Posted on 03/14/2017 5:22:00 PM PDT by simpson96
“These damned kids! In my day we were free to think and speak, and didn’t have chips implanted in our heads so that every time we remembered how good it used to b’ (bzzzzzt) ...what was I talking about?”
That’s the statement that Freeper used that I was referring to. That statement sounded similar to the chips that were implanted in peoples’ heads in “Harrison Bergeron”.
I thought that was what you were referring to when you stated that you didn’t understand his statement. I apologize if I was wrong.
Makes sense, but I hold with: “Once upon a time, when Roman numerals were used by the actual Roman Empire, the name of the Romans’ supreme deity, Jupiter, was spelled as IVPPITER in Latin. Hesitant to put part of the god’s name on a sundial or in accounting books, IIII became the preferred representation of four. Of course, IVPPITER wasn’t being worshipped much by the time clocks and watches replaced sundials, but clockmakers may have stuck with IIII just for the sake of tradition.”
Reminds me of the people who pine for slide rules.
Analog clocks are representative of the planet's rotation on its axis - as vivid an image for the passage of time that can be imagined. It also merges that image with another one - the moving shadow of a sundial.
These are foundational concepts, without which the numerals on a digital timepiece mean *nothing*. Give it a few years and the terms "noon" and "midnight" will also become faded and outdated (beyond the relation to the "12:00" digital display).
But hey, it's not like we expect kids to grow up and pursue careers in the sciences anymore, right?
I had one of those Big Ben alarm clocks that you had to wind up, the large version.
Remember those? It sounded like a school bell going off.
No rolling over and ‘hitting the snooze’: you jumped out of bed and threw it against a wall.
I made my (home educated) sons have analog watches until they were teens because they would forget how to tell time on them. They could tell time then, and they still can today.
Another arrogant and delusional “either -or” Twit??
I bet most kids can’t use an abacus or an old IBM selectric typewriter either especially changing the ribbon. I don’t think it matters a bit that kids don’t know how to read a clock. Not necessary today at all. 15 years ago I’d have to change 8 clocks throughout the house. Today not one of my clocks has hands to change. All digital and 5 change automatically. Most don’t have a grandfather clock anymore.
Why isn't there a comma after "Penny"? It's the Oxford Comma Rule, and yours is an example where it makes sense.
Also try associating say you pin number or SS number with every day things you do routinely
For instance, you could associate 042-68-4425 with dung that visibly attracts flies.
Within its limits, the abacus can arrive at an exact answer.
Within its limits, the slide rule can give an approximate answer to a wider range of problems.
But both are primarily valuable as antiques, along with the Curta.
I could tell time when I was 4 - never did get into wearing a watch though, always surrounded by clocks and access to the time and my internal clock keeps me “close enough” when I’m not withing easy sight/hearing of the time. Not to mention I hate wearing jewelry - wedding band is the whole works and that only because I believe I owe my wife the physical symbol being on display.
“...because they didn’t know what a clock face looked like.”
You are right, I never thought about it. Growing up in the 50’s we had a cardboard clock in school as an education tool. To this day when some one inquires or I inquire someone about the time, that elementary school clock flashes in my brain.
And more. The Luddites at the Naval Academy are again requiring the Midshipmen to learn celestial navigation using a sextant! How ancient is that instrument, but still relevant in the uncertain world of today.
You think Maybe they know something ?
[[ Why isn’t there a comma after “Penny”?]]
Because I;m commaphobic
[[For instance, you could associate 042-68-4425 with dung that visibly attracts flies.]]
Whatever works- the more silly hte better your mind will recall it later-
How to gain cover, use a compass, use a bow, fish, prepare wild meat to eat, make a cooking fire, hand signal, stitch yourself, make a shelter...
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Robert A. Heinlein
"Time Enough For Love" (1973)
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