"Nobody was permitted to see the Emperor of China, and the question was, What is the length of the Emperor of China’s nose? To find out, you go all over the country asking people what they think the length of the Emperor of China’s nose is, and you average it. And that would be very "accurate" because you averaged so many people. " (Quote by Richard Feynman)
Feynman was making a comment about ‘judging books by their covers’ - and all that the metaphor implies. And it is a damned good point.
To conclude my argument, another quote (this time Alexander Pope)
- A little learning is a dangerous thing;
- Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
- For shallow draughts intoxicate the brain
- And drinking largely sobers us again.
Did I mention that I had a photoblog?
I hate having Those Days.
I was bitten by one of my students.
I’m still covered with bruises from a problem with another.
That stupid woman in the blue Ford Fiesta who obviously doesn’t understand how roundabouts work may have only delayed me by 5 seconds, but it felt like a couple of days at the time and it REALLY pissed me off. Perhaps it is because I really, really hate doing emergency stops - almost as much as I hate getting filthy looks from the people whose lives I have just saved by slamming the brakes on rather than crashing into them - but then, as I think I implied in the title of this entry, I am having One of Those Days.
The pizza delivery place website has crashed. (Heinous sin…)
No, I am not paranoid. The world is not out to get me. It’s just full of incompetent morons.
Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, has decided that the 14-19 qualifications system is far too complicated.
He has a point. At the moment you can get GCSEs, A Levels, Applied GCSEs, Applied A Levels, NVQs, GNVQs, BTecs, Apprenticeships (with or without NVQs and GNVQs) and the International Baccalaureate.
So he wants to simplify and streamline the whole system. His new vision is much less complex, including GCSEs and A Levels, Apprenticeships (with or without NVQs and GNVQs) and Diplomas (again with or without NVQs and GNVQs) the International Baccalaureate (although in the newer, simpler system this won’t be an “entitlement” but an “option”) and a brand new “Pre-U” exam to rival A Levels.
Isn’t that so much simpler, clearer and well thought out?
According to a Daily Mail report this week, computer game addicts have been warned that they could end up behaving like autism sufferers.
What do they mean? Playing too many games can cause people to present the DSM IV Diagnostic Criteria for autism spectrum disorders? No, surprisingly, they don’t.
They mean that people who spend their entire lives on computer games and not socially interacting are “more likely they were to display personality traits such as low self-esteem, introverted behaviour, worrying and anxiety,” characteristics (note that, Dear Reader, these are characteristics and not presented signs or symptoms) “commonly found in Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism where sufferers have difficulties in forming relationships, social interaction and communication.”
The fact that these are also common characteristics of post natal depression, bereavement, alcoholism, drug addiction and post traumatic stress disorder are obviously irrelevant, because your average Daily Mail hack isn’t interested in vague, inspecific things like “the truth” or “our current limited understanding of the facts.” Much better to scream a sensationalist headline that demeans everyone concerned.
The truth is that the pursuit of all unsociable activities produces unsociable traits in the person involved - including journalism (anyone for a little bit of classic Greek philosophy? Just because it is ancient doesn’t mean it is wrong.) If you spend all your time doing something that is inherently antisocial then you will become antisocial.
The difference with autism is that it is not a learned trait - it is a disability. Saying that people who “learn” to be antisocial are just like those born with autism is just plain ignorant.
