[quote="The Aceman"]
I never said it was a conspiracy, it's a product of the environment. It's ingrained in our cultural. It's done without even being realized. You forget that their were thousands and thousands of years that human beings lived and got along just fine without any schools at all. And yet necessary information was passed along from generation to generation without missing a beat.
Also, I wasn't trying to make it black and white, I said "almost everything" not "everything period." The higher grade you are in the less useful the information becomes to you in everyday life, and the less you retain. For example, most everyone remembers basic arithmetic, adding and subtracting, multiplying, dividing. Why? Because most people will find these things useful when going about their day. If I need to go 50 miles and I've already gone 25, I need to go 25 more, that's helpful information to have. But then go and ask most people who are out of school how to divide two fractions for you, or divide mixed numbers and you'll find a vast majority won't remember how to do it. Why? Because most people don't find it useful in their daily life. A few people might, but most will not. Every generation of humans produces people that have interests in every line of work and study. For example, Every generation has someone that [i]wants[/i] to study stars and become an astronomer. So people drawn to this will automatically want to go out and learn about astronomy from people who already know it and they will remember it because they have an interest in it, and keep doing it. So information that is useful to astronomers is useful to them. They don't need to goto school for 18 years, and then 4 years of college to do that. All they have to do is study on the job and learn as they go along, hands on. Also, without school people can and would still learn to read. Because reading is useful to you in every day life, esp. in today's society of street signs, mass produced books, etc. School doesn't make us want to read, the usefulness of reading makes us want to learn to read, AND more importantly continue remembering how to read.
Anyways, I could go on and on, and probably be able to dispute pretty much every argument, but I digress.....besides, it's all in the book. Either way it's not about a conspiracy, it's about people in general needing to realize that the way we are living is not how we are supposed to be, and until we realize that, and make changes, the human race is doomed to extinction in the not so far future.[/quote]
Well, when you state that the current educational system is designed simply to keep people under 18 out of the work force, that certainly sounds like a conspiracy theory. Do you not believe that anyone benefits from an education that lasts 12-13 years of their life?
While I could agree that some career paths would benefit from a greater reliance on apprenticeship, I think you are missing the bigger picture in the need for a diversity of education.
Let's look at your astronomer example. To be a good astronomer, an individual needs to be well-equipped in the areas of calculus, physics, and optics to name but a few. While some information in these areas could be gleaned from a practicing astronomer, would it not be better to study calculus from a mathmatician, physics from a expert in physics, etc.? Then, under the tutelage of an experienced astronomer, put it all into practice. After all, not all astronomers are the same. There are greater strengths and weaknesses in all. This allows for varying levels of discovery.
To the idea that the information is not relevent... let's make it relevent! US and World History need to a basis for decision-making for us all... not just historians. (Sean, if you had had me for your US History, you would have understood ALL of the intracacies of the Civil War..
This concept of home-schooling or apprenticeship is a valuable one, FOR SOME INDIVIDUALS. Likewise, the current educational structure works, and has worked for others, most of us here included. To cite a "thousands of years" justification is a blind argument. For thousands of years, we migrated. Should we continue to do the same.. following the herds... With the environment the way it is, I think that would lead to your envisioned extinction of the human race.
Ken