Author: Joseph Thibault

“Superman is not real”

“One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist,” Canada says in the film. “I read comic books and I just loved ’em …’cause even in the depths of the ghetto you just thought, ‘He’s coming, I just don’t know when, because he always shows up and he saves all the good people.’ ”

Then when he was in fourth or fifth grade, he asked, “Ma, do you think Superman is actually [real]?” She told him the truth: “ ‘Superman is not real.’ I was like: ‘He’s not? What do you mean he’s not?’ ‘No, he’s not real.’ And she thought I was crying because it’s like Santa Claus is not real. And I was crying because there was no one … coming with enough power to save us.”

From Thomas Friedman’s “Steal this Movie, too” from the NYTimes (quoting Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone)

Quote – College Dropout Factories

As a result, without much thought, we’ve applied a binary mindset to education: elementary and secondary students are children; if they fail, it’s the fault of the schools. College students are adults; if they fail, it’s the fault of the students.

Ben Miller and Phuong Ly from the Washington Monthly article “College Dropout Factories”

Quote – The Red Herring Crusade against For-Profit Colleges

our aim is not to defend the questionable practices of for-profit colleges, but rather to draw attention to the fact that colleges of every stripe are soaking up tons of societal resources and saddling students with excessive debt loads in the face of dubious job prospects.

“The Red Herring Crusade Against For-Profit Colleges” by Daniel L. Bennett and Zac Bissonnette @ Forbes.com

Quote – Education and the Recession

In the early 20th century, Europe decided that a high school education would be wasted on the masses. The United States instead made high school universal, and its newly skilled work force helped build everything from the hugely productive factories of the Midwest to modern Hollywood to the world’s most innovative retail and technology sectors.

Over the long term, the best response to the current downturn, by far, would be for the country to regain the global lead in education.

Of course, that will take years, maybe decades.

David Leonhardt, “For Those With Jobs, a Recession With Benefits“, NYTimes

Quote – Ray Kurzweil

From The Singularity is Near,

Still Human? Some observers refer to the post-Singularity period as “posthuman” and refer to the anticipation of this period as posthumanism.  However, to me being human means being part of a civilization that seeks to extend its boundaries.  We are already reaching beyond our biology by rapidly gaining the tools to reprogram and augment it.  If we regard a human modified with technology as no longer human, where would we draw the defining line?  Is a human with a bionic heart still human?  How about someone with a neurological implant?  What about two neurological implants?.. [page 374]

Seem like crazy-talk?  Just ask Dick Cheney.