Actually my goal was for the younger part of this forum to read the article, I thought maybe they'd find it interesting. As for the older part of the population... I thought that maybe it might bring some (mostly good) memories.I think you're talking to the wrong audience. Most of the people here did not allow enforced mediocrity to stop them. I didn't wait for my teachers to teach me, I read every (science) book in the school library. I didn't have rich parents that could finance my way to a college degree, so I did it on a bicycle and a part time job. I'd say almost every regular member here is a retired success story.
If your goal is to whine about the next generation, get in line. People have been doing that for centuries.
Very good points... guess the real challenge then is clearly and correctly identifying the unknownsI had a really good boss at one time who had an excellent set of metrics he would use to assess the risks of a project. One of them was to count the number of "unknowns". Here are the rules:
0 Unknowns: Don't proceed -- the product, while likely being technically successful, will have necessarily low margins (i.e. commodity)
1 Unknown: Proceed -- Very likely success, moderate margins
2 Unknowns: Proceed cautiously -- Moderate chance of success, high margins
3+ Unknowns: Don't proceed -- Low chance of success -- likely failure.
These days, aside from other metrics, I generally tackle projects with 1 or 2 unknowns (sometimes one is an "impossibility"!). I hold 3+ back in my R&D until the number of unknowns are reduced to acceptable level.
This was the method I saw used to fix water pump shafts in 1970.levelled the shaft off, to a given size > as the blown bearing had chewed in about 1/16 in. groove in it
Drove a piece of 1" black iron pipe over the stub, a hammer fit.
I wish I had a dollar for every waterpump I repaired in that manner... All pumps I worked with, had a brass sleeve for the seal assembly to ride on... Major brands being Bell & Gossett, Taco, Grundfos. Weinman.. ad infinitum...This was the method I saw used to fix water pump shafts in 1970.
Cut down the steel and press fit a brass collar on it.
If you didn't get a dollar for every water pump you repaired like that, you're doing something wrong.I wish I had a dollar for every waterpump I repaired in that manner...
School must have changed since I was there. I remember special classes, special services, and special tutoring for the really slow kids. Meanwhile, the nerds got nothing. My grade school story goes like this, "He's proved a hundred times that he can ace the tests without doing the homework, so we can't promote him because he didn't do the homework."The author is all wet. Some folks are angry at what they see as lost opportunities to categorize children so that some can be labeled as "slow" or "deficient" so that they can be pushed aside to make way for the smart, talented kids.
Wow! Story of my school life too. What I turned in was usually done well. Problem was I didn't show my work or turn in much of anything that I had already proven I can do more than once. Heck I can recall reading my school books end to end and all but memorizing them in the first week or two of school and rarely opening them for the rest of the year unless it was to argue that the teacher was wrong or to prove I already knew what was on every page."He's proved a hundred times that he can ace the tests without doing the homework, so we can't promote him because he didn't do the homework."
by Jake Hertz
by Aaron Carman
by Aaron Carman
by Duane Benson