Friday, October 29, 2010

Lambda Lamda Lamda

Wondering why China has the world's fastest super-computer? Wondering why U.S. students rank so low in science and math scores relative to other countries, lagging behind such academic powerhouses as Latvia, Hungary, and Kazakhstan? Wondering why the manned U.S. space program relies on technology (with a few upgrades here and there) developed in the 70's? Wondering why the last person to step foot on the moon did so almost 40 years ago?

I think I may have found the answer. Our friend below, known only as "Red Shirt Guy," is shown here during some sort of video-game convention questioning the creators of World of Warcraft on some inconsistencies that he found puzzling. What's World of Warcraft? Ask a 14 year old boy...




Bravo, Red Shirt Guy! Here's what happened, in a nutshell, from Yahoo!'s Plugged-In...

For those not versed in the intricacies of Warcraft lore (*meekly raises hand*), The Red Shirt Guy's question concerns the status of the character Falstad Wildhammer. Apparently, Falstad's appearance in the World of Warcraft book "The Shattering" -- a prelude to the coming Warcraft game expansion,Cataclysm -- indicates that he's sitting on a certain council, while the designers mistakenly believed the character to be long dead. Whoops! Guess keeping track of a fantasy franchise as massive as Warcraft isn't as easy as it looks.


Can you imagine the hours upon hours Red Shirt Guy must have spent playing the game and studying it's intricacies to be able to point out such an oversight to the game's creators? Can you imagine the commitment to so singular a purpose?

The most sublime moment, for me, was the big cheer Red Shirt Guy received from his nerd peers at the end of the clip. In times past, nerds would generally reserve that sort of adulation for the winner of the science fair or a spelling bee.

I'm not using the term "nerd" in a derogatory sense. Oh no, far from it. Nerds made this country great. Nerds (and the Cold War) kept the U.S. at the forefront of every major scientific advance of the 20th century. For every hot-shot test pilot climbing into an X-1 or a Mercury capsule, there was room after room filled with nerds wielding their slide rules with gusto and flair. Watch "Apollo 13." You'll see a mission control room full of nerds getting s@#% done!

Nerds nowadays? Instead of trying to build a better baking soda/vinegar volcano, they're trying to become a Level 20 elf-wizard. If Red Shirt Guy put as much time into his homework that he does playing, interpreting, and dissecting video games, he'd have earned his first Fields Medal.

And so I am left wondering when "Made in China" becomes "Made in America"




7 comments:

  1. Excellent post. Some American kids on YouTube boast of never reading books and boast of having no interest in History or Geography. In the UK they have had to make exams easier and easier so that at least some people will pass, assuming they can scribble a few lines of nonsense.

    - Aangirfan

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  2. AJ,

    The simple answer to your question is the inevitable progressive decay of a government monopoly on the delivery of publicly funded "education".

    Adopting a Socialist model for the delivery of said "education" was the single biggest mistake this country ever made. Every problem we currently face can -- directly or indirectly -- be traced back to that one mistake.

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  3. Aangirfan - Thanks. Geography, especially, kids, and many adults are clueless.

    SBVOR - Let's not let shitty parents off the hook. I would expect someone as educated yourself should to at least admit that an education, whether public or private, is only as good as parent involvement. Did you hear about the "NJ Teachers Gone Wild" video?

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  4. "The most sublime moment, for me, was the big cheer Red Shirt Guy received from his nerd peers at the end of the clip. In times past, nerds would generally reserve that sort of adulation for the winner of the science fair or a spelling bee."

    Now AJ, look on the positive side! You know that they aren't watching Jersey Shore or The Kardashians! Besides, they will eventually discover girls-and sex, get married, contribute to society, and give up WOW or be regulated to playing it in their basements on weekends.

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  5. "I would expect someone as educated yourself should to at least admit that an education, whether public or private, is only as good as parent involvement."

    Back in the day, parental involvement was far less necessary. My parents were involved only to the extent of providing me with a very tiny sliding scale financial reward for making good grades. It was truly just a token gesture, but it motivated me.

    Today, if a child is the victim of a public school, parental involvement is -- regrettably -- the child's only hope.

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  6. Motivation is the key to the child's success. I only have to look at my own kids to know that they had the same education, and same parental involvement but are vastly different because of genetics. Some children are going to be a 4.0 no matter where they attend, and some are going to tell you lunch and recess is the favorite subject. Interestingly, early emotional success is just as important as academic.

    AJ, I tried that bribing thing with my oldest and a friend told me she just beats hers when she doesn't get a good enough grade. Need to find out which prison she's in to ask how it turned out;-)

    Can't write more, I need to pee.

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  7. Nature vs. Nurture...Like anything, it's a combination of the two. You can't put a frog in an ideal environment and expect it to learn trig, but the greatest potential can be stifled in the worst environment.

    See SBVOR, your parents' involvement still meant something.

    SIN - most states have an online prison registry so I'm sure you can follow up with your friends black sheep.

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