The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books - The Atlantic - "College kids have never read everything they’re assigned, of course, but this feels different. Dames’s students now seem bewildered by the thought of finishing multiple books a semester. His colleagues have noticed the same problem. Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books. This development puzzled Dames until one day during the fall 2022 semester, when a first-year student came to his office hours to share how challenging she had found the early assignments. Lit Hum often requires students to read a book, sometimes a very long and dense one, in just a week or two. But the student told Dames that, at her public high school, she had never been required to read an entire book. She had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover... Twenty years ago, Dames’s classes had no problem engaging in sophisticated discussions of Pride and Prejudice one week and Crime and Punishment the next. Now his students tell him up front that the reading load feels impossible. It’s not just the frenetic pace; they struggle to attend to small details while keeping track of the overall plot. No comprehensive data exist on this trend, but the majority of the 33 professors I spoke with relayed similar experiences... Anthony Grafton, a Princeton historian, said his students arrive on campus with a narrower vocabulary and less understanding of language than they used to have. There are always students who “read insightfully and easily and write beautifully,” he said, “but they are now more exceptions.” Jack Chen, a Chinese-literature professor at the University of Virginia, finds his students “shutting down” when confronted with ideas they don’t understand; they’re less able to persist through a challenging text than they used to be. Daniel Shore, the chair of Georgetown’s English department, told me that his students have trouble staying focused on even a sonnet. Failing to complete a 14-line poem without succumbing to distraction suggests one familiar explanation for the decline in reading aptitude: smartphones... “Being bored has become unnatural.” Reading books, even for pleasure, can’t compete with TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. In 1976, about 40 percent of high-school seniors said they had read at least six books for fun in the previous year, compared with 11.5 percent who hadn’t read any. By 2022, those percentages had flipped. But middle- and high-school kids appear to be encountering fewer and fewer books in the classroom as well... Mike Szkolka, a teacher and an administrator who has spent almost two decades in Boston and New York schools, told me that excerpts have replaced books across grade levels... In a recent EdWeek Research Center survey of about 300 third-to-eighth-grade educators, only 17 percent said they primarily teach whole texts. An additional 49 percent combine whole texts with anthologies and excerpts. But nearly a quarter of respondents said that books are no longer the center of their curricula. One public-high-school teacher in Illinois told me that she used to structure her classes around books but now focuses on skills, such as how to make good decisions. In a unit about leadership, students read parts of Homer’s Odyssey and supplement it with music, articles, and TED Talks. (She assured me that her students read at least two full texts each semester.) An Advanced Placement English Literature teacher in Atlanta told me that the class used to read 14 books each year. Now they’re down to six or seven. Private schools, which produce a disproportionate share of elite college students, seem to have been slower to shift away from reading complete volumes—leading to what Dames describes as a disconcerting reading-skills gap among incoming freshmen. But private schools are not immune to the trend. At the prep school that I graduated from five years ago, I took a Jane Austen course my senior year. I read only a single Austen novel. The issue that Dames and other professors have observed is distinct from the problem at community colleges and nonselective universities, where some students arrive with literacy and comprehension deficits that can leave them unable to complete collegiate courses. High-achieving students at exclusive schools like Columbia can decode words and sentences. But they struggle to muster the attention or ambition required to immerse themselves in a substantial text. Faced with this predicament, many college professors feel they have no choice but to assign less reading and lower their expectations... The American Time Use Survey shows that the overall pool of people who read books for pleasure has shrunk over the past two decades. A couple of professors told me that their students see reading books as akin to listening to vinyl records—something that a small subculture may still enjoy, but that’s mostly a relic of an earlier time... Books can cultivate a sophisticated form of empathy, transporting a reader into the mind of someone who lived hundreds of years ago, or a person who lives in a radically different context from the reader’s own... such benefits require staying with a character through their journey; they cannot be approximated by reading a five- or even 30-page excerpt. According to the neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, so-called deep reading—sustained immersion in a text—stimulates a number of valuable mental habits, including critical thinking and self-reflection, in ways that skimming or reading in short bursts does not."
Daniel Friedman on X - "Which kids are arriving at Columbia unable to read books? Is it the Asian kids from Stuyvesant and TJ and Boston Latin? Is it the rich white kids from Dalton? Is it the National Merit Finalists? Which kids, specifically?"
eigenrobot on X - "None of these kids should be in college. It is immoral for colleges to take their money while pretending to teach them, and for professors not to fail them. Most colleges should be shuttered. Thank you for making it to the end of this tweet I'm sure it was a struggle."
wanye on X - "This is obvious to a lot of you, but just to make it explicit, the way this ratchet works is that you can buy access to some standard level of education for everybody, but there will always be a smaller group of smarter people who desire and would benefit from secondary education. (We literally used to call high school, “secondary school.”) Because of selection effects, the people who complete this secondary education will tend to have better life outcomes, which regular people, who are for the most part natural blank statists, will confuse for an effect of the education itself. And so there will be a push to get more people to complete that schooling. Naturally what happens over time as more people pour into those institutions is that the outcomes for graduates converge on the overall group average. Many graduates of those now-diluted schools will go on to attend new post-secondary educational institutions, after which they will once again achieve greater life outcomes than average, which will again be interpreted by regular people as an effect of the institution, leading to pushes for greater enrollment, and once again resulting in downward pressure on the average outcome of those matriculated. Many things are like this and many world views are constructed on this same loose sand, which is the confusion of selection effects for institutional ones. If one wants to provide free access to all citizens to the materials available on the average college campus on the grounds that the material itself is of value to the median student, then fine, but it is a mistake to appeal to the outcomes of existing students when arguing for greater enrollment. This, by the way, is why you should not expect future immigrants in a less selective immigration regime to perform as well in this country as have earlier ones. It’s the same basic mistake."
When you mistake a signalling mechanism for a mechanism to add value
Colby Cosh: The time of novels is ending; the age of post-literacy is nearly here - "The people who screech about “screen time” seem to have no idea whatsoever of how much time they themselves spent in childhood watching cartoons, on a screen, passively , to the point of stupefaction... One of the things I learned from lifelong consumption of big, heavy, difficult books is that the novel is a quite recent innovation, and that lively, accomplished, dynamic civilizations existed before anyone was writing novels. Dante and Erasmus and Shakespeare, after all, never heard of nor imagined them. There is some comfort to be taken from this, even if I can’t help being shocked at the thought of a world where Crime and Punishment is an esoteric object of study for a high-IQ remnant, the social equivalent of a cantata, instead of the absorbing popular entertainment it originally was."
Steve McGuire on X - "Professors wondering why students don’t think books are important could start by looking at the essay questions prepared by their admissions offices. St. John’s College asks applicants to write about a great book. None of the Ivies requires applicants to even mention a book."
The Books Briefing: How Gen Z Came to See Books as a Waste of Time - The Atlantic - "Why is this happening? The allure of smartphones and social media came up, and it appears that many middle and high schools are teaching fewer full books. (One student arrived at Columbia having read only poems, excerpts, and news articles in school.) But one possible cause that I nodded to in my article is a change in values, not ability. The problem does not appear to be that “kids these days” are incurious or uninterested in reading. Instead, young people might be responding to a cultural message: Books just aren’t that important. The professors I spoke with didn’t think their students were lazy. If anything, they were shocked at how overscheduled and anxious college kids are today—and they saw that their students’ schedules are crowded with activities that are less about personal development and more relevant to future employment... In 1971, 37 percent of students said that a central objective of their college years was to become well-off financially. Seventy-three percent said they attended college to develop a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2015, those numbers had almost reversed. Eighty-two percent of students said that it was essential for them to use college to become well-off financially, while 47 percent said they wanted to develop a meaningful philosophy of life. Pundits and parents alike have emphasized preprofessional courses and downplayed the importance of humanistic study, Joseph Howley, a classics professor at Columbia, told me. In this environment, spending hours reading a novel may seem unproductive. In some ways, this is a hopeful conclusion: If we’ve shifted what we hold in esteem, then it stands to reason that we could, as a society, shift back. The responsibility doesn’t lie only with Gen Z. Everyone who’s upset about the change has a role to play in reversing it."
Thai netizens fume over Japanese discrimination against foreigners - "Thai netizens are criticising a photo of a sign in Japan posted on social media earlier this week that shows difference in treatment of locals and foreign customers. The sign of an unnamed establishment in Japan contains wordings in three languages. The first line reads “No vacancy” in English, while the second line is in Chinese, which can be translated as “Too bad the seats are full”. The last line, written in Japanese in a red, smaller font, can be translated as, “If you can read Japanese, please come inside”. Many netizens slammed the establishment for discrimination against foreigners, while some reasoned that the owner probably did not speak other languages, so they decided to accept only Japanese-speaking customers... Facebook user “iwshmkmor” on Wednesday proposed an approach to prevent machine translation from cracking the Thai language. “We should use Thai spoonerism to deter machine-translation,” the post said. “For example, ‘คนไทยเข้าฟรี’ (free entry for Thais), when written in spoonerism will be ‘คนทรีเข้าไฟ’, which google will translate as ‘tree man enters the fire’.” “This way, no one would accuse Thai establishments of having double standards, and assume that it was a translation error,” he said."
Thai netizens fume over Japanese discrimination against foreigners : r/Thailand - "With signage using thai numerals to hide double pricing I think thai netizens should look to the evil within."
Thai netizens fume over Japanese discrimination against foreigners : r/Thailand - "Lol, now you know how it feels. It's everywhere in Asia, shameless and in your face."
Thai netizens fume over Japanese discrimination against foreigners : r/Thailand - "God, imagine discriminating against foreigners! Thais would never do that 😂🙄😭"
In Henry Kissinger's Worldview, Only the Powerful Mattered - "The more one thinks about the Kissinger alphabet soup, though, the more a pattern emerges. The countries where Kissinger left the most damaging legacies are concentrated in what is often fancied as the global south. As geography goes, this is a nonsensical grab bag that is fiendishly hard to define. In geopolitics, though, it is as easy as pie. What we speak of as the global south simply means what historians, diplomats, and international relations experts have long referred to as the global “periphery.”"
Scientists tagging birds with colored bands and accidentally making the tagged birds more appealing to mates is so funny.... – @ice-block on Tumblr - "Scientists tagging birds with colored bands and accidentally making the tagged birds more appealing to mates is so funny. Imagine being abducted by aliens and they give you a gucci belt"
Meme - "How she looks at you the next morning after you ate her ass"
Meme - *Busty Ugly Asian girl missing teeth* *Horse drawing meme*
https://www.facebook.com/550146023/posts/10160137539701024/Joshua Chiang | Facebook - "Bak Chor mee, hay mee, chicken rice, Kway Chap, prata, nasi lemak, beef rendang, wanton mee, Hokkien mee, bak kut teh, char sioe png, sio bak... Phnom Penh here I come!!!!!"
Meme - Eat meat: *Cheetah, Tiger,, Lion, lean*
Eat vegetables: *Elephant, Pig, Hippo, fat*
Meme - Al Bumin @Langerhans_isle: "Can't we have just one normal party? *Democrats kneeling in Kente cloth* *Republicans praying around Trump*"
i/o @eyeslasho: "It's all I ask. Each party, prayerful in its own way, but praying to different Gods. *AI optical illusion of George Floyd made out of garbage*"
Meme - i/o @eyeslasho: "No matter who you are or what your circumstances may be, no matter the breadth of your knowledge or the level of your education or the endowment of natural gifts that you might enjoy or lack, I am confident that you will never post a tweet as retarded as this one."
Myron Gaines @MyronGainesX: "I'm no fan of Hitler, but you're wrong... Hitler had many Jewish commanders and generals in his military. This whole "Hitler hated the jews" is nonesense. He hated degeneracy and central banking that caused Germany massive debt after It just so happened Jews ran the government, banks, and porn industry when he came into power in all the things he opposed. So he created the Haavara agreement and let them peacefully leave Germany with all their money and possessions in tact. Learn your history before making false claims."
Meme - ">Be me
>Having a good friend who's a total incel, female contact hasn't even had his first kiss
>Playing World of Warplanes with him while we talk on Discord during his birthday
>"I'm so sad anon, I'm alone and I feel like I'll always be"
>idea.webp
>"Give me a sec"
>Download an Al voice changer and putting on a female voice
>Sounds a little fake, but it'll do
>Getting back on the call and telling him it's just going to be roleplaying and he can call me with a femenine version of my name
>Continuing to play as normal, talking about life and even singing happy birthday to him
>I've never heard him happier
>The next day
>Asking him how he's doing
>Telling me that I really made his day and that I'm a good friend
>That night he calls me drunk and through tears admits to me that he jerked off thinking of me as a woman the night before
>Telling my wife about it
>She finds it hilarious and tells me I deserve it"
Meme - "We all dreamed of looking like Leo and Britney when we were teenagers. And now, we finally do *old Leonardo diCaprio and Britney Spears*"
Britney Spears Claims She's 5 Years Old in Birthday Video - Newsweek
"Free Britney"
Meme - "Did you notice? When Hugh passed away, No one said, "He's in a better place now." *Hugh Hefner with Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson*"
Meme - "Marketplace. $175 - 2010 Macbook Pro 13 inch With 250GB HD (With Charger). Works Great"
"Is this still available?"
"Yes"
"Why so cheap? Does it have any issues?"
"Do you want to buy it?"
"I wouldn't be asking if that wasn't the case"
"Should I raise the price"
"Bro I'm just asking if it has any issues"
"The title literally says works great"
"And the pornsite ads say hot single mothers wanna fuck in my area bro somethings don't come as advertised"
Meme - "Ctrl + Alt + Del. Voluptuous Concealment"
Lara Croft: "I'm at the ruins. Damn, men with guns"
"YOU EVER NOTICE HOW NEARLY EVERY ANCIENT RUIN YOU DISCOVER IS ALWAYS BEING DISCOVERED BY SOME BAD GUYS AT THE SAME TIME?"
Lara Croft: "You ever notice how you SHOULD SHUT THE FUCK UP? INDIANA JONES HAD TO DEAL WITH NAZIS. MEN WITH GUNS AREN'T THAT UNCOMMON IN THE ARCHEOLOGICAL FIELD. Now hush up. I'm trying to remain perfectly hidden"
*Guard notices something amiss - her breasts poking out*
Meme - ">one of the smartest men in history
>still buys the top and gets rugpulled
"South Sea Stock December 1718 - December 1721"
"Newton invests a bit. Newton exits happy. Newton's friends get rich. Newton re-enters with a lot. Newton exits broke"
>It's said that Newton, upon reflection of his financial misadventure, ruefully remarked, "I can calculate the movement of stars, but not the madness of men.""
Meme - "Sydney Sweeney is being considered for the role of Black Cat in Spider-Man 4. The resemblance is uncanny *Cleavage*"
Monkeys know who will win the election – primal instincts humans share with them shape voters’ choices - "Monkeys tended to look at the candidates with more masculine facial features – and these were the candidates more likely to win in the real elections. Jaw prominence had a direct relationship with vote share."
This assumes that candidates with more masculine facial features don't win because that correlates with something else meaningful
Thread by @Scientific_Bird on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "New study has released personality profiles of 263 occupations. Short thread of the occupations that are the most extreme with respect to each of the five personality dimension (I will mention only occupations with a sample of at least 100).
Neuroticism.
High:
- Visual Artists
- Graphic and Multimedia Designers
- Musicians, Singers and Composers
Low:
- Health Services Managers
- Finance Managers
- Information and Communications Technology Services Managers
Extraversion:
High:
- Advertising and Public Relations Managers
- Sales and Marketing Managers
- Human Resource Managers
Low:
- Software Developers
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
- Unspecified Laboratory Technicians/Assistants
Openness:
High:
- Visual Artists
- Psychologists
- University and Higher Education Teachers
Low:
- Crane, Hoist and Related Plant Operators
- Car, Taxi and Van Drivers
- Manufacturing Labourers
Agreeableness:
High:
- Psychologists
- Audiologists and Speech Therapists
- Software Developers
Low:
- Self-employed/Entrepreneurs
- Real Estate Agents and Property Managers
- Sales and Marketing Managers
Conscientiousness:
High:
- Construction Managers
- Finance Managers
- Health Professionals (unspecified)
Low:
- Visual Artists
- Graphic and Multimedia Designers
- Unspecified Editors (text, book etc.)"
Jeffrey Wang on X - "I got into Harvard + almost every college I applied to w/ an essay about studying at McDonalds. Had multiple admissions officers write me handwritten letters complimenting me on it To any frantic high school senior, the best advice I got was - keep in mind that the admissions officer is some dude lying on a couch reading your essay at 10pm. Make sure that this person is entertained and thinks that you're an authentic human being. Godspeed🫡"
Yuan Yi Zhu on X - "It's fascinating that American higher education has decided on autobiographical fiction as a means to apportion one of the world's most valuable resources."
Meme - FuckCars @FuckCarsReddit: "Post your favorite "Desire Paths". These are paths that naturally form as a result of bad planning."
Denver is too damn hig... @DenverDamn: *cars in bike lane*
FuckCars @FuckCarsReddit: "no! not like that!"
Denver is too damn high @Denv...: "result of bad planning!"
Meme - Frank DeScushin @FrankDeScushin: "A Texas cheating scandal led to 200 unqualified teachers in the classroom, at least two of whom were sexual predators. How the scheme worked: Prospective teachers worried they couldn't pass Texas' certification test paid the pictured man, Vincent Grayson, $2500 to have someone take the test for them. Grayson then gave 20% to certifying official, Tywana Gilford Mason, to allow the racket, and Nicholas Newton, assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, took the test for unqualified candidates. Grayson pocketed over a million dollars in the scheme. In New America, noticing a pattern in these scandals where teachers and school administrators collude for fraudulent certification or to change students' grades is often treated as bad as the scandals themselves."
"200 TEACHERS CAUGHT: CHEATING SCANDAL WASHINGTON HIGH. Who's Been Charged: Vincent Grayson, 57: Head boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD, Grayson is accused of organizing the scheme. Tywana Gilford Mason, 51: Former director and certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center, Mason allegedly helped conceal the proxy scheme as a test proctor. Nicholas Newton, 35: Assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, Newton reportedly acted as a proxy test-taker in the cheating ring. Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22: Proctor at TACTIX, Wilhite is accused of taking bribes to allow proxy testing. LaShonda Roberts, gp: Assistant principal at Yates High School, Roberts is alleged to have recruited nearly 100 teachers to participate in the scheme."