When I called tech-support to help me adjust my computer settings, the guy couldn't get me as far as step two. (I have Windows XP with IE 6.1.) He told me to click on Start and then Control Panel. If you think he instructed me correctly (and have Windows XP with IE 6.1), try it. Anyone who doesn't already know what to do will not know what to do. My ignorance was this guy's ammunition, and he was a sure shot.
Know-it-alls run customer-support lines, man the complaint departments, make up a significant portion of educators, and write instructional manuals for everything from installing computer programs to blowing up balloons. Their job titles are misnomers and their main duties seem to include reducing people to tears. It leaves me wondering, do we really have "learning disabled" people in our midst? Or are we plagued with those who, if they followed their own instructions, couldn't work a door?
I walked through the door of my third grade classroom in 1971. The school I attended used the second grade teacher and the third grade teacher to teach both grades. One taught the two grades English and the other taught the two grades Math. The Math teacher couldn't figure out why everyone in rows four and five of both classrooms did so poorly. Conversely, the English teacher couldn't figure out why rows one and two of both classrooms did so poorly. These two teachers decided everyone in row three of both classrooms was exceptionally intelligent.
Intelligence is not measured by how much we know, but rather by how well we use what we know. Getting the information can be a real trick, especially when instructed by those who don't really want you to know. Shortly after the World Wide Web debuted, it brought with it the opportunity to share our lives with faraway others. Many took it upon themselves to learn basic HTML in an effort to build a simple webpage. Alas, they were banished to the land o' the boxy and drab template by a plethora of unnecessarily complicated HTML tutorials that would have left Einstein in the fetal position crying out for his mother. There was but one exception to this tutorial rule, and it was created by an 11-year-old girl.
The information-savvy among us are almost entirely to blame for the gap between the learned and the learning. All of society is rife with but a fraction of the explanation. The gap is there because the rest of the instructions are tied up in the instructor's assumptions, arrogance, impatience, superiority complexes, and the idea that if the student doesn't already know something then they're just stupid.
Article comments
1 - robin
*grin* I have "control panel" in my start menu...does that mean something? I didnt find "settings" though....well to be frank I wouldnt know what to do with them if I did have it.
My son is potentially the victim of overzealous teaching. They've decided he's in need of an in-class occupational therapist. They can't get him to write his name neatly or put his shoes on without help. There's one thing I know they don't. He's lazy. He doesnt WANT to write his name--and why should he when there are so many other things in the classroom to do? And he certainly doesnt want to get dressed without help. Help is more fun. Help gives him attention, specifically from his pretty teacher.
Im not going anywhere with this...I just enjoyed (and empathized with) what you wrote (as usual) and felt like blabbing...
2 - dad
"Thousands of people from the latter half of this kind of couple man a government agency."
I met that person when I went to apply for my social security. She called me about my appointment and couldn't understand what I wanted. I told her that I was ready to retire and wanted to draw my social security. She informed me that that wasn't possible as I was already retired. After a few explicit exchanges of words, I told her I was going to make my appointment. She had guards waiting for me. Again she explained that I was retired and when I asked for proof she showed me the computer entry that said I was retired. When I asked why there were no SS payments and my income hadn't changed dramatically she again pointed to the "retired" block on the screen. When I threatened to make some calls to Washington DC she looked further and agreed that perhaps there had been a mistake.
Maybe,just maybe, she learned something from someone about relying on computers and computer personnel without questioning the result.
3 - Donnie Marler
Good article, Diana. I think I've talked to that guy myself.