Something that goes hand in hand with not reading much is not being able to find something out when you want to. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they didn’t know something or where to look to find out. Has this culture become so convinced that if it isn’t instant gratification, if there’s some effort involved, it isn’t worth doing? Does this entire country want to jump to the back page of the collective mystery novel?
So, to get these Kryptonian turkeys, you have to go through extra-legal channels. But, what if I don’t WANT extra legs?
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
RJ, is it possible that the sesquipedalian exchanges between the sides is a symptom of the hostility toward the educated? For example, the Brainiac class knows that the Normals (really, just using these for the sake of arguement) EXPECTS them to speak polysyllabically, so they’re just acting to type?
Peter David: Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. Whether it’s the disdainful description of experts on topics as “geeks” or “nerds,” or the fact that a minuscule percentage of the consumer base is responsible for the vast majority of books bought, or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.
Luigi Novi: Thank you. I’ve observed this for some time too. It needs to be said.
Tim, Tim, Tim–did you really say “dropped” about the KRP reference? DROPPED? Have you no heart, man??
I’m so very sorry. I hope your sense of self-worth didn’t hit the ground like a sack of wet cement…
Something that goes hand in hand with not reading much is not being able to find something out when you want to. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they didn’t know something or where to look to find out. Has this culture become so convinced that if it isn’t instant gratification, if there’s some effort involved, it isn’t worth doing? Does this entire country want to jump to the back page of the collective mystery novel?
A great point. I make it a point with students to say “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” — I generally do it just to make it clear that (a) I don’t know everything, and (b) it’s okay not to, but your point is well taken as well.
And back to a point of Peter’s that Luigi just quoted — I’m not certain that the description as “geeks” or “nerds” is always meant disparagingly. I’ll often self-describe myself as a “physics geek”, “SF geek”, etc. As with so many things of this type, I think it depends on the mindset of the person using it (and yes, it certainly is disparaging in some cases).
(Aside: am I the only one who summed up the Trekkie/Trekker argument as “if you care that much about the label, the label itself won’t change the essential sadness of that fact”?)
TWL
Want to know the real difference between a Trekkie and a Trekker?
Trekkie has an “i”, Trekker has an “r’.
Thinking of the two Bush campains, and what I kept hearing is “They think Bush is a better candidate because he’s the kind of guy they’d like to sit and have a beer with.” I always wanted to shake these people by the shoulders and say “What do you want, someone to lead the country or someone to sit at the bar with?” Unfortunately, we found out which. Now, I personally don’t care if a president has all the personality of a bag of prunes, as long as he’s doing a decent job. The guy in the White House has the personality of a bag of prunes, but he also isn’t doing the job!
You know what defines the disparinging-ness of the word geek or nerd? The tone of voice.
I think it was Jon Stewart who said, “I don’t want my president to be my drinking partner. I want my president to be the designated driver.”
TWL
Alan Coil:
“With the recent mass retirements through buyouts of workers at GM and the soon upcoming same thing happening at Ford, there will be many more people leaving the Middle Class.”
Jeff in NC:
And why are GM and Ford needing to do this? Could it have something to do with the agreement in the past that would provide full pensions to retired people? Basic math. Joe the steering wheel attacher retires and receives full pay and benefits. GM then needs to hire Bill to do the job. It now costs the company 2x (or just a little less because we can assume that Bill isn’t making as much as Joe was) to have someone attach steering wheels.
So that would explain the multi-million dollar hirings of new executives by companies laying off line employees while also begging that courts uphold a company’s right to alter (or abolish completely) the employees’ pension plans?
Sorry, Jeff, but I’m not about to accept your “basic math” bull when a company like Ford can announce today laying off 1/3 of its white collar workers (as part of a plan/scheme to “cut costs” by 5 billion dollars by the end of 2008) while–just 10 days ago–it hires Alan Mulally as its new CEO at an annual BASE salary of 2 MILLION dollars in addition to a HIRING BONUS of 7.5 MILLION dollars PLUS 11 MILLION dollars to offset “forfeited performance and stock option awards from Boeing (his prior company) with a “variety of stock options” on top of all that. Now, how many regular workers out there in the real world–AT THE AGE OF 61–ever gets that type of compensation consideration? Hëll, how likely is it that, when you reach the age of 61, any company will offer you anything more than minimum wage, especially if the company is losing billions of dollars every year?
“Basic math” to me would suggest that a company losing a billion dollars in the past year would NOT hire a new CEO at such an exorbitant salary.
Tim does his students a HUGE favor when he tells them he doesn’t know something, but he’ll find out. Certain profeesions, teachers, scientists, doctors, et cetera, have the expectation of Knowledge with a capital Know in it. Too many teachers that I’ve had had the attitude, I’m The Teacher, What I Say Is Gospel For I Know ALL. And that goes back to my company/boss analogy from before. People don’t LIKE it when you know more than they do. But, when they need someone in these professions, and that person doesn’t have the answer, well, they can’t, I say, CAN’T be any good at their job. Too many times I’ve seen people who figure, “I’m out of school, I know all about the world, time to shut my brain down.” Just because one doesn’t know something, doesn’t mean that either it can’t be known is ins’t worth knowing. For example, today I learned the world sesquipedalian, and I can’t WAIT to use that at work. Guarantee I get a few funny looks.
A friend of mine who is a very successful animator refers to himself as a “film geek.” I know I proudly wear the label of “comic-book geek.”
It depends on who is using the word. To me, a “geek” can be a person who has committed passionately to excelling in a certain field with a singular, laser-like focus. I’ve always admired people like that and aspire to imitate them.
Yeah, I know, many people use it disparagingly. I feel badly for those people. They’ll never know the thrill of immersing themselves in a passion, the magic of discovering within themselves the capacity to excel, and of pushing themselves to their limits and beyond to accomplish something worthwhile — and maybe even contribute to stretching the boundaries of their chosen field.
You don’t have to be a superstar in a glamour field to know that thrill, by the way. You just have to be committed to something. My late grandfather was a railroad man. There wasn’t much room for him to innovate on the job. You just did what had to be done to make the trains run. When he retired, however, he spent a great deal of time reading anything he could get his hands on. He even read an entire encyclopedia set just to while away the time.
He made the acquisition of knowledge his personal passion, and his life was much richer for it.
Gore and Kerry lost, get over it already.
You know what I love about this blog?
People get into spirited debate about Kryptonian turkeys!
My day is that much brighter now.
P.S. T-Rex, cavemen and Superman win. Now Chuck Norris vs. MacGyver, that’s a debate.
Gore and Kerry lost, get over it already.
Tell that to the vast percentage of the citizenry who disapprove of W’s job performance.
Major case of buyer’s regret there.
Jeff in NC:
You are for sure deluded if you think that an auto worker gets full pay after he retires. I don’t have the exact numbers, but the annual retirement pay for an auto worker is around $15,000. The health benefits are also reduced after retirement and go away completely when the federal programs start.
“The problem is that many democrats consider themselves smarter than anyone else..thus everyone else is stupid.”
This Democrat IS smarter than average, but I don’t assume that everybody else is stupid. If you know anything about statistics, you know that most people are in a large group near the center. That means that only those with the lowest IQ ratings are stupid.
“The plumber that will come over to fix your waterheater and charges $60 per hour probably doesn’t have a college degree.”
I agree that not everyone needs a college degree. But the lack of properly educated people leads to the current situation where foreign born workers are moving top the US to get high paying jobs. (And don’t come back to me with that weak-assed thought of illegal immigrants don’t get high paying jobs; I’m talking about properly trained professionals.)
Posted by: Eric! at September 15, 2006 02:53 PM
Gore and Kerry lost, get over it already.
Eric!, I’m afraid you’re an example of exactly what Peter is talking about.
What you’re saying is, “Don’t reflect, don’t analyze, don’t think — just focus on what’s in front of you at this moment.”
Some people recognize the need to do more than that. Some of us want to understand things, so we can be in the driver’s seat of life rather than the passenger’s seat.
But, hey, you can ride in the passenger’s seat if you wish. If you don’t like where the driver takes you, though, he may tell you…
“Get over it.” And you’ll have no choice in the matter.
“Tim, Tim, Tim–did you really say “dropped” about the KRP reference? DROPPED? Have you no heart, man??
I’m so very sorry. I hope your sense of self-worth didn’t hit the ground like a sack of wet cement…”
Should that happen, they’ll probably be blown away by the Godless tornado.
“Thinking of the two Bush campaigns, and what I kept hearing is “They think Bush is a better candidate because he’s the kind of guy they’d like to sit and have a beer with.” I always wanted to shake these people by the shoulders and say “What do you want, someone to lead the country or someone to sit at the bar with?””
Blame part of it on television. Campaigns have become less about who is best qualified to lead, but instead who do people feel at ease aobut “letting into their homes.” They choose presidents the same way they choose what to watch on a Thursday night: By comfort level.
PAD
Posted by: Queen Anthai at September 15, 2006 03:03 PM
You know what I love about this blog?
People get into spirited debate about Kryptonian turkeys!
Pre-Crisis Kryptonian turkeys, no less.
I am far less familiar with Post-Crisis Kryptonian turkeys. I presume they are less powerful and very confused about their origins.