Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by cema on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @02:53PM (#5863921)

There is nothing wrong with admitting it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by samolang on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @03:02PM (#5863985)

There is nothing wrong with the fact that he didn't know it either. Only willful ignorance is a sin, not accidental ignorance. Nobody can know everything, you shouldn't judge someone for prioritizing different knowledge than you.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by dllthomas on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @03:50PM (#5864285)

Though some encouragement to sufficiently prioritize basic facts about significant events in history might not be inappropriate.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by jlgreco on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @04:05PM (#5864370)

The state of history education is abysmal, at least in the US.

I sure as hell was not taught enough (and most of what I was taught, prior to high school history classes, was whitewashed propaganda. Things like "The Russian space program was awful", "The Native Americans and settlers got along swimmingly", or "Columbus thought the Earth was flat". Stuff no adult familiar with the material believes for a moment, but that we teach children anyway.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by weinzierl on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @04:13PM (#5864420)

You probably meant to say "Columbus thought the Earth was flat".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by dllthomas on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @10:46PM (#5872017)

The meme I more recall is "Columbus uniquely thought the Earth was round." Really, most people thought the Earth was round; Columbus thought the Earth was 1/3 its actual size...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by jlgreco on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @04:20PM (#5864463)

Err, yes I did. Thanks.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by mehrzad on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @06:35PM (#5865179)

>we teach children

Keyword being "children." Starting in middle school through high school, you hear much less biased info.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by sillysaurus on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @06:45PM (#5865223)

Keyword being "children." Starting in middle school through high school, you hear much less biased info.

This isn't true. I was being taught worthless fables at both of the highschools I attended.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by jlgreco on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @06:37PM (#5865186)

Yes, though by that time much of the classroom time that we have available for teaching history has been wasted.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by samolang on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @04:10PM (#5864397)

Knowing that Hitler heavily leveraged propaganda to further his cause might be of use to an individual. I don't think knowing Goebbels' name is necessary for learning such lessons though.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by jlgreco on Tuesday June 11, 2013 @06:07PM (#5865028)

Possibly true, though I would question the quality of any lesson about Nazi propaganda that did not mention Goebbels' name. If you are doing the "3-lesson 10,000 foot overview" of the 1930s and 40s then I can see how Goebbels' would escape mention, but otherwise he is definitely in the top 10 figures to mention.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by samolang on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @08:48AM (#5867767)

I don't know about you, but I tend to forget details that I don't regularly use. I have learned about Goebbels and forgotten his name at least once. I focus primarily on remembering the lessons learned because I know I am likely to forget details such as names. I can usually remember the overall lesson learned because it resonates with my intuition and world knowledge.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Court found NSA surveillance unconstitutional in 2011 by dllthomas on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @11:26AM (#5868569)

Not knowing the names of prominent figures is some (quite inconclusive) evidence of insufficient familiarity. Any encouragement of the type I was speaking of should recognize that (and should be polite on other counts as well, of course) or is not entirely appropriate.

[ Parent | on HN ]