I did go to college, but with flying, building, etc, you were only referring to technical fields. That might make people more employable, but it doesn't make them better at thinking, or at voting.

@Knixon said:

I did go to college, but with flying, building, etc, you were only referring to technical fields. That might make people more employable, but it doesn't make them better at thinking, or at voting.

Based on experience I disagree. When you go to college you tend to meet lots of different people outside your bubble who have lots of different perspectives and professors who have unique methods of teaching who open up and expand your way of thinking.

I met people from various political, religious, and socioeconomical backgrounds when I went to college. The first openly gay person I met was in college, someone who wasn't "stereotypically" gay who you'd never assume was gay, back before being out wasn't as accepted like it is now. Although I was never homophobic it was still important to me to get to know and interact with someone with a different perspective than me.

This, I would argue, has influenced my voting habits, at least on how I feel towards certain policies. But ultimately I think it depends on the candidate. I don't vote for someone because of what party they're in, I want to know what they're going to do for me. I question everything. I think a lot of people who willfully remain ignorant are far less likely to question and instead maintain the status quo.

That may be your experience and for some others as well, but especially in more recent years people tend to group together with the same old groups in college as they have elsewhere. And if you look at student behavior - sometimes including violent protests etc - it's difficult to argue that college is a mind-expanding experience for most people, especially in recent years.

My mother was an RN for many years (retired now), and one time while looking through one of the professional journal magazines she received, I read that to convert a change of temperature from C to F you would multiply by 9/5 and then add 32. Which is wrong. That's only for converting "absolute" temperatures, not a CHANGE which would be only the 9/5 factor. I wrote a letter to them and the response I received was basically "pat pat we know you're proud of your mom, but we're the experts here." So even the publishers/editors/whatever of a professional journal for registered nurses, didn't know the math. They also didn't seem to care much. And you'll never convince me that going to college for 4 years for a nursing degree taught them anything useful about voting either. I doubt that other 4-year degree programs are much different.

Wanting an education is always a good thing. But as mentioned before...not everyone is fortunate enough to make getting one a reality.

However, let's not confuse an educated individual vs. an ignorant individual. Just because someone is uneducated doesn't mean that they are ignorant on a particular subject or subjects.

As an example. How often have we witnessed someone who is not American knowing more about American history than someone who prides themselves on being American?

Some immigrants know more about America than Americans.

Like the story of the registered nurse who thought the election was being held on a Thursday instead of a Tuesday. I would bet money and win that thousands of immigrants weren't that ignorant despite not being educated.

How else can it be explained that some educated Americans voted for a man not fit to run a mock country let alone a real one?

Since it was a binary choice, all that was required is figuring that Hillary would be worse. Which is not a difficult analysis to make, even compared with Trump.

I think that nurse's journal made a grammatical error, not a math one. They should have said "convert" or "change", not "convert a change". It was sloppy of them either way.

Yes, even educated people make bizarre mistakes. I remember one writer, with a Ph D in music, talking about the "Salem Witch Burnings". Nobody was burned in Salem. One died under torture and the others were hanged.

As for the magazine, the specific question being addressed was about a change. Such as, a patient's temperature rises 2 degress....

The larger point though was that education doesn't necessarily make someone smarter OR wiser. Especially in technical areas or vocational type programs, they're more just instilling formulae and such. Which too often, the people being taught don't even end up understanding WHY the formulae are what they are. Largely because they're just not smart enough. Typically, people much smarter than they are, came up with the formulae to begin with. And if they did - could - understand, they would also know that c * 9/5 +32 = f for a CHANGE in temperature can't possibly be correct. But instead they just blindly follow the rules they were taught. Which in some cases could result in serious injury or death. And yet they're still "certified," and "licensed," and what-not.

Which reminds me of a bit of a joke from an episode of ER. What do you call the person who graduated last in their class from medical school?

Doctor.

Why would anyone think that going to a 4yr school for nursing would help in teaching someone about voting?

I'm fairly confident that the study of political science would be the road taken regarding that degree program.

@Knixon said:

The larger point though was that education doesn't necessarily make someone smarter OR wiser.

That's a ridiculous statement.

@Nubyan said:

@Knixon said:

The larger point though was that education doesn't necessarily make someone smarter OR wiser.

That's a ridiculous statement.

Then how do you explain someone with a 4-year degree - even if it's "only" nursing, since they have the other course requirements too - somehow thinking that election day might be Thursday this year? Just for one example.

@Knixon said:

@CharlesTheBold said:

I still think asking presidential candidates to pass a test of their qualifications would be a great idea. I'm not naming names, you understand.

Hey it works for me. Barack Obama saying there are 57 states means he never got elected. Yahooo!!!!

In the grand scheme of things and that's all they can talk about. So there's 50 states, 1 federal district and 5 territories commonly spoken of.

I doubt Trump knows any of that.

@Knixon said:

@Nubyan said:

@Knixon said:

The larger point though was that education doesn't necessarily make someone smarter OR wiser.

That's a ridiculous statement.

Then how do you explain someone with a 4-year degree - even if it's "only" nursing, since they have the other course requirements too - somehow thinking that election day might be Thursday this year? Just for one example.

I guess you missed the post about educated vs ignorant.

That was one person. I'd go way out on a limb to say that...that one nurse is probably smarter and wiser than you or I with respect to nursing.

People in general take an interest in the things they care about. Obviously, voting and what that means isn't high on her list. So she remains ignorant on the subject and could care less.

However, she could be passionate about her chosen career and the care of others. Making it the thing she places her attention and focus. She could be the best damn nurse anyone could ask for.

@Nubyan said:

In the grand scheme of things and that's all they can talk about. So there's 50 states, 1 federal district and 5 territories commonly spoken of.

I doubt Trump knows any of that.

Which wasn't the point, of course. And that was just a minor example too. How about Obama stating on multiple occasions that he didn't really have the authority to do DACA and then he did it anyway? And he's supposed to be a "constitutional scholar" and "professor." Then again, nobody who was on the Harvard Law Review at the same time, remembers him actually DOING anything. The guy seems to have been wafted upward on currents of Political Correctness and Affirmative Action his whole life. And he voted "Present" a lot too, both in the Illinois legislature and the brief time in the Senate. Then his campaign for president begins at the home of radical terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn ... and in Chicago of all not-so-politically-clean places...

@Nubyan said:

I guess you missed the post about educated vs ignorant.

That was one person. I'd go way out on a limb to say that...that one nurse is probably smarter and wiser than you or I with respect to nursing.

Wiser? I doubt that. More experienced, and better trained, sure. But that's something anyone can get with just the amount of time to study it.

People in general take an interest in the things they care about. Obviously, voting and what that means isn't high on her list. So she remains ignorant on the subject and could care less.

Which again is the problem I identified. They get to vote even they don't know or care about what they're voting on. What happened to wanting a doctor/surgeon who actually studied and trained, but ignorant voters are just fine? When you get right down to it, ignorant voters can cause more trouble - even suffering and death - than incompetent or untrained people practicing medicine because that's pretty much one-on-one. Bad voting can kill MILLIONS, even BILLIONS.

One control on that, as opposed to "Majority Rule" or simple democracy, aka mob rule, or "two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner," is that in a representative republic such as the US, people don't vote specifically on each thing. They vote for representatives to study issues and such, and then make decisions.

However, she could be passionate about her chosen career and the care of others. Making it the thing she places her attention and focus. She could be the best damn nurse anyone could ask for.

In terms of familiar practice, sure. But people who don't really understand what they're doing, the WHY of things, will have trouble dealing with unusual situations that they weren't specifically trained for.

And we've probably all known kind-hearted people who care so much etc, but even if you put them through a 4-year college, wouldn't be able to find someone's rectum with a thermometer. So caring and such isn't enough either.

Whatever Knixon. You're so right about everything.