The world is about to grow much, much darker.

[Suu]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/23/19102995-nelson-mandela-now-in-critical-condition-in-south-africa-hospital?lite

Nelson Mandela has been downgraded to critical condition. My heart is wrenching over this.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

At the risk of sounding unduly pagan, I wish him health and healing.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Still hanging in there, so typical of him. He's a fighter. 

[Suu]

He's lived a long and amazing life, but we can't keep him forever. Which sucks, really, because I can't think of a single soul on this planet that will ever do Mandela justice.

[Left]

This is actually making me tear up.

[Doktor Howl]

Everything ends; everybody dies.

Mandela's work has been done for a long time.  While I wish him the best, sometimes the best isn't continued life...I have no idea how much pain he's in or what his prospects are, but I don't think that he'd be happy with the idea of the world getting darker after he dies.  What he built, what MLK and Ghandi and Medgar Evers built, wasn't supposed to be about them.

So, yeah, honor the guy, but if you just decide the world is shit because he dies, then you're DOING IT WRONG, and actually dishonoring him.

[Suu]

It's not that the world is going to shit, Dok. Apartheid is not going to get reversed when he passes. It's the fact that in 10-20 years, the next generation is going to go, "Who was Nelson Mandela?" And shrug when you tell him what he went through to liberate South Africans.

Hell, that will probably happen right after he dies, all over Twitter, and then, I hope to whatever god listens that these ignorant kids Google him and learn something.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Totally, just like nobody knows who Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez and Ghandi are.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I dunno. Knowledge is learned, and everybody gets all mad about kids on the internet not knowing about important things or people, but the reality is that  those kids are literate and actively interacting with a media that gives them access to knowledge, often at a very young age.

I know it's frustrating to be an adult and have to interact with all these young people who haven't learned important things yet, but they way we used to do it is ghettoize them in the classroom with a cohort of same-age kids and shut them out of other aspects of our lives so we weren't exposed to their relative ignorance.

I kind of feel like it's better the new way.

[Salty]

I dunno about you good people, but I spent the entirety of my childhood watching TV. Non playing outside, no reading books, just TV. I didn't even get a PC until 2007.

But I've always known, for as long as I can remember, about Nelson Mandela and what he did.

And generally, by all rights, I should be a vapid, ignorant, lazy, fool. It comes down to luck, drive, genes, and environment. Getting worked up about Kid's These Days is silly. They'll work it out, like we did, or not. I've met people from very well-to-do, well-educated families who took part in all kinds of activities and learning and are still as dumb as a post.

[Salty]

Teaching someone to stand up for what is right, even at personal cost is a lot harder than saying LOOL AT NELSON.

It takes a certain something to instill that in a person, and sometimes it is just how a person is at that moment. I don't think there is any one way to get there though.

[Suu]

Totally, just like nobody knows who Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez and Ghandi are.

You might be fucking surprised.

Well, not MLK, because every city has a street named after him somwhere, but definitely Gandhi. People wear Che Guevara shit all the time and don't know who he is and what he is known for. His image is just a part of pop culture anymore, fuck, who CARES about the Cuban Revolution!

You have to understand, I'm finishing my undergrad in history at age 31. I'm going to be walking with 21 year olds that just last semester were wondering who Lenin was. I actually had someone go, "Wait a minute, who was Winston Churchill again?" IN CLASS. I'm not in any way shape or form saying that the entire country is doomed because of a couple of idiots in 300 level undergrad courses, but that's a notable problem. That tells me that students in high school aren't being taught JACK SHIT. If they don't know who Churchill is, they certainly aren't going to know who Mandela is. It's not sad, or facepalmy, it's heartbreaking.

[AFK]

Not sure it really matters what the masses know, or don't know, since they rarely put their constructive knowledge to good use.  Mandela dying is going to be a fun watercooler discussion, then people will go back to talking about stupid shit they saw on the internet.

[Left]

I dunno. Knowledge is learned, and everybody gets all mad about kids on the internet not knowing about important things or people, but the reality is that  those kids are literate and actively interacting with a media that gives them access to knowledge, often at a very young age.

I know it's frustrating to be an adult and have to interact with all these young people who haven't learned important things yet, but they way we used to do it is ghettoize them in the classroom with a cohort of same-age kids and shut them out of other aspects of our lives so we weren't exposed to their relative ignorance.

I kind of feel like it's better the new way.

Stupidize them in the classroom...
There are drawbacks for having the kids on the 'net...for the kids...but also benefits.  I think the latter WAY outweighs the former.

Mr Mandela IS 94.  Bodies are fragile things, we can't be walking around in them forever.
The best thing we can do to honor him is change things where we are, methinks.

[Junkenstein]

Totally, just like nobody knows who Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez and Ghandi are.

You might be fucking surprised.

Well, not MLK, because every city has a street named after him somwhere, but definitely Gandhi. People wear Che Guevara shit all the time and don't know who he is and what he is known for. His image is just a part of pop culture anymore, fuck, who CARES about the Cuban Revolution!

You have to understand, I'm finishing my undergrad in history at age 31. I'm going to be walking with 21 year olds that just last semester were wondering who Lenin was. I actually had someone go, "Wait a minute, who was Winston Churchill again?" IN CLASS. I'm not in any way shape or form saying that the entire country is doomed because of a couple of idiots in 300 level undergrad courses, but that's a notable problem. That tells me that students in high school aren't being taught JACK SHIT. If they don't know who Churchill is, they certainly aren't going to know who Mandela is. It's not sad, or facepalmy, it's heartbreaking.

Something of a tangent, but access to knowledge is not the same thing as desiring knowledge. I'm sure there are kids who could talk to you about Lenin or a range of historical figures. I'm equally sure there are those who could not tell you the time. Pretty sure you could find both types in any school. Not knowing something is not a failing. Not wanting to know more is.

Of course, if you keep having to ask the same questions you've probably got some kind of information retention problem which can usually be rectified with a sharp slap and instruction to study.


On a huge tangent, history is written by the victors. If you're dealing with kids who won't go looking for information then sell the version that suits you hard. For added fun if it's a historical figure, change their skin colour. That's got me some interesting responses over the years.

Edit to keep tangents in one place - There's an adage regarding being able to learn little or nothing from your own generation. Looking at the people who have taught me the most so far, most have been at least 5 years older/younger than me. Maybe more of a mix of ages within a teaching environment could be useful. May lead to Lord of the flies, not a teaching professional. Just a hunch.