ARE YOU AN INTELLECTUAL? Why not?

by Terry 102 Replies latest jw friends

  • UnConfused
    UnConfused

    Terry apparently you are out of touch with current practices in the school system. Children such as you described are accompanied by teacher's aids or full time help. The actual teacher's aren't changing diapers as you described.

    Honestly Terry you are pretty full of yourself for a bookstore clerk.

  • cognizant dissident
    cognizant dissident

    "Learning impaired" is a more accurate description than "retarded" or "mongoloid". (seeing as most learning disabled people on this continent don't originate in Mongolia)

    If we examine how the mentally challenged were treated 100 years ago, often institutionalized and treated worse than animals, when in fact, they are capable of learning some things if the time is taken to teach them, then I would say that the current system of caring for the disabled, is much improved over the former. At least they are treated like human beings now and given every chance to learn to the limits of their capabilities.

    That has nothing to do with Political Correctness in my book. It is simply humanitarian compassion. A gifted child will not be held back by being forced to sit in the same classroom as someone who is mentally disabled. Perhaps it will even serve as a valuable adjunct to their education, inspiring them to a life of service and helping others perhaps in the fields of genetics or medicine. At the very least, it could help them to appreciate their own gifts more deeply and have compassion for those who don't share them.

    Cog

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    What always gets me is the children who have perfectly fine minds but bodies they can't control. Like cerebral palsy. Or say, someone like Stephen Hawking.

    http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1060985&auth=Kevin%20Maimann%20(Examiner%20staff )

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D0CE7DB1338F937A15750C0A96E958260

  • Terry
    Terry
    Terry apparently you are out of touch with current practices in the school system. Children such as you described are accompanied by teacher's aids or full time help. The actual teacher's aren't changing diapers as you described.

    Honestly Terry you are pretty full of yourself for a bookstore clerk.

    My former wife was a teacher in the Ft.Worth Public School system. My information is directly from her. Maybe she is "out of touch" as a current teacher in the school system. She gave me daily doses of the tragedy of what is destroying the public schools. I must assume she was either lying to me or distorting the truth if I am to accept your premise.

    As to being "full of myself"......I assume you mean I am thinking thoughts I'm not allowed to think because of my employment.

    What a very strange standard you impose!

  • UnConfused
    UnConfused

    As someone very involved in my children's school in the recent past and a member of the school board I can tell you that what you described is not the SOP at public schools in this area.

    As to my other comment, it's how you present yourself. You seem to want to draw attention to your thoughts for the purpose of attention - to quote you:
    "I, myself, dazzled on purpose to attract attention. I couldn't help it."

    It shows in the way you discuss things.

  • Terry
    Terry
    As to my other comment, it's how you present yourself. You seem to want to draw attention to your thoughts for the purpose of attention - to quote you:
    "I, myself, dazzled on purpose to attract attention. I couldn't help it."

    It shows in the way you discuss things.

    Well, fair enough.

    I'll tell you this. It is very difficult to get people to engage in real discussion. I see lots of what I'd term "fluff" threads that go on and on and on.

    More power to the people who enjoy them. I've started a few myself :)

    But--unless I find a way of stimulating a conversation---triggering people's emotional wellsprings--the thread topic dies.

    Getting my ideas across is largely stylistic. My style probably annoys you. That's fine. I can't blame you.

    But--I do get more back and forth if I don't buttercup my words and snuggle cozily in the arms of those who disagree with me :)

    I find it very interesting when people seem to spontaneously go into anger mode when a topic is breached which threatens their world view.

    There are a lot of Ad Hominems flying around JWD.

    How do I view that? An utter inability to self-express!

    It is like people who use profanity instead of actually saying something. Simply laziness and a tired mind.

    If you look up the backlog of topics I've introduced on JWD from the beginning you'll see a rather vast (if I do say so myself) subject matter.

    The ones that died were often favorites. The ones that went on for pages often surprised me.

    The only reason I enjoy coming back for more is engaging somebody else's views, somebody else's intellect and somebody else's intelligence which allows me to see where I am dead wrong.

    Narkissos, Alan F, Hillary_Step are three examples of people who never fail to stop me dead in my tracks. I love it---and I love them for that.

    They are each--in their own way--dazzling minds! I don't fault them for it.

    I'd love to be in that rarefied category of thinker--but--alas, I'm not. I never got farther than High School.

  • Open mind
    Open mind

    Sorry I wasn't very available for the last few days.

    OK, Terry, I'll plunge back in again.

    I accuse both of us of using the same debating tactic:


    Take the opponents assertion to the absolute extreme.

    Me with the disabled child of poor parents and you with homeless people being allowed to sack out on my couch uninvited.

    Many ideas that have some merit become horribly twisted monstrosities when taken to the extreme. Actually, I think it's one good way to see if an idea has unforseen flaws or consequences.

    The opposing ideas here, as I see it, are:

    A. Reward the producers and creators and let the slackers starve vs. B. Government as Momma.

    Both ideas have merit, IMO, and both can be horrible if taken too far.

    I'll even venture a political comment here: The perpetuation of Democrats vs. Republicans in the U.S. helps keep either camp from going to far. Bleeding heart liberal vs. hard-core capitalist. Certainly not an original thought on my part, but I think it makes sense.

    One other Achilles heel of Objectivism is monopoly. Monopoly is fine according to Rand as long as you didn't get there through unethical means. Do you think there should be any governmental controls on monopoly?

    om

  • flipper
    flipper

    No. Because I'm stupid

  • Hope4Others
    Hope4Others
    No. Because I'm stupid . Peace out, Mr. Flipper

    What kind of talk is that????

    Charm, wit, and charisma along with kindness & understanding of others

    goes along way over extreme intelligence any day....

    Cheers

    hope4others

  • TMS
    TMS

    "Narkissos, Alan F, Hillary_Step are three examples of people who never fail to stop me dead in my tracks. I love it---and I love them for that.

    They are each--in their own way--dazzling minds! I don't fault them for it.

    I'd love to be in that rarefied category of thinker--but--alas, I'm not. I never got farther than High School."

    Terry,

    Self-deprecation aside, you're not intellectually inferior to the three you mention. I'm certain you've visited other forums and held your own with individuals holding advanced degrees. JWD is atypical, with a greater sampling of machismo and comeuppance. Do you remember JW pickup basketball games,how competitive they were? Knock down, drag out! All those frustrated JW's trying to prove what they could have been if restrictions and limitations of "serving Jehovah" hadn't stifled, squashed and squelched them? Unused or undisplayed intellectual muscles have to be flexed too.

    I'm certain that if you ever had the opportunity to eat lunch in Cowtown with your ex-wife at the teacher's table, you quickly realized you were not overmatched intellectually despite working at a book store. Honesty, Terry, weren't some of those teachers and administrators pretty dim bulbs?

    "Never getting farther than high school" can be worn like a badge, like an athlete who has never taken steroids. Imagine what I could have done with performance enhancers! I could have been a contender!

    tms

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