Doug Freyburger wrote:
FarmI wrote:

LOL. As a result of wandering round the Net, I've become convinced
that Geography is either ineffectively taught, or not taught at all
in USian schools.

I vote for taught but completely forgotten after the test by the
majority of students. Consider the TV show "Are you smarter than a
fifth grader?" to see how much most forget.

How much school stuff should be retained? Vastly more than is by
most. How much effort should be spent at imporoving the median
retention? I have no idea. I remember enough of the material that I
am amazed at what folks don't know.

I am sure that forgetting large amounts of material we were taught in
schools happens everywhere. One of my concerns is with attitudes to facts
and learning rather than data retention. Do schools effectively teach good
attitudes to verifying facts and claims? To me this is an essential skill
for life because we are constantly bombarded by advertisers, politicians and
the like who want us to believe their view of things.

Evaluating claims requires the will and the skills to acquire facts and
opinions. Having done so if you forget some of the facts this is not such a
big deal in comparison with those who never bother and just accept and pass
on opinions somebody has handed them or they feel emotionally comfortable
with.

Getting back on topic, we see plenty of unverified "facts" presented in
gardening and by gardeners. Who was it (Mark Twain??) who said " the
problem with folks isn't what they don't know it's what they know that just
ain't so".



David