Lost the ability to focus? Free Dating, Singles and Personals

Lost the ability to focus? Posted: 11/3/2009 11:48:29 AM
OP It's not about English, it's about the ability to analyze and use logic. I see that problem very vividly among my students -- they're used to making an argument by placing "sound bites" as their rationale for sustaining an argument. Therefore, they look for "sound bites" in a discussion as a way to participate, and they do so by addressing only the "sound bite." This is only a guess, but if you look at our mass media today, it's chock-full of sound bite argumentation. They generalize from small samples, or anecdotal evidence, they use hyperbole to make a problem seem more serious, ridicule to counter the argument of others, etc. etc. If you think of "reason and logic" as a "product" of education, the K-12 system is dropping the ball on this one. If a student goes through a community college system before attending a 4 year institution, some of the "unpreparedness" goes away but is still measurable by a significant degree. I'm not saying that education is the only defense against the sidetracking issue that you discuss. It's only one way. Sound wisdom and experience also goes a long way toward staying "focused."