this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 112 points 2 months ago (3 children)

It's easier to verify rote memorization than actual understanding so naturally shitty schools focus on the former at the expense of the latter. Most American schools are shitty by academic standards.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 32 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

You're not kidding. Public school in the city.

There were so many dumb things I had to memorize. Periodic table. Solar system moon and planets. Multiplication table.

Even worse is the people who see memory as intelligence because of that BS. I remember working at a office and the boss made Steve, the guy who knew 15 digits of Pi, his right hand man. Steve is currently still working there. Congrats Steve your superior memory apparently can't get you out of your deadend job.

[–] NutinButNet@hilariouschaos.com 6 points 2 months ago

If you haven’t already, you should watch Mystery Team specifically for the character of Duncan “Boy Genius” who absolutely fits this characterization to a T.

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Prepositions, anyone?

Aboard about above...

[–] meeeeetch@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

I always hated that they made us relearn the parts of speech every year in middle school and high school English. Surely by now it's sunk in, I thought.

But then the CHUDs started losing their minds about pronouns.

On the flip side, most American engineering degree programs do not rely on rote memorization, and instead heavily emphasize problem solving (especially these days), because, you know, computers and the internet exist, and faculty tend to understand that fact.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

While it is true that rote memorization is a terrible thing for schools to focus on, I find it interesting that the discussion immediately jumped to "America bad" with a presumption it was a unique American practice. The many comments from around the world show it seems to be a more widespread practice.

[–] stankmut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

It's American Exceptionalism at work. Unlike the rest of the world, we have no healthcare, we use Fahrenheit, and we put on our pants one leg at a time.