The August 5, 2009
PinFeed Almanack
Teaching to the Test
What do you suppose is the Almanack's common concern with education, finance,
sports, and politics? It's the focus on grades.
In education, they call it 'teaching to the test', because frustrated teachers
spend their limited time coaching how to answer test questions instead of
imparting the general knowledge the test is designed to gauge. It makes good
statistics for the school, and ignorant students.
In sports, the slogan is, 'Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.'
Sports are entertainment, unless you regularly file a 1099-G. Of course we
care whether our team is on a losing streak, but most of us just want to see
athletes do spectacular things, and if our side gives up a walk-off in the
ninth, well, that's the way the ball bounces. But if the only thing you care
about is the final score, the temptation is huge to cheat any way you can.
Doping, weighting, corking, shaving can take trophies, along with the joy and
confidence of the fans.
In finance, it's called 'arbitrage', or 'technical trading'. There are a lot
of ways to go about it, but in general, the trader uses fast computers to find
momentary gaps between investments that are usually equivalent, or to measure
trends over very small intervals, and exploit the gaps and trends. Such
trading is limited to banks who have the computers, network connections, and
very exclusive knowledge of market activity to do it. It creates no value,
only profit, and global catastrophe.
In politics, it's about getting votes by any means necessary. Perish the
thought of supporting a good idea just because it's a good idea, or letting an
embarrassing moment pass. Every sound-bite and photo-op is another chance to
humiliate or de-humanize the opposition. We're not competitors, or even
opponents, we're enemies! Death to the . . . whatever.
Focus on grades, and learning is an afterthought; focus on the score, the game
is no fun; focus on profit, the product is trash; focus on votes, integrity is
lost. Learning, playing games, making stuff, deciding on the best leader and
the best idea, are all supposed to be fun, but not necessarily victorious. We
can all be competitive, we can all be cooperative, and we can all better
ourselves, but we can't all be 'better'. Only half of us can be above
average.
And in keeping with the Almanack's theme of qwertyness: in the face of
unbridled competition, nothing is ever 'good enough'. Nothing survives long
enough to be 'qwerty' - if it isn't beaten out of the marketplace, it burns
itself out with the effort of competing.
So relax - root for an underdog, drink tap water, take public transit, read
something you enjoy. Don't vote for anything you don't believe in. Admire
excellence in the endeavor, not the outcome.
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:
You have to read "FREE LUNCH" by David Cay Johnston. OMG....this guy has it
nailed.....the game is rigged. I'm halfway through it...if you can wait, I'll
lend it to you next time we meet. A must read!
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