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I don't like to think someone "can't" do math. They just have to work on it. That might mean sitting in the library from dawn to dusk like many of the engineering and compi sci students did when I was in college.
It's all about how bad you want something. If you're not willing to put in the work, the long hours of hard study, then maybe a low wage existence will be the future.
Eventually we are just going to have to embrace basic income. We have to recognize that no matter how many hours are put in that there is going to be a large population of people who just can't innovate or perform to the level required to produce in tomorrow's economy. The bar keeps getting higher and higher but genetically we are becoming weaker and weaker in all respects as a species.
Eventually we are just going to have to embrace basic income. We have to recognize that no matter how many hours are put in that there is going to be a large population of people who just can't innovate or perform to the level required to produce in tomorrow's economy. The bar keeps getting higher and higher but genetically we are becoming weaker and weaker in all respects as a species.
Agree.
There are three types of workers nowadays:
1) Those that displace others with technology, eg the winners.
2) Those being displaced, eg the losers.
3) Those yet to be disrupted by technology (politicians, doctors, government employees), eg the unassailables.
So far, there are enough 1's and 3's out there that the voices of the 2's get drowned out. But the 2's are growing rapidly, and plenty of 1's fall into the category of 2's due to job change or layoff.
I don't like to think someone "can't" do math. They just have to work on it. That might mean sitting in the library from dawn to dusk like many of the engineering and compi sci students did when I was in college.
It's all about how bad you want something. If you're not willing to put in the work, the long hours of hard study, then maybe a low wage existence will be the future.
There are many different ways to teach math. Someone who “can’t” do math learning it by one method may be great at it learning it another way. I did horribly at math through high school but actually like math and am good at it. However, I am not particularly good at abstract math and it was taught in a relatively abstract way when I was in high school. When I saw the practical applications, it made sense to me and I did well at it. I also worked with a lot of people who said they were horrible at math (we really only had to do mostly basic algebra at my last job) and most people did fine with the formulas when it was applied in practice. I think in most circumstances in school, people are doing math that isn’t applicable to anything. If he needs to do math applicable to tasks like machining, he might be fine...
There are many different ways to teach math. Someone who “can’t” do math learning it by one method may be great at it learning it another way. I did horribly at math through high school but actually like math and am good at it. However, I am not particularly good at abstract math and it was taught in a relatively abstract way when I was in high school. When I saw the practical applications, it made sense to me and I did well at it. I also worked with a lot of people who said they were horrible at math (we really only had to do mostly basic algebra at my last job) and most people did fine with the formulas when it was applied in practice. I think in most circumstances in school, people are doing math that isn’t applicable to anything. If he needs to do math applicable to tasks like machining, he might be fine...
Agree....I was always horrible in math until I went through a training course sponsored by the Carpenters Union. I didn't make it through the entire course (husband didn't like me working in a predominately male field) but solving mathematical problems in a way that was concrete instead of theoretical helped me overcome my math confusion.
People who have difficulty with math often find it easier to apply the concepts to something they can see instead of nebulous formulas that don't make sense to them.
Seriously tho.. It doesn't sound like you're terribly tied down. Look all over the country. There may be an area in the country that will pay you double that with half the cost of living because its hard to find good workers in the fly over states.
Put in some time and you can always come back, hop around a bit and demand a higher salary every time.
So this is the problem with the trades. And a concern I have about the effects on the macroeconomic picture in this country. Compared to Germany our tracks are not robust. Too many like OP slip thru the cracks. By the time you reach a certain age (close to 30) you need to get into management otherwise the same thing happens that would happen to you in IT. They rather pick younger more energetic and cheaper.
And being bad a math will limit you in many trades. The economy is becoming more and more cutthroat and unless you are in the top 25% of some skill type people are going to get left behind increasingly.
People with bad math skills will get weeded out of the genetic pool due to our increasing reliance on AI, programming etc. to create "value". Now because we see journalism quality is at an all time low. People with exceptional communication skills no longer pursue journalism because it isn't respected and doesn't pay well. But we have all of these amazing productivity apps and we herald programming geeks and say thank you for your contribution. Right brained folks are quickly getting sidelined unless they possess savant level creativity.
At this rate individuals such as yourself need to strongly consider if you are more right brain focused go abroad and teach English. You'll make 40k and have a better quality of life than you do in America. It's pretty much the last bastion left available. And after that dries up. The sh** is gonna hit the fan and fast (next 50-100 years).
Someone who makes sense! Wow!
A lot of intellectual folk go overseas and make a good life for themselves teaching English abroad (Taiwan, Japan, etc.). They make around $35-40, work good hours and have a high quality of life (no health insurance worries, 3-7 weeks vacation/year, lower rents in general, less reliance on car, etc.).
It seems the way to make it as an American is to leave America. English is more of an advantage abroad. America developed and is packed full of smart & competitive people, making competing in new business ventures difficult.
The way to achieve the American dream in America is to be an immigrant. Strange, but true.
It seems the way to make it as an American is to leave America. English is more of an advantage abroad. America developed and is packed full of smart & competitive people, making competing in new business ventures difficult.
The way to achieve the American dream in America is to be an immigrant. Strange, but true.
Eventually there's going to be no regional advantage left on planet Earth. But humans have always migrated to prosper. Space travel is a must. NASA needs to be re-invigorated. If we had stayed the course since JFK who knows where we would be now technology wise. A lot of today's technology came about as a result of looking for solutions for sustainable space exploration and colonization.
China is now economically colonizing Africa to maintain it's existing growth. When Africa finishes developing it's over. Humans will have to take a hard look at our reproductive habits and truly coming to terms that the Earth does not have the resources to sustain 10 billion people on a 1950's American standard of living. There aren't enough resources available.
So you either innovate and have a breakthrough creating cheap renewable energy and put in a quasi-capitalistic utopian model with basic income for the broader populace and incentives for the top 10% performers or we embrace dystopia keep unchecked capitalism with the booms and busts and keep the political ping pong games going. That will be up to Gen Z to decide as I'll be long gone when that decision is made.
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