Periodic table, evolution cut from Indian textbooks

dw.com ^ | 6-2-23 | Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

[ChessExpert]

All or none? That’s a false dichotomy. The periodic table and Pythagorean theorem have value in themselves and as examples of scientific and mathematical reason. Evolution, global warming, climate change, “safe and effective” (mRNA) vaccines, have purposes that are other than scientific.

[ChessExpert]

Reminds me of the cubicle sticker “Answers will cost you. Dumb looks are still free.”

[GingisK]

Case tools. There is a blast from the past. Then there were the code generator days and the application-specific languages. Most of that morphed into SED and AWK scripts. The things change the more they stay the same.

[GreyFriar]

It will be place in their ‘female health’ books as part of their education on their mensural cycles.

[ChessExpert]

“If they concentrate solely on computer science, they may end up with horrible communication skills.”

I think most people can and should have well-rounded skills.

I’ve known a few people with math phobia. I also had a friend who was good at math and science, but absolutely dreaded the prospect of taking a mandatory English class and writing an essay. I cannot understand or explain these mental blocks.

There are low IQ people. I have had little exposure to them. Some cases probably have discernable medical roots. I assume most are due to a deficient education, starting in the home and continuing in school (or the lack thereof).

What about highly intelligent people? Some at least are very well rounded. Some young chess grandmasters are very articulate and smart people. Bobby Fischer was a chess genius. He had a high self-regard but could not sing as well as he thought, and his political views were ludicrous. I believe Einstein’s views on politics may have been little better. The genius in all things probably does not exist.

[FarCenter]

The periodic table can be dispensed with, so long as you teach how electrons populate shells surrounding the nucleus. Basic atomic theory makes more sense than the periodic table.

And generally, discussions of Mendeleev, Faraday, and Darwin are irrelevant. You need to teach the current understanding of chemistry, electromagnetism, and evolution — the latter through molecular biology and ecology, rather than Galapagos Islands finch beaks.

[higgmeister]

I read this OP article and I need to tell you that I saw a doctor this afternoon.   The subject came up about how she has modified her methods from what they were twenty five years ago when she started her practice.   She said that back then someone who was seventy only had three years of life ahead of them so if her patient was not suffering or complaining she did not advocate taking excessive measures to cure a minor problem.   But now that lifespans have lengthened from medical technological breakthroughs she will discusa patient measures that will go in depth to resolve issues.   I replied that the medical advances seem to happen every day for the better.   She grimaced and seemed to age a few years, then said, sometimes she wished she were my age because some of the medical advances nowadays are not for the good.

Here is the point of this comment. She said she will never go in Target again and had cut up all of her Red Cards.

One Doctor willing to call out a cohort of Doctors who don't abide by their Hippocratic Oath.

As an important step in becoming a doctor, medical students must take the Hippocratic Oath. And one of the promises within that oath is "first, do no harm" (or "primum non nocere," the Latin translation from the original Greek.)

[jimwatx]

“The periodic table can be dispensed with, so long as you teach how electrons populate shells surrounding the nucleus. Basic atomic theory makes more sense than the periodic table.”

I still remember my first week in a college level chemistry class one of the first things we learned was that electrons didn’t move in those concentric circles we were shown in high school, but rather each orbital varied vastly from a barbell shape to other odd patterns. Then we had to use calculus to figure out the probable location of those electrons at a given point in time. I remember thinking to myself exactly what is the point of this. That was my first clue that chemistry wasn’t going to be as much fun as I had thought. My uncle who has a PhD in organic chemistry agrees with me that the way they teach the subject can turn students off. All that memorization in organic chem, ect. I wound up switching majors eventually.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yeah I can kinda understand that perspective, but I still think it behooves one to have a certain general knowledge of the world in general and how it operates before one delves into specialization.

That is why I am teaching my children to be generalist not specialists. You become a specialist later, maybe. But you should have a broad base of general knowledge to draw on.

Because when life throws curves at you, and it always does, you need to be able to shift on the fly. And you never know what bit of knowledge will come in useful.

[Aut Pax Aut Bellum]

They only need to learn to call the US and pretend that they are an IRS agent...

[Mr. K]

Care to sell??

[dljordan]

“Care to sell??”

:) Not at this time.