Quote:
Originally Posted by NoPegs
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I can't (don't) watch any videos on my low-tech/speed interwebs service. But I did click, and I see the idea is that toy companies get the "facts" surrounding dinosaurs incorrect.
At the risk of straying further off topic, which I admit I may have caused, I hope I didn't touch any raw nerves by making fun of the American (perhaps worldwide?) obsession with dinosaurs. It simply irritates me because "dino-knowledge"; while utterly useless for 98% of the public, has become a go-to, safe subject replacing mechanical interests for children so predisposed.
As a child, I grew up with immigrant, depression-era adults who were intelligent, but had no clue what was popular for children in the mid 80s. That seems to be about the era when this push for the natural-world vs. man-made world began. Rather than using primitive spell-checks or speak & spells, I was forced to look up any word I misspelled in this old-timey thing called a "dictionary". Said dictionary was embossed with my grandmother's name as 1938 Detroit Spelling Bee champion, so you might imagine that poor spelling and grammar were not tolerated. I learned multiplication tables from flash cards. The only worthwhile public education I received came from my oldest teachers, the rest came at home.
Non-academic subjects were the domain of my grandfather. We didn't study dinosaurs. We fixed cars, lawn mowers, bikes, television sets & radios. We poured cement, finished basements, installed toilets, added electrical outlets, etc. I knew how to use a magnesium float before my friends could ride a bike. I learned all of this during the time my friends raised by hippie parents were watching MTV, listening to rock & roll,
learning about dinosaurs and overall becoming good consumers of crap imported by the cargo-ship load.
As such, I find myself rather out-of-step with people of my generation. My sarcasm isn't always understood. When I see a kid who can do something useful at a young age, I tend to be shocked... but in a good way. It gives me a shot of hope for the future.