Jack’s Winning Words 2/8/18
*Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”  (Albert Einstein)  Much has been written about Einstein as a child.  Doctors were consulted, because he was slow to speak.  In school he was rebellious.  Classmates called him, “the dopey one.”  He was just different.  He had a great curiosity about things…like the compass his father gave him.  Maturation just isn’t the same for everyone.  That’s why we’re called, individuals.    ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I hate to debate with Einstein but I think education BOTH the learning of facts AND the training of the mind to think====JACK:  I'd rather discuss with "Einstein" what he meant by that statement.  Words taken out of context can mean different things.  That's why Bible quotes can be misunderstood without the context.  Even one's life in more than one incident.  ====JOHN:  I would guess that what he meant was that the latter was more important than the former.  With that I would agree.====JACK:  You're probably right, but only the context (or face to face conversation) may eliminate the "guess"work.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We still love to learn, don’t we?  We took a 4 hour Safari to see hundreds of exotic animals from around the world yesterday.  We fed ostriches, llamas and water buffalo and saw many animals who’s names I couldn’t pronounce!  That’s the kind of learning I enjoy!  Ps.  It was 86 and beautiful!  We saw the launch too along with a few hundred thousand people.====JACK:  ...and "what" did you learn?====JUDY:  Gary learned never to turn your back on a male ostrich...they bite hard.  I learned female ostriches bite gently.  And, I learned about animals I have never heard about before.  Also, i learned it’s good to leave Michigan for somewhere warm and toasty in February.  Or January or sometimes March!

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  That is one of the things that makes life interesting and challenging 👍 ====JACK:   From your teaching days, does some "individual" come to mind who made great progress in learning...and thinking?====SHIRL:  Probably mostly in our children 👶 a rocket scientist an enteprr eye a city planner A doctor and a lawyer All blessings🍀====JACK:  Can you interpret…. an enteprr eye?====SHIRL:  Entrepreneur Ann owns her own swim team with camps private lessons etc which she has had since 1991. and All of her children were lifeguards thru high school and college

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I love Einstein's quote, "We all have ability for genius, but if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he will think himself stupid all his life"  I recently saw a cartoon illustrating that truth, picturing a penguin, an elephant, a fish, a dog and a monkey, and the trainer is saying "The winner will be the one to climb this tree the fastest!" (Tree behind them...) I think this quote is spot on, kids need to be taught to think for  themselves, but most teaching isn't aimed that way, and T/F or multiple choice tests are much more common that essay questions!  It seems that most real geniuses are eccentric in some way!  No worries there for me!  HA!====JACK:  We often hear that there are no more worlds to explore.  Quite the contrary.  There is so much more that is yet to be discovered and how it works.  And, what is it that gives us our personhood?  I'm not a fan of standardized testing.  To be able to answer a certain set of questions is only one phase of the learning process.  Why do some people "think" the way they do, and  why do other people think differently?  Who knows?  Perhaps in the Twilight Zone you and I are the real geniuses.

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  I didn't know that about dyslexic Albert Einstein. Thanx for the note! ====JACK:  I was talking with someone today about major college basketball players.  Few of them go on to make a living playing basketball.  What happens to the rest who have to go out into the world to make a living?  Do basketball "smarts" translate into business "smarts"?  Does their concentration on the sport leave time to absorb what is taught in the classroom?  Just wondering.
====GEORGE:  That's a good argument. After I graduated, bb athletes started practicing year-round. I couldn't spend that much time on the sport - I had engineering classes to study for. Plus I would get stale if I had to spend that much time on the sport. Today's bb players are so much more fit and "athletic" than my generation was. I felt the same way about jocks in the 40s, that we were far more advanced than they were.