"No, we cut the medium in 6 pieces..."

[djmcmath]

I wish this was a blonde joke. I called the local pizza joint to order a pizza and asked the kid how big a large pizza was.

"Large? 8 pieces," he answered quickly.

With a hint of humor in my voice, to gently point out the uselessness of his statement, and thus hope to share a laugh at his folly, I noted that he could also cut a medium in 8 pieces. ha ha, ha ha...

"Nope, we cut mediums into 6 pieces," he responded. He was totally sincere, which is tragic. What's worse is that he had no idea what I was talking about when I asked what the diameter of the large pizza was. I had to rephrase it more like "How big across is a large pizza, as compared to a medium?"



It seems like I first heard that joke when I was about 8, and it was pretty funny to me then because I understood that the number of pieces has no relationship to the size of the pie. I would expect virtually any 12 year old to have a solid grasp on that concept. This kid had to have been at least halfway through high school. ... Am I the only one who wonders what we're teaching the next generation? Has practical math escaped us completely?


Ok, I'm done ranting. Thanks for listening, all.


Dan

[legion]

I worked in a pizza place in high school. I'm not a dumb guy.

If you had asked that question when Connie Nusso was leaning over the counter across the kitchen, I would have given you the same answer.

[stomachmonkey]

Bunch of years back my Uncle and his GF come over from Germany for a visit. They borrow a car and cruise down to DC for a poke around.

They get hungry and see a pizza parlor. Sounded good to them so they go inside and order two large pies.

In Germany a large is what we call a personal size.

Imagine their surprise.

[Joeaksa]

How about the kids who simply cannot give change for any amount if the cash register does not tell them how much it is?

Thinking on their own is out of the question, it has to come up on the register or they simply cannot work it out it seems...

[Evans, Marv]

My wife, who was educated at a private Catholic school in the Phillippines is going nuts in her fourth year of teaching elementary school here. Her students scored the highest in her grade level, and her class has more students with behavior problems and english language learners than the others. They were placed there by the (former) Principal because she is such a "strong" teacher. Her comments are that the other teachers are just plain lazy, and in addition, the parents don't care - especially those of the lowest performing students. She has a couple of students she would like to hold back, but you know how that goes.

[onlycafe]

i make pizzas. i swear this is true. a few years ago i was about to box up a small pie for one of the local kids, i asked him if he wanted me to cut it into six or eight pieces and he said to cut six, because he didn't think he could eat eight pieces.

[cstreit]

I do agree with the general sentiments of the video Wayne, however the portrayal of students who have free time vs. those who spend every minute planned playing violin and studying is a bit misguided IMO. We certainly turn out more dummies per dollar spent that any country in the world... but...

One of the things America has always been good at is innovation. Churning out book-smart kids who learn through rote memorization is probably good for the overall GNP of a country (think asian education) I suspect it is less beneficial to the overall good and advancement of mankind.

[K. Roman]

C'mon. This is crazy, and in this case I don't mind being called elite!

And the film preview was as bad as the John Mcain edited film, it's skewed to show americans as total self absorbed losers. How anti-american.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

How about the kids who simply cannot give change for any amount if the cash register does not tell them how much it is?

Thinking on their own is out of the question, it has to come up on the register or they simply cannot work it out it seems...

You can blame big business and the never ending quest for 'efficiency' and 'productivity' for that.

Technology, in the long run, is nowhere near as useful as we like to tell ourselves.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

She has a couple of students she would like to hold back, but you know how that goes.

Then she should give them an F.

Simple as that.

[Evans, Marv]

It's not as simple as that. They rate these kids on so many things I can't keep track of it all. She does rate those on the bottom of the stack with the marks they deserve. But the school district passes them on.
I remember giving a student an "F" when I was teaching back in the early '80s. The student flunked most tests, didn't turn in any homework or do any assignments, and was absent over half of the time. I got a letter from the Principal saying an "F" was not an appropriate grade. Sheeesh!

[m21sniper]

Being the pig-headed type i am, i would have returned it with a note saying, "Appropriate or not an F is the grade the student earned."

I suspect i wouldn't survive 5 minutes in that environment, but at least i'd know i'm not part of the problem while i was slinging drinks or pursuing whatever other 'new career' i fell back on.

Of course most corporate/educational types would probably call me a sociopath. They do love their labels.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by onlycafe

i make pizzas. i swear this is true. a few years ago i was about to box up a small pie for one of the local kids, i asked him if he wanted me to cut it into six or eight pieces and he said to cut six, because he didn't think he could eat eight pieces.

And when you looked back at them they had the "deer in the headlights" look in their eyes?

My God what is going to happen with this country when we get overloaded with these mental dimwits? They vote and have kids and thats not going to help one bit.

[SXSMAN]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

And when you looked back at them they had the "deer in the headlights" look in their eyes?

My God what is going to happen with this country when we get overloaded with these mental dimwits? They vote and have kids and thats not going to help one bit.

We'll have our first female president .

Of course it will be one of Bush's daughters ...............

You know , no one left a dime ...errr I meant behind !!!!

[Porsche_monkey]

Originally Posted by djmcmath

This kid had to have been at least halfway through high school. ...
Dan

And hopefully stuck there.

[DavidB911]

I see these actions on the university level too. Some of my fellow classmates don't seem to cut it. Somehow my generation has gotten lazy.

[Noah930]

In college, my sophomore year roommate was an engineer (generally regarded as the toughest of majors). His girlfriend was in the school of hotel management (generally regarded as the most ... um ... social of majors). She told a story of how she had a section (small group class) for one of her hotel courses. As part of that particular class that day, they were going over adding/multiplying fractions (i.e. how they pertain to altering recipes for different quantities). At least, that was what was left up on the chalkboard at the end of the hour. As the hotelies were leaving that section, she noticed that the next section in that room was for engineers. She admitted she was so embarrassed that those engineers (who have probably been doing that type of math since about kindergarten) were about to walk in and see these other hotelie kollege students apparently trying to grasp the basics of adding and subtracting fractions.

[Zeke]

Did anyone stop to think that the pizza place cut the pieces more or less to weight? This actually makes the pizza kid's reply viable.

[masraum]

Has everyone here seen the movie "Idiocracy"? If not, you should. It's hilarious and goes hand in hand with this thread.

I offer up an alternative view. These idiots have always existed. We've always had a few (relatively) smart folks and the rest that are idiots. Just because of our age, or where we are or media or whatever, they are more obvious to us now.

Maybe back in the past they got out (dropped out and or never finished whatever schooling) and got menial jobs. Maybe today they are going farther through school, but not any smarter or dumber, just more paperwork that they did their time.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by cstreit

One of the things America has always been good at is innovation. Churning out book-smart kids who learn through rote memorization is probably good for the overall GNP of a country (think asian education) I suspect it is less beneficial to the overall good and advancement of mankind.

I think this is a cop-out - just one step removed from the "don't flunk them or you'll hurt their fragile self esteem" tripe. In essence, you're just sitting back and hoping the Jeff Spicoli's of the world wake up one day and turn into Bill Gate's.