From the Washington Post March 25, 2020
Columnist George Will
Rotellini’s father’s father was a union organizer at a time when that was a more hazardous occupation than his day job of subsurface mining. He died of black lung disease. The organizer’s granddaughter, an apple that did not fall far from the tree, came by her politics by family transmission. She calls herself “a John Kennedy Democrat.”
I noticed in the text: "company town," "unions organizer being more dangerous than being a miner."
COMMENT:Is this sufficient proof that ANY kind of knowledge is never useless?
Did you notice anything else in the passage above or in the entire opinion piece that directly connects to some kind of special knowledge that you only possess (generalization) but that most people probably don't? In other words, where you able to understand things that other people probably missed?
I'd like to think that knowledge of any kind is useful to have. This is an interesting question because it's something that I have come across ,and will come across in the future, throughout my high school and college career. The amount of math and science classes I have taken throughout all of my schooling, I still question why I needed to take these classes. From anatomy, to pre-calculus (I was an early childhood education major at one point), I questioned myself why I had to take some of these courses. Especially in high school, I was pretty convinced I would NEVER use the knowledge I gained from my anatomy class or my trigonometry class. Have I used the knowledge I gained since taking those classes? No. Do I still have a bit of PTSD from how much of a struggle some of those difficult classes were for me? Absolutely. I'm a huge proponent for colleges eliminating electives from their list of requirements as well as any and all classes that may NOT pertain to our respective major, and only requiring the NECESSARY classes we need that pertain to our specific majors. I'm not sure what the point of what I have written here is exactly, but I HOPE that one day the information that I have learned from the classes that I don't think I necessarily needed will come in handy one day. I highly doubt it, but I hope it does to prove to myself that it wasn't a complete waste of my time.
ReplyDeleteThis article made me think about the things we learn and why we learn them. Things like knowing math (Pre calc, calculus) and other minor classes like art and music makes me question why is this information important to know or even remember for that matter. Especially in high school, I always asked why something like chemistry is important to know if I won't need to use this information when I become what I want to be which is working for the CDC. But, as I went to college, the struggle and studying I did forced me to remember concepts and ideas mainly to pass exams and grades but now they are stuck in my head (Most lessons from different classes are still in my head, some I possibly forgot). I'm convinced that the stuff I stayed up studying for all night would be knowledge worth sharing whether it be teaching someone that needs help, or just for me to know because why not. What I can say is knowledge you get from your major classes is definitely worth remembering because you will end up using it in the real world. Other than that, I think all knowledge is important.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought that everything I learned in school would be useful until I realized that I have not (yet) applied everything I have learned in school to my everyday life. Thinking back to high school I can confidently say that I have not used geometry, algebra, physics, chemistry, or trigonometry in any part of my life. Is it pointless to learn the information that these courses provide? No, I believe that knowledge is wealth and the more you know and the more you learn the better-off you are. What you learn is infinite it is just up to you as an individual to learn and understand it. I can confidently say that I have a better understanding of things that relate to physics compared to a good amount of people I know. I feel that this information rendered in my brain better compared to others. For example, in the article there was a moment when the author said that Republicans have a harder time reaching out to people who's education levels are "inconveniently high" and also reaching "women who have a high level of ignorance". The article made me think of all the things we learn going through the education system. I believe that everything we learn is important but the rebuttal for that is, when will it become necessary that we had known that information. Knowing what you learn in school may never become necessary or, it may become so necessary that we, as individuals pursue a career that has all to do with what you learned.
ReplyDeleteI would say, any kind of knowledge is useful. When I was younger, I would ask “why do I need to know…?” and my father would always respond “It won’t hurt you to learn something new. You might need it one day.”. With this advice, I found clarity. It is important to understand the knowledge we acquire today, can always assist us in obtaining the knowledge we attempt to acquire tomorrow. For example, after reviewing the passage, I can say I do not have any knowledge about the dangers of being a union organizer during the 19th century. However, I do know coal mining to be a very hazardous occupation, because I did an entire project related to coal mining for a history class in grade school. With this information alone, I can understand the severity of being a union organizer, in relevance to a coal miner. Although we might question the usage of certain knowledge in our future endeavors, it is important to realize, knowledge of any kind is useful. Knowledge is power, and I believe that wholeheartedly.
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ReplyDeleteHaving knowledge everywhere even if it isn't related to your work isn't always a useless asset. Being aware of things outside of you're certain field is relevant in my opinion. For example, chemistry is a very complicated field in which it explains chemical and physical change and people who follow this learn about how certain things occur like how water boils or why certain chemicals affect others. People become aware of what causes certain reactions with certain things and even though a lot of information may not be useful in everyday use, it is good to be aware of what happens. Not everyone learns through these science classes tell us how certain things occur and I find it very useful to be conscious of things like how virus' work or how a tornado is created. I found that in college due to the spread of information that we take in we learn a bit of each branch of life and basic knowledge of certain things gives us the ability to learn how important certain aspects are and compare them to one another. They might not be as important as the learners career aspirations but knowledge all around provides people with a sense about certain things.
ReplyDeleteAny type of knowledge is useful because something is better than nothing and I believe that applies to anything. I think it would be rude to discredit someone for their knowledge or tell them it is useless. However I'm not sure if this article connects to the question. I did not understand what the story had to do with the politics. It didn't make much sense, there was not much of a point made especially in the beginning and seemed biased which is not surprising coming from Washington post. But I do think we all possess some type of knowledge that others might not pick up on because we are all different and interpret information differently. And thus we also have different perspectives and opinions which greatly influence our knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI think any sort of knowledge is useful whether it actually matters or not. The important part is that we can decipher whether or not the knowledge that we have is actually useful to us and where we can apply it. I feel like I know a lot of random facts and they really don't matter in my daily life but you never know when you can utilize knowledge, it might be relevant in conversation. Another good thing about knowledge is that it's a gateway to how people feel about things, their perspective and emotional feelings about certain topics.
ReplyDelete"Học, học nữa, học mãi" This is a Vietnamese quote with the meaning that study, study more,study forever. Although I sometimes wonder if I can apply the knowledge I have learned in school to life, I believe that knowledge is never redundant. There are so many things in our lives that we do not know yet, so we must continue to explore, learn, and cultivate our own knowledge.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I read this article I realized that I still do not have enough knowledge to read it between the lines, but from the position of knowledge that I have I noticed the phrase “Petite in size but large in ambition” which wrote the author of the article who is the men about the women who is actively involved in politics. For me it sounds like this author still thinks that a woman in politics among most men looks like a grain of sand. According to my knowledge in many countries, strong patriarchal systems remain in place making it difficult for women to break into the male-dominated world of politics. However as the women make up half of the population and with their innate natures and capabilities, they should be in seats of power.
I think that any knowledge is never superfluous, but I didn’t always think so. When I was at school I thought that chemistry was a useless subject for me, since I was going to become a philologist, but through the time things changed. At the time when I needed to go to University that I chose,the tuition was expensive and my family could not afford it and I had to choose another University with a major in biochemistry. After I successfully graduated from University with the major of biochemist my views cordially changed that life is not predictable and we never know what knowledge will be useful to us tomorrow.
The quote "Knowledge is power" is the most accurate statement. Anything that you learn is useful whether or not it can be used in your career or everyday. I truly believe this is why we are required to take so many classes that are nto apart of our major. Being a well rounded individual makes you a better person. I also feel that it depends on the person ad this article is an example of that the article speaks about women in politics but there is a deeper meaning behind certain things. People who can use different skills in different aspects in life are the most successful type of people. You need to be able to use different skills in different scenerios. I feel thats the only way you can truly be successful in life. Being able to merge different techniques and using them for something else and being sucessful means that you capable of thriving in life.
ReplyDeleteThis is John Giannusa. I think any knowledge is useful, even biased statements. From any sort of knowledge or statements you can learn something, you can analyze things like who is making the statement and why they would be making the statement. I also think that knowledge from any subject is useful in school in a subject you might not want to pursue. For example, learning some Italian could be useful to someone if they plan on visiting Italy in the future.
ReplyDeleteBased on the article, I think that this is sufficient proof that any kind of knowledge is never useless.. For example, the people who were the coal miners and the unior organizers. The coal miners job seems like it is lower level and that is why they were probably paid less than the union workers. However, to be a coal miner there are specific areas of knowledge that you need to be familiar with. For example, knowing the physical aspect of your body. If you know that you suffer from a bone disease, then this might not be the right job for you. Any knowledge can be applied anywhere even if it is the most minuscule task.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I noticed that others may have not was the part about the black lung disease. This was a disease that killed many miners due to a hazardous workplace. I learned about this during a documentary in my business class last year. Hence, this is the reason why it stuck out to me.
I think that quote speaks to how you could and will never fathom how insufferable some else's life could be. A book that’s closed is a mystery and to all that see the cover, there guess is as good as inequality. Not Good at all. You must do everything and anything to obtain as much knowledge as you can because knowing is at least half if not more of the battle we wage against the world. The pen is my sword, as they say.
ReplyDeleteThe quotation "he was born in a Wyoming company town that no longer exists because the coal company that owned the town is long gone" is interesting, because it seems symbolic of how the Italian immigrant story. When we reflect on the transition that Italian Americans have gone through (from the victims of white bigotry and aggression to assimilated members of the culture) there is certainly a comparison to be made regarding the fact that Italian immigrants likely once worked as coal miners in a town that no longer exists.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the history that Italians have had suffering at the hands of social an economic injustice are today forgotten and glossed over, but once they were as real as a town. Though things have since changed, both the story of the Italian immigrant and the town's that they worked in are remembered and reflected on in the effort of determining whether or not there is useful knowledge to extract from them. The information presented does not contain sufficient proof that all knowledge is useful or not, but it does show how useful seemingly insignificant knowledge can be if properly utilized.
Having an education is paramount to being a functioning member of society. Being able to form an opinion based on what you know to be true can make a huge difference as opposed to forming an opinion on what you feel to be true. Having knowledge in many different areas can give one the ability to form a much more informed opinion on just about anything. Knowledge also prevents one from being taken advantage of from predatory practices by scrupulous individuals. In order to properly thrive in life, we must amass as much knowledge as we can to properly execute the skills we've learned.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all and any kind of knowledge is or will be useful. You might not be able to utilize it at the moment but eventually you will. During that time you can build upon it and know more. Whether if the knowledge is of something specific or something general, they both help with and broaden your understanding of the world around you.
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