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Post by Yossarian on Nov 21, 2014 20:56:52 GMT -4
Those two are the best argument I've seen for a formal high school education in a long time.
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Post by Oxynia on Nov 21, 2014 21:33:31 GMT -4
What the hell are dinner conversations like in that family?? I lack a StupidFuckingTwit decoder ring so I can't comment on those quotes.
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Post by discoprincess on Nov 21, 2014 22:44:12 GMT -4
What the hell are dinner conversations like in that family?? I lack a StupidFuckingTwit decoder ring so I can't comment on those quotes. Because it has to be said..."Parents Just Don't Understand".
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Post by Oxynia on Nov 22, 2014 0:23:03 GMT -4
Believe me, I hear THAT a lot at home, but at least my kids speak English and can string along a coherent sentence. Most of the time.
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Post by chonies on Nov 22, 2014 0:47:13 GMT -4
The idea of thinking about "the opposite of an apple" rang a vague Structuralism bell, but I didn't read the whole interview. One thing I've seen repeated various places by different times is that the Smith children seem to have been tutored in classical philosophy, and commenters have expressed admiration for this. Personally, the two philosophy classes I took in college (Intro to Western thought or something, and Aesthetics) were the worst, most boring, and exceedingly tedious classes I took in eight years of higher education, but obviously, that's a YMMV situation, and I exempt myself from evaluating the accuracy of the Jaden's depth. Finally, I don't think this was posted, but I liked this Cracked article: 4 Awful Truths the Smith Kids Interview Revealed (About Us). It took me down a few pegs and pointed out a few things (that ultimately may be 100% projection), but overall gave me something to thing about.
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Post by Ninja Bunny on Nov 22, 2014 0:50:11 GMT -4
I read that article too. Good for the kids for trying to read difficult books, but it appears they have a long way to go with regards to understanding what they read. They could use some help from someone who isn't cuckoo.
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Post by prisma on Nov 22, 2014 1:19:11 GMT -4
I enjoyed the Cracked article.
Ha!
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Post by Ninja Bunny on Nov 22, 2014 6:32:03 GMT -4
Nope, that wasn't me. Mine was "The Annoyance of the Puddle" and it was written in Inuit.
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Post by azaleaqueen on Nov 22, 2014 10:24:39 GMT -4
I have difficulty picturing either of those kids reading a book of any kind. I imagine them to be functionally illiterate. They seem like they'd think themselves to damn smart to listen to anyone who tried to reach them anything.
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Post by chonies on Nov 22, 2014 12:00:41 GMT -4
I don't know if they read or not, but aside from the precious title-casing in Jaden's tweets, all evidence points to full literacy. It's possible they may be "illiterate" in other areas, like history or math but that is unfortunately fairly unremarkable excepting the fact that they have access to better resources than many people. As a librarian and former book-store employee, I'm giving a stern side-eye to their reading list, but I count Sweet Valley High among my formative reading materials, so what do I know? I also suspect that they're performing a role of caricatures of themselves--I don't know how a normal, anonymous teen would answer NY Times interview questions, either. I think answering "quantum physics" is a variation on Sartre or Grey's Anatomy or whatever the 'unexpectedly deep' title is. Willow may or may not be reading it, but she's probably 1000% aware that it sounds smart, and is a good choice for an interview like this.
I've died a thousand deaths every time I go back to read my high school diaries, and Thinking Deep Metaphysical Thoughts is a phase many people go through. They sound like teenagers who've been exposed to a lot of philosophy (or perhaps, "philosophy") but my takeaway thought for myself is that cracking on a pair of semi-awkward teenagers doesn't make me a better person. I don't think there's anything especially wrong with the Smith kids (and I don't have any real issues with homeschooling or unschooling), but they sound like people who don't know what they're talking about because they haven't really lived or met people who challenged their points of view, just like any other family who silos themselves--the Duggars, my anarchist friends, a few Catholic families I know.
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