Posts by 3410

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  • THIS JUST IN,

    Just a thought: If David Collins found the TSA to be "incomprehensible" and "unnecessarily complex, incoherent", could he not have mentioned this some time in the last year or so?

    Also
    Tame Iti, four other suspects receive bail

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Demon E-Word,

    Ben, it's just tough when even after clarification, you still misrepresent (I'm not saying deliberately so) what I'm saying. I've got a life outside this page, and can't afford to go back and forth all day. I thought I'd explained the point well enough, at least the second time.

    Anyhow, I'm saying that if one thinks of knowledge as merely a list of accumulated facts, and therefore that remembering them is a waste of brain-space, a waste that could be avoided by not remembering them and just looking them up when neccesary, one is making a fundamental error in understanding what knowledge is. The "look it up when you need to" system may well work very well for many technical areas, clearly, but for the liberal arts? Not at all.

    The fact is that lessons learned from one thing will almost certainly apply to others, and that for a rounded education general knowledge is essential. I fear for a system that doesn't recognise this.

    After all, Googling doesn't help if you end up realising "I needed to know this 10 years ago".


    P.S. sorry if I upset you.

    Good day ;)
    :)

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • THIS JUST IN,

    Graeme, I had a question, too.

    If TSA-related material could be introduced at bail hearings on the firearms charges, then does yesterday's development allow bail conditions to be re-examined?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Demon E-Word,

    You've lost me. There's no sleight of hand. I just think you talk a lot more than you listen. Good day, sir.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Demon E-Word,

    General knowledge - indeed any knowledge - is not just a big list of facts. It's about building an ever-growing understanding about the world, etc.

    That's a highly disputable point. It could just be a word play where you claim 'understanding' a fact is somehow different to 'knowing' a fact

    I never claimed that. I talked about "understanding the world", not understanding each fact, ie that each known fact contributes to a body of knowledge, the various elemants of which enhance understanding of each other.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Demon E-Word,

    Just as I didn't really obsess about mastering long division (I can do it, but not quickly) because I always had a calculator, so kids don't need to really know about general knowledge because there is Google.

    See, this bit I don't get. General knowledge - indeed any knowledge - is not just a big list of facts. It's about building an ever-growing understanding about the world, etc. "Look it up when you need to" is an utter cop out. If the education system gets hijacked by that utterly misguided "theory" we're in serious trouble.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • THIS JUST IN,

    Graeme,
    How will this affect bail arrangements on the firearms charges?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dopamine psychosis and other…,

    This was famously proved by a UK reality TV show in which a Brit sold all his worldly goods and went to Vegas to put it all down on Black. No casino would take it.

    I'm pretty sure they'd take my bet, under similar circumstances. ;)

    Another point* is that these parasites use every Applied Psychology trick in the book to make the punter think he's got a chance. They are clinical about it.

    I just groan when I see my friends claiming they were "so close" to winning on the scratchies.

    *really an extention of a point made by I.O.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Random Play: The Age of Reason,

    Their lead story was viewer video of an accident at a 'Fireworks Display'

    The TV3 website's "transcript" quotes a Mr. Maka Nuhisifa thus:

    "You had to be there to see the fear," says a crying Maka Nuhisifa. "It was it terrifying... you had to be there... it was like something out of a movie."

    The footage actually shows this:

    Mr. Nuhisifa: "You had to be there to see the fear,"
    Reporter: "Was it terrifying?"
    Mr. Nuhisifa: "You had to be there... it was like something out of a movie."

    Another online version of the report (which I can't now find) described the guy who captured cellphone footage as "disgusted", before cutting to the guy himself admitting to being "a bit disappointed".

    Terrifying? Disgusting? Um, no.


    Sheesh.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Scuffling and screaming on…,

    Politics is not just about developing our own vision of how the world should be, its about how we organise ourselves in light of the fact that we all see the world differently. The "system" is not a monolithic structure that was set up to oppress the masses, its a constantly renegotiated compromise of incompatible forces and desires.

    Politics is only one aspect of "the system".

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

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