Maybe the old man is just voicing his discrete jealousness. Jealous by the fact that he had to grow up in a word where he needed to swallow books in order to be told he had to become something or someone. He’s probably a little frustrated too that young people these days get it so easy – everything is struggle-less. In which case I don’t blame the old man for his little jealousy.
In regards to the Chinese and Indians; they’re always successful on what they call the heavy subjects I.e. maths & science.
Voltage wrote:This is because a Chinese teacher would write an equation on the board and have his students memorize it but an American teacher would explain the theory and have his students formulate it on the board. Americans don't memorize, period. And that is what India and China do. Also real intelligence as understood in the West is the Liberal arts. Liberal arts is what actually broadens the minds and make it become "intelligent". An American with a strong liberal art background and middle tier math/science is probably more inventive and leaves a more trans-formative footstep in the current knowledge of even science and math than a Chinese/Indian held hostage to his programmed mind even with a better grasp of math/science.
The thing is, America and other advance western civilisations can afford to absorb information holistically and take all sorts of knowledge with broadened views and interconnected points. Back in the 1800 century the forefathers and pioneers of modern science were just like the Chinese and Indians now. Men and women we’re literally told to swallow books in order to succeed. They spent hours in reading information and memorizing them. Years of this practice lead to the inevitable creative thought processes. You cannot add onto information without the basic information to begin with. Many of the pioneers of modern science were European Caucasian men who when growing up were taught this method of learning. Only after memorizing and collecting this information did they break-through with the theories and experiments we now owe them for. China and India are growing economies with enormous populations and growing material demand. They simply don’t have time for, this “Liberal arts” way of thinking. They need hard knowledge that’s going to catapult their economies and finances. Many of the parents of Indian and Chinese students often discourage their kids from even picking up subjects that are not heavy subjects. Things like literature or politics are just not on the table.
