Stupid Is the New Smart

[Ace-Garageguy]

                                                

[Snake45]

I've noticed over the last few years that reading comprehension seems to be a dying skill. (It's not as bad here as some other websites I could name.) 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I've noticed over the last few years that reading comprehension seems to be a dying skill. (It's not as bad here as some other websites I could name.) 

Approximately 80 percent of NYC high school grads can’t read well enough for community college

2013 article here:   http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/08/about-80-percent-of-nyc-high-school-grads-cant-read-well-enough-for-community-college/

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

You can't make this stuff up. Jumping disproves gravity. Okayyyyyyyy..

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?

ARTICLE HERE...WRITTEN BY A TEACHER:      https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-first-impression/201402/why-can-t-college-students-write-anymore

[Ace-Garageguy]

An Open Note to Anyone Reading this Thread:

From time to time, people have accused me of posting this stuff to make fun of others and build up my own poor pathetic ego at the expense of idiots, or harping on "doom and gloom" when everything's really just fine.

Feel free to think that if you want.

The truth, however, is something quite different.

What I'm actually trying to do is to make more people...PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH KIDS... aware, here and on every venue I have access to, that the declining literacy and reading comprehension rates in this country, coupled with a widespread ignorance of much of what used to be known as "common knowledge" and basic math and science, is going to have grave consequences for America's future, and the futures of young people who will be entering the work force, aka "the real world", over the next few years.

The ability to read and UNDERSTAND what you've read, and to be able to WRITE well opens doors to well-paid jobs. Even people with so-called "manual" skills...mechanics, carpenters, electricians...need to be able to read and understand technical instructions, specifications, and related documents. Basic math and science, which translates to understanding how the physical world works, and the critical-thinking skills that let you apply that knowledge to problem-solving, are also tremendously important.

From what I can tell from working with many younger "technical" people, and from just about EVERYTHING I read on the subject, these skills and knowledge-base just aren't being delivered by primary education.

This isn't "doom and gloom". This is a REAL AND SERIOUS PROBLEM, and we need to wake up, face it, and start fixing it.

 

 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

From what I can tell from working with many younger "technical" people, and from just about EVERYTHING I read on the subject, these skills and knowledge-base just aren't being delivered by primary education.

This isn't "doom and gloom". This is a REAL AND SERIOUS PROBLEM, and we need to wake up, face it, and start fixing it.

 

Not just primary education, but secondary and even college-level as well.

Yup, it's a problem. Good luck trying to get it fixed. We're getting stupider and stupider because the powers-that-be WANT us stupid.

[Ace-Garageguy]

15 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

...Yup, it's a problem. Good luck trying to get it fixed. We're getting stupider and stupider because the powers-that-be WANT us stupid.

The way I see it, it's more a problem of public apathy than anything else. 

Nobody seems to care.

We still have, in name anyway, "government of the people, for the people, and by the people". The government is still somewhat responsive to the will of the people.

But due to the focus of the majority on bread-and-circuses, and a prevailing "let somebody else deal with it" attitude, plus the widespread acceptance that whatever the schools see fit to vomit out is OK because they're the "experts",  we're going to get to a point where there just aren't enough capable people left to fix it...or anything.

THEN where are we gonna be?

[High octane]

I understand what you're saying as I've worked with guys who couldn't read a blueprint and even know where on the blueprint they were standing on a wide open floor on a new construction job. In other words if I took someone who couldn't read a blueprint and took them to a jobsite, gave them the blueprint and materials they wouldn't know where to start. And these guys were making the same money as I was, and it wasn't there very first day on the job either.

[cowboy rich]

3 hours ago, High octane said:

I understand what you're saying as I've worked with guys who couldn't read a blueprint and even know where on the blueprint they were standing on a wide open floor on a new construction job. In other words if I took someone who couldn't read a blueprint and took them to a jobsite, gave them the blueprint and materials they wouldn't know where to start. And these guys were making the same money as I was, and it wasn't there very first day on the job either.

Probably that same guy that carries a tape measure with the 1/8 th's marked out.? Been there seen that, they never last.

[Xingu]

18 hours ago, High octane said:

I understand what you're saying as I've worked with guys who couldn't read a blueprint and even know where on the blueprint they were standing on a wide open floor on a new construction job. In other words if I took someone who couldn't read a blueprint and took them to a jobsite, gave them the blueprint and materials they wouldn't know where to start. And these guys were making the same money as I was, and it wasn't there very first day on the job either.

I have been designing fire sprinkler systems for about 35 years, so I spend a lot of time on construction sites. In the past 5-8 years I have been pointing out/correcting problems for other trades and even for project superintendents working for the GC. They cannot read/understand the prints. It amazes me that folks cannot think in 3D, even when they are standing on the jobsite and looking at the space they need to install their equipment.

I once had to attend about a dozen design meetings for a hospital project. They were designing a high end, very powerful MRI room and were continually doing 3D modeling to ensure everything would fit. From about the 2nd meeting on, I was explaining that there physically isn't enough (height) room on this floor to install what they were proposing. At the end, when they finally thought they had everything crammed into this tiny space and were patting themselves on the back, I asked them how they were going to open the door. They had pipes and equipment run so low, on both sides, that the door would need to be less than 6'-0" tall. Project got scraped after wasting well over $100,000 and they all looked at me like I was evil.

[High octane]

2 hours ago, Xingu said:

I have been designing fire sprinkler systems for about 35 years, so I spend a lot of time on construction sites. In the past 5-8 years I have been pointing out/correcting problems for other trades and even for project superintendents working for the GC. They cannot read/understand the prints. It amazes me that folks cannot think in 3D, even when they are standing on the jobsite and looking at the space they need to install their equipment.

I once had to attend about a dozen design meetings for a hospital project. They were designing a high end, very powerful MRI room and were continually doing 3D modeling to ensure everything would fit. From about the 2nd meeting on, I was explaining that there physically isn't enough (height) room on this floor to install what they were proposing. At the end, when they finally thought they had everything crammed into this tiny space and were patting themselves on the back, I asked them how they were going to open the door. They had pipes and equipment run so low, on both sides, that the door would need to be less than 6'-0" tall. Project got scraped after wasting well over $100,000 and they all looked at me like I was evil.

Hospitals are bad news as there is NEVER enough room above the ceiling to cram everything in. There's SO much stuff up there that one can't even stick their head up there to have a look see. On the other hand the architect thinks he did a great job as it looks good on paper. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:03 AM, High octane said:

 ... the architect thinks he did a great job as it looks good on paper. 

And the engineers and everyone else in the chain of events that led to this (yesterday) thought they did a fine job too...6 people dead.

[Tom Geiger]

On 3/9/2018 at 10:46 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

What I'm actually trying to do is to make more people...PARTICULARLY PEOPLE WITH KIDS... aware, here and on every venue I have access to, that the declining literacy and reading comprehension rates in this country, coupled with a widespread ignorance of much of what used to be known as "common knowledge" and basic math and science, is going to have grave consequences for America's future, and the futures of young people who will be entering the work force, aka "the real world", over the next few years.

 

 

and here's how this goes...

There is a training program within a large international company.  The USA locations often complain when assigned the training, stating that it's difficult and nobody below the level of manager should need to be involved.  In Europe, the same thing, plus they want the entire program translated into their host languages.

In China about 20% of the workforce is actively learning in the program. Three completions of the on-line training today alone.  IN ENGLISH. By people who have never been outside of China.  Level?  These are equipment mechanics and shop floor operators.   Be afraid. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Tom Geiger

[Snake45]

8 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

And the engineers and everyone else in the chain of events that led to this (yesterday) thought they did a fine job too...6 people dead.

Why did they need a $14 million pedestrian bridge there anyway? I see stoplights and a perfectly good walkway about 50 feet away. I suspect somebody's pockets got lined with public "infrastructure" funds. 

[Rob Hall]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Why did they need a $14 million pedestrian bridge there anyway? I see stoplights and a perfectly good walkway about 50 feet away. I suspect somebody's pockets got lined with public "infrastructure" funds. 

Maybe it was planned to get the pedestrian menace up above the traffic of an 8 lane street, make them less of a target to oblivious drivers. 

[High octane]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Why did they need a $14 million pedestrian bridge there anyway? I see stoplights and a perfectly good walkway about 50 feet away. I suspect somebody's pockets got lined with public "infrastructure" funds. 

Stoplights and walkways? People are too busy lookin' at their iPhones to cross the street properly. They're like the "walking dead." They are freakin' dangerous to people who drive and have to watch out for them. Guess they're special?

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Maybe it was planned to get the pedestrian menace up above the traffic of an 8 lane street, make them less of a target to oblivious drivers. 

How long would it have taken for six of them to be killed? I'm guessing somewhat longer than five days. 

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, High octane said:

Stoplights and walkways? People are too busy lookin' at their iPhones to cross the street properly. They're like the "walking dead." They are freakin' dangerous to people who drive and have to watch out for them. Guess they're special?

In the old days, people would have said, "The herd must be thinned." 

[Ace-Garageguy]

A continuing condemnation of sloppy engineering and lack of necessary and critical internal oversight in place on the part of the company that built the bridge is in order. It appears a 90-ton segment of a CAR bridge they were building collapsed DURING CONSTRUCTION in 2012.

BOTH structures appear to be what's referred to as "prestressed" concrete, a construction method that's been well understood for MANY years. My father was an engineer on civil and industrial projects, and he introduced me to the way prestressed concrete beams are supposed to work when I was a little kid.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestressed_concrete

MANY of the bridges a lot of us travel over every day are built using this material. It works GREAT when it's designed and fabricated CORRECTLY.

Also, the Florida pedestrian bridge was intended to be supported additionally be a network of suspension cables. WHY the main span was not supported until the suspension members were in place is anybody's guess.

Being an idiot is not an option for engineers, but it seems to be a characteristic that's creeping in to the profession.

 

[Xingu]

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the engineers (even though it may actually end up being them at fault). When I first saw this story, my gut told me it was corruption. No real reason why but that it what i thought. I will wait for the investigation to be concluded, but I am going to guess a few members of the construction company and a city official or two are going to prison.

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 minutes ago, Xingu said:

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the engineers (even though it may actually end up being them at fault). When I first saw this story, my gut told me it was corruption. No real reason why but that it what i thought. I will wait for the investigation to be concluded, but I am going to guess a few members of the construction company and a city official or two are going to prison.

I'll give you that point, but only to a point.

Any engineering company worth having the word "engineering" in its name has to have some kind of "engineering oversight" to make certain the design specs are followed.

That was actually my father's job for most of his career...looking over everyone's shoulder to make certain things were built as-designed.

I remember vividly when he had the masonry contractor tear a wall down on a press building because it looked like it was built by a bunch of drunks (I was working as a draftsman for the mechanical contractor on that project, while I was still in school).

He had to deal with his share of corruption, too. Imagine building a brewery in Newark in the 1960s.

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

And here's the latest. No definitive evidence as yet whether the crack actually DID play any role in the collapse, but it's starting to sound a little like the O-rings on the shuttle Challenger engines. 

"FIU says it was aware of crack on bridge before it collapsed"

"FIU said in a statement Saturday that the University had met hours before the fatal accident with engineers and the state’s Department of Transportation for two hours to discuss whether a crack on the structure was a safety risk.

The meeting concluded there were quote 'no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge.' "

[Ace-Garageguy]

From The Washington Post:

"A lead engineer responsible for a pedestrian bridge that collapsed near Miami left a voice mail for a state transportation official warning of 'some cracking' two days before the structure crashed, state officials said Friday night.

The engineer with the private contractor FIGG Bridge Engineers did not consider it a safety issue, he said in the call. The message was not retrieved until Friday because the Florida Department of Transportation official to whom the voice mail was directed was out of the office on assignment, the state agency said. The message about the bridge being built to connect Florida International University with a neighboring city was left on a land line.

'Hey Tom, this is Denney Pate with FIGG bridge engineers. Calling to, uh, share with you some information about the FIU pedestrian bridge and some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span, the pylon end of that span we moved this weekend,' the engineer said, according to a transcript of the call released by the Florida Department of Transportation.

'Um, so, uh, we’ve taken a look at it and, uh, obviously some repairs or whatever will have to be done but from a safety perspective we don’t see that there’s any issue there so we’re not concerned about it from that perspective although obviously the cracking is not good and something’s going to have to be, ya know, done to repair that.' "