Re: CHAT: University Advice (was Re: A bit of advice)

"Thomas R. Wier" wrote:
>
> Robert Hailman wrote:
>
> > I once did one of those online IQ tests, and I scored 136. Mind you,
> > those tests are questionable at best, and the one I took said for people
> > below 16 (I was 14 at the time), all bets are off as to the accuracy of
> > the test.
>
> Oh, they can be off by a lot any time in your life, depending on all sorts
> of factors.
>
But of course. I don't put much faith in IQ scores, however accurate. If
I understand correctly, a different type IQ test & scoring is used for
children under 16, and thus the innacuracy.

> > Also, your comparison of CB to Jeopardy!, while true, may be more of a
> > representation of the easiness of Jeopardy! questions than to the
> > difficulty of CB questions.
>
> I wouldn't be so sure of that.  Here're some fairly representative questions:
>
> Raised in the court of his uncle, Conchobor, he founded a boy-corps at
> Emain Macha, then singlehandedly defeated the armies of Queen
> Maeve of Connacht during the Cattle Raid of Cooley. FTP, name
> this Hercules of ancient Ireland, who died because of Maeve’s trickery.
> A:  _CUCHULAINN_
>
> This composer, born in 1865, was one of the greatest symphonic artists of the
> early twentieth century. After studying in Vienna under Karl Goldmark, he returned
> to his native country to compose Valse triste and Tapiola. FTP, name this greatest
> Finnish composer, whose best-known work is Finlandia.
> A:  Jan _SIBELIUS_
>
> The trick is often not so much in knowing the answer, but buzzing in with the right
> answer soon enough. The one about Sibelius is actually about as easy as they come,
> usually (they always have the give-aways at the end like that).  FWIW, I got these at
> <http://www.stanford.edu/group/CollegeBowl/Archive/JCV6/Georgetown.html>
> and there's a huge archive of them at
> <http://www.stanford.edu/group/CollegeBowl/archive.html>
>
I stand corrected.

> > This whole idea of required history & such seems vaugely reminiscient of
> > the required exams in Scientific Socialism in Soviet Universities.
>
> How so? History is a bedrock of people's perspective on the world and
> provides an understanding of human nature.  Democracy simply doesn't
> work unless the voting population has some idea about the complexity of
> the issues involved, and history helps provide that.
>
I dunno. That's why I said vaguely. I guess that at this point in my
life, I don't like the idea of manditory courses beyond what is
neccessary for the program I'm taking.

> (I suppose you said that to the wrong person:  history is one of my majors :) ).
That too.
>
> > We need only one Canadian History course here in Ontario, but that's
> > because us Candadians have no pride whatsoever.
>
> I dunno about that... I've met some pretty rabid Canadian nationalists in my
> time.  But I'll grant that they're fewer and less obnoxious than some American
> nationalists, if only because there are fewer Canadians from which to derive
> them.
Percentage wise, I'd imagine that there's less, too. Remember: the US
was created because the people were not satisfied with British rule and
felt strongly enough to revolt againt it. Canada was created because,
among other reasons, that the British didn't feel like ruling us
anymore. So Canadians have, historically, less of a reason to be
nationalists.
>
> > I'll look into [AP tests], but I'm not sure how open they are to me hyar in
> > Canada.
>
> There are also CLEP tests that you can take once you get here.  These
> usually cover the same material as the APs.
>
Excellence.

> > > He's a particularly odd fellow.  I have always meant to ask him what he
> > > thought about Stalin's liquidation of the Ukrainian poet-bards, but I've always
> > > feared getting into a shouting match.  He's also a proselyte for atheism, and
> > > something of a fundamentalist in that faith (or lack thereof, whatever you want
> > > to call it).
> >
> > That'd be a good question to ask. Of course, you can expect either an
> > outright denial or a rationalization of it.
>
> Yeah. Stalinism is a religion, like Marxism, but its god demands far more
> frequent and numerous sacrifice.  (Russia has paid dearly for said religion.)
>
> > Most Stalinists are stauchly devoted to atheism, but then again, most
> > are my friends (but not me).
Oops, that should have read "most of my friends are."

>
> Yeah. Without making any comments about people in this forum, I think it's
> generally true that, usually, neither theists nor atheists choose to become such because
> they've come to some intellectual decision having already decided on appropriate
> epistemological and deontological criteria for making the decision.  Most people
> tailor their belief system to justify something already de facto the case, either in
> their own lives or because of what they want to be true, and I'm including
> great philosophers in that statement.  Confucius's ideas about filial piety, for
> example, are far more easily explained as justifying the cultural fact at his time,
> than working to that from first principles.  (Pace all Confucianists on this list!)
I tend to agree, but I couldn't state it anywhere near as well as that.

--
Robert