20210721 : Education and information navigation

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Today, during having an intense conversation, my nurses turned to me and asked whether I agree on a very controversial topic, which is political, religious and also probably quite regionally important. This is the first time I have been dragged into their conversation and asked to offer an opinion.

They regularly have very animated debates on varied topics ranging from current policies, political parties, political leaders, religious matters to movie stars. Basically anything that constitutes a juicy topic for conversation.

They talk freely with the comfort that I don't understand the language.
True, I don't understand the language, but they don't realise how many english words are peppered all over, how many words mean similarly in other regional languages which i can get, there are some words I do get due to constant usage and most importantly the actions and body language. So, sure, I don't understand the language fully, but most often I get what they are talking about and a summary of what they are saying.

I am more than surprised at how rigid and inflexible many of the views are. They are both graduates, know how to read and write both English and their regional language and spend most of the non-working time consuming information on their phones.

It certainly more than proves to me that education has nothing to do with litracy.

Most kids nowadays finish sufficient literacy by the end of middle school. Most high school and higher classes is supposed to gather information and concepts. The "why" of everything and not just "who", "what" , "when" and other facts. I'm afraid, most schooling still deals with trying to give information rather than concepts.

It's safe to say, that schools are no longer where information is distributed and gathered. Kids get access to more information in 1 hour compared to a day of school.
It's even more so now, due to online schooling most often.

News is no longer news, it's mostly channels for dishing out opinions. Articles are no longer articles, it's mostly some influencer trying to market some products. Reviews are no longer reviews, they are mostly rigged advertisers or bots. Research papers are no longer research, but mostly sponsored stuff aimed at some kind of agnotology.

In today's world it is not lack of information we have to deal with but the overwhelming prevalence of disinformation. Most of us will be disarmed by it and lap up what's being targeted and fed to us. No wonder companies like Cambridge Analytica can swing our opinion so easily.

More importantly, children of today have to battle this barrage of information and disinformation and form their opinion, on almost everything.

I feel today's education, not just schooling, from everyone, should focus on how to navigate information from various sources and arrive at ones own conclusion and opinion. How to take a stand on matters and not just based on peddled stuff. 

I strongly feel this will be a critical ability in the coming days, for all of us and most importantly for children...

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