Obama Back to School Speech For Kids

[Mr.Ganji]

US education = fail.

This about sums the situation up. The American education system is a complete mess and you should read about it when you get a chance...its absolutely shocking to know how screwed up we really are and how our country's competitive edge and power will diminish in the future if our kids dont get the proper education. Its pathetic to see American parents reacting to Obama this way. Are Americans that faithless in their government? Its laughable and ridiculous to see people immediately, without question, claim that Obama and his big brother government is trying to brainwash children. Give me a fucking break .

Hm, yeah, the racial stereotypes that exist today are unfortunate, but if you look at it one way, people just cant help thinking otherwise. The generalization that Asians are smart is understandable - you see the number of Chinese and Indian immigrants, they come in droves, sweeping math and science related awards, you cant help but think so. Not to mention that many Asians will openly whine about how much their parents expect of them. But I'd have to agree that the stereotype is as close to reality as it can get. With the exception of very few people, the vast majority of Asians usually have similar mindsets, goals, come from education-focused cultures, and have pushy parents.

[XemnasXD]

Ugh, at this point i don't even care to point out the things that are incorrect. Next time someone says americans are dumb though, i expect you to go along with that too since they're got as much back them up to say that as you have to say half that garbage...

/done
americans=uneducated fail
asians=supreme intellectual overlords...all 1 billion+ of them...

[jabbers]

There was this study I read about where they took a bunch of grade school kids of varying ethnic groups and had them answer some problems. After the first set they would either be praised with "wow you must be very smart" or "wow you must have worked very hard" , in the following set of problems the kids that were praised as "being smart" ended with a decreased score versus the kids praised with "you must have worked very hard" who showed an increased score. The article on the study is here, i don't have the link to the actual study.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/14/scien ... -says.html

Since a child's greatest influence on their performance begins at home with their parents. I wonder how true do these findings appear for those of you who have grown up in asian, african households or with very driven and achievement-oriented parents. I myself remember being praised as "very smart" as a kid and I've experienced that false sense of security recalling the many times that I was "not as smart as I thought I was". What they are concluding is that hard work is a quality that is most important . Intelligence varies greatly among people and it's perceived as something set in stone, it allows more room for accountability. A kid can think "I'm not smart enough" vs. "I didn't work hard enough" , which will better set them up to improve in the future? I think I will send this to my teacher friends

[Barotix]

Are Americans that faithless in their government?

Why do you always bring it back to faith in government as if it's some kind of religion? Come on d00d, do you really think everyone should praise (and have faith in, LOL) the government like it's some kind of omnipotent benevolent institution?

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

No1 cares about the content, the quotes you see are from obvious libertarians. They are QQing about the suggested question. Motivate my kids all day with speeches MR. President but don't ask them question like "What is Mr. President trying to make you feel/do/say/see." If the question was: "Do you agree with Mr. President, why or why not?" And they left it at that no1 would complain because it leaves room for opinion & choice.

Edit:
About education. It's more a parenting & private school thing; if your parents push you and get you into the habit of working hard it will last irregardless of the school.

[blackfalcon]

we all know if obama was white people wouldnt be bitchin about this..... its Farking annoying that everyone gets mad at him for doing stuff just cuz he's black.

[Mr.Ganji]

Ugh, at this point i don't even care to point out the things that are incorrect. Next time someone says americans are dumb though, i expect you to go along with that too since they're got as much back them up to say that as you have to say half that garbage...

/done
americans=uneducated fail
asians=supreme intellectual overlords...all 1 billion+ of them...

I never insulted Americans themselves. I'm criticizing our education system, its lack of equality, rigor, and direction. We have too small an emphasis on education to remain competitive with other countries. I also never claimed Asians too be all, without exception, intelligent. I pointed out their smarts to compare them to Americans and show how far behind we are. Education just needs reform here.

Are Americans that faithless in their government?

Why do you always bring it back to faith in government as if it's some kind of religion? Come on d00d, do you really think everyone should praise (and have faith in, LOL) the government like it's some kind of omnipotent benevolent institution?

I honestly didnt think you would interpret it that way, and its kind of an ignorant interpretation of what I wrote. "Faith" doesn't always pertain to religion. Its just one way of saying things. Your parents have "faith" in you that you will get the job. You have "faith" in yourself that you will past a math test. It just means you believe in someone or something. You might not talk that way, but there are many people who do. Not that difficult to understand.

No one completely agrees with or completely disagrees with (actually, you might) the government. What I mean here is that it seems that too many people are too suspicious of the government and the White House. Look at some of these peoples reactions... you can obviously see how disengaged some parents are with the rest of world and how ignorant they are of the flaws in our education system. Yes, President Obama wants to harm our children and hinder their efforts to learn. Our government is, without question, acting against the interests of the people .

[Barotix]

On Faith: Read it, understood it, and gotcha. I just try to avoid using that word out of a religious context because here in the South people will switch the game up.

ONT: Addressing the flaws of Education & asking students to bust their asses is fine.

how ignorant they are of the flaws in our education system.

(Generalizing) Most people acknowledge the flaws of the education system in the U.S. You're talking about a whole different subject, the critics are bringing up the questions that will be asked in classrooms after the speech. (Judgment Call): The questions don't leave room for opinions or debate. That is what they're criticizing, lol.

the interests of the people

How does one gauge the interest of the people? (Generalizing): The intent [..Of Government.. note: did not use "purpose"] may be to act in the interest of the people but the effects [Read: Long term consequences] are hardly in the interest of the people.

[Blurred]

we all know if obama was white people wouldnt be bitchin about this..... its Farking annoying that everyone gets mad at him for doing stuff just cuz he's black.

I seriously think that is the reason. I noticed every time I put on Fox news they keep bashing him for no reason, and it's over stupid shit. There's a bus full of rednecks heading to Washington with some Tea Party crap.

EDIT: I found a page on it, I think. http://action.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147486206

look at the dumb christian at the bottom.

By Anonymous
its time for a new flag C S A the cristan stats of america the bold and the brave

lol

[woutR]

we all know if obama was white people wouldnt be bitchin about this..... its Farking annoying that everyone gets mad at him for doing stuff just cuz he's black.

Yes that must be the reason. I think it's time to get over the racism crap. The man became a president for god's sake. A country full of bigots wouldn't elect a black man to president, nor would the exact same media have covered his victory so cheerfully if they were bigoted.
The fact just is he is a very progressive president for American standards which isn't appreciated by a large conservative portion of the population. I don't feel any of the criticism is because of his ethnicity.

OT:
Imo, I think it's a good idea to try and reach out to youngsters and get your message across to everyone of every age, but I don't think school should be the place for it though.
It should be more optional to watch it, it's hard with peer pressure and the likes of it to opt out of watching it. A school not broadcasting it could easily be targeted as a Republican or conservative school, it places a certain pressure to broadcast or watch it.
A school should never be forced, directly or indirectly, to broadcast the message of a president.
I know this message is a positive one, but I feel there should be a clear line: you don't use school to broadcast politics.

Also, the usage of this system creates a monopoly where only the elected party really gets the chance to broadcast politic ideas to young children. I think that's my biggest concern. It's hugely favoring the Democrats and their potential to create young followers (and yes, this is called indoctrination).

[TheDrop]

what is pre-algebra...

nvm i googled it. pre-algebra isn't complex. at that age its more like fill in the blank than actual algebra. That shouldn't be complex for a 10 year old who has developed basic math skills. I would be very surprised if you told me they were doing y^2-x^5/3x+45 by 5th or 6th grade...7th or 8th is more likely

Yeah Pre-Algebra isn't that hard. Still though, pre-algebra in the US is taught in 8th grade (in a unaccelerated course), which is pretty lame.
BTW, I didn't say asians are smarter than non-asians, its just that they have more pressure from their parents and teachers, so they work harder.

we all know if obama was white people wouldnt be bitchin about this..... its Farking annoying that everyone gets mad at him for doing stuff just cuz he's black.

its pretty normal for opposing parties to bitch at the party thats in power, cause they don't want them (the party in power) to be successful :\

[_Scarlett_]

Yeah Pre-Algebra isn't that hard. Still though, pre-algebra in the US is taught in 8th grade (in a unaccelerated course), which is pretty lame.
BTW, I didn't say asians are smarter than non-asians, its just that they have more pressure from their parents and teachers, so they work harder.

Depends where though; where I went, we learned pre-algebra crap in 6th grade. Algebra didn't start until 8th/9th grade though.

Also, doing the work doesn't = being smart. I've known a lot of people who do the work, get the A, yet don't really understand the material that great. I think it has to do with how a lot of tests are given out though. Almost all my teachers gave tests which were just comprised of multiple choice and maybe 1 or 2 questions that made you write out everything. Only a few of my teachers actually made you rely on yourself actually knowing and understanding the material to get all your answers on tests, finals, etc.

[Jstar1]

hahaha my school principal just sent out an email saying that the school was gonna see the video but not live, just a recorded one. His email says that any parents who wants to pull their kid from the school during the video can if they want to.

I guess I'm gonna find out who the ultra-conservatives at my school are.

[XemnasXD]

Yeah Pre-Algebra isn't that hard. Still though, pre-algebra in the US is taught in 8th grade (in a unaccelerated course), which is pretty lame.
BTW, I didn't say asians are smarter than non-asians, its just that they have more pressure from their parents and teachers, so they work harder.

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

[JuelzSantana]

lol if it counts for anything, america is based on the idea that you are born with a certain level of intelligence. and asian and african countries use persistence/diligence to gain intelligence.

im from new york.. aka im american lol (duh <_>) when i was 3 years old.. i remember my mom tried to teach me the 'nice way' to doing math. she gave me 1 apple, and then she asked me how much i had, so i said 1, then she gave me another apple and asked me how much i had. i said 1. the slap that followed that answer.. i will never forget that LOL!

i hated my mom for it back then but thank her now.. it doesnt depends where ur from. it depends if your parents dont fu.ck around (why do we have a word filter for fu.ck??? do we really have 11 year old babies running around?)

[XemnasXD]

lol if it counts for anything, america is based on the idea that you are born with a certain level of intelligence. and asian and african countries use persistence/diligence to gain intelligence.

people are born with certain levels of intelligence. One of the biggest problems with No Child Left Behind is that it encouraged schools to lower or raise the bar for students. For example you start getting rid of special accelerated programs for all kids to keep up with the subject matter or you lower the difficulty of the subject matter so that it evens out at all levels or you start combining Applied, College Prep, Honors, and AP classes so that you only end up with say College Prep and AP. The results have been negative across the board.

You can't gain intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to understand/apply information. It is not upgradeable. Its not something you can get more of. You can line up 30 students and teach them the same thing and guaranteed they will learn at different paces. Some will pick it up faster than others even if eventually they all pick it up. You can't train to get more intelligence, its innate. There are different types of intelligence so just because a child doesn't learn math doesn't mean they aren't intelligent at all but sometimes it means that the child isn't very intelligent. In fact thats more often than not the case. Americans have got this idea in their head that kids are all equal at the start and as they develop they branch off. That is one of the flaws the education system tries to correct by segregating the intelligent kids from the less intelligent kids. Its cruel both ways but necessary on a certain level.

Sadly alot of schools get extra benefits for having kids with special education needs so they have a slight incentive to mark certain students as dumber than they actually are. That student may have just started off a little slower than the rest but after years of being treated as if she/he IS slower than the rest they conform to this identity. Of course this won't work on a truly intelligent student or a student who is pushed constantly but it will work for students who live in environments with little control whose school needs often go unattended or ignored.

Not everyone is a genius. Not everyone is even smart. People have potential but only up to a certain limit. At that point you see the clear separation between the kids who are intelligent and the kids who just do their homework and study hard. No amount of teaching an unintelligent child intelligent work will make him/her more intelligent. Asians make a very VERY clear admission of this through rigorous testing and a very competitive educational atmosphere. The intelligent are singled out even amongst all those who study hard and they are the ones who get the top spots in the best university. The rest become nobodies in a sea of nobodies. In a way its a much crueler system than the one we have in the US because no one, not even the people who study their hardest (because they all do) will ever outshine the people who are truly more intelligent because them studying their hardest is probably 10x more productive than the average student studying their hardest.

[Barotix]

hahaha my school principal just sent out an email saying that the school was gonna see the video but not live, just a recorded one. His email says that any parents who wants to pull their kid from the school during the video can if they want to.

I guess I'm gonna find out who the ultra-conservatives at my school are.

sup

It should be more optional to watch it, it's hard with peer pressure and the likes of it to opt out of watching it. A school not broadcasting it could easily be targeted as a Republican or conservative school, it places a certain pressure to broadcast or watch it.

[Reise]

I suppose we should flip out every time the president has something positive to say about the government. Mountains out of mole hills up in hurr.

[Ningyotsukai-san]

Sadly, a lot of schools get extra benefits for having kids with special education needs so they have a slight incentive to mark certain students as dumber than they actually are. That student may have just started off a little slower than the rest but after years of being treated as if she / he IS slower than the rest they conform to this identity. Of course this won't work on a truly intelligent student or a student who is pushed constantly but it will work for students who live in environments with little control whose school needs often go unattended or ignored.

In High School they tried putting me into "Special Ed" for the simple fact I didn't do the work in my classes and didn't talk to people at their expected level of occurrence. They just assumed I didn't understand the stuff (Only math I've had problems with, but that's another story).

I found it hard to keep up with the work, when I got serious (not in understanding something, but particularly actually doing the homework), for subjects that bored the complete hell out of me. At times, I found myself disappointed; yea, if I didn't do the work, or half ass'd it, I expected to get completely shit grades, but at times I've gotten higher than I expected without putting all I had into it. Practically passed a couple classes without turning in any homework and doing good on tests.

But then again, it's always bothered me that I could barely try and still get good grades in this system....

Like it was said earlier ....most of the time, it was just memorize, memorize, memorize....Tests consisted of basic multiple choice ....if you remembered the answer, you could pass. Barely got into the "why it was this and not that", or to apply it in a situation you've created to show you fully understood.

[Nick Invaders]

lol if it counts for anything, america is based on the idea that you are born with a certain level of intelligence. and asian and african countries use persistence/diligence to gain intelligence.

people are born with certain levels of intelligence. One of the biggest problems with No Child Left Behind is that it encouraged schools to lower or raise the bar for students. For example you start getting rid of special accelerated programs for all kids to keep up with the subject matter or you lower the difficulty of the subject matter so that it evens out at all levels or you start combining Applied, College Prep, Honors, and AP classes so that you only end up with say College Prep and AP. The results have been negative across the board.

You can't gain intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to understand/apply information. It is not upgradeable. Its not something you can get more of. You can line up 30 students and teach them the same thing and guaranteed they will learn at different paces. Some will pick it up faster than others even if eventually they all pick it up. You can't train to get more intelligence, its innate. There are different types of intelligence so just because a child doesn't learn math doesn't mean they aren't intelligent at all but sometimes it means that the child isn't very intelligent. In fact thats more often than not the case. Americans have got this idea in their head that kids are all equal at the start and as they develop they branch off. That is one of the flaws the education system tries to correct by segregating the intelligent kids from the less intelligent kids. Its cruel both ways but necessary on a certain level.

Sadly alot of schools get extra benefits for having kids with special education needs so they have a slight incentive to mark certain students as dumber than they actually are. That student may have just started off a little slower than the rest but after years of being treated as if she/he IS slower than the rest they conform to this identity. Of course this won't work on a truly intelligent student or a student who is pushed constantly but it will work for students who live in environments with little control whose school needs often go unattended or ignored.

Not everyone is a genius. Not everyone is even smart. People have potential but only up to a certain limit. At that point you see the clear separation between the kids who are intelligent and the kids who just do their homework and study hard. No amount of teaching an unintelligent child intelligent work will make him/her more intelligent. Asians make a very VERY clear admission of this through rigorous testing and a very competitive educational atmosphere. The intelligent are singled out even amongst all those who study hard and they are the ones who get the top spots in the best university. The rest become nobodies in a sea of nobodies. In a way its a much crueler system than the one we have in the US because no one, not even the people who study their hardest (because they all do) will ever outshine the people who are truly more intelligent because them studying their hardest is probably 10x more productive than the average student studying their hardest.

@Juelz: It's called gaining knowledge not intelligence.
@XemnasXD: Love ur post.
************
Yea the US education system sucks balls.
I have a few friends taking Calculus 1 sophomore year, that's how good they are. I'm in almost all honors classes and frankly, its too easy, I'm in College Prep Algebra 2 (cuz my cp geometry teacher says Algebra 2 honors is too hard for people who have taken cp geometry >.>) and its way too easy. I don't even have to try to get an A in this class.
This no child left behind thing is fcking up my CP classes. Half of the people in my Algebra 2 class don't know anything, and they are in CP. Really? They should be in Standard.
Don't get me started on standard classes. They work at a snails pace, get practically no homework etc. If anything they should get more homework, they don't know as much as CP, Honors and AP kids.
If you look at my school districts standardized testing scores.... Oh my god, I can't believe this is our average. 73%. And we are the best in the fcking district.

Like XemnasXD says our way is more people friendly, but really we should raise the bar. In most classes you need at least a 60% to pass. I think even a 70% is too low. People who can't get an 80% or higher are not in the right level.

And even though I would like to say more:
This is the end of this post.

[nohunta]

Thing about European countries testing higher is that kids who dont pass a hard ass exam dont move on through high school they stop and join the workforce while the smarter kids are represented as china. Whilst in the U.S even the dumbasses are counted in. I gaureentee if we took our smart kids vs china smart kids it wouldnt be much of a difference.

[nohunta]

Yeah Pre-Algebra isn't that hard. Still though, pre-algebra in the US is taught in 8th grade (in a unaccelerated course), which is pretty lame.
BTW, I didn't say asians are smarter than non-asians, its just that they have more pressure from their parents and teachers, so they work harder.

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

I didnt learn pre-algebra until 7th, but im in Algebra 2 now as an 11th grader :O. Honestly i think if i had started out pre-algebra earliar i would have been completely lost. I didnt learn my times tables until i was in 4th grade and my mom forced me to write them for 3 hours everyday.(I cried everytime literally, dont laugh i wanted to play lol). I am a pretty intelligent person tho, i can hear something and simply memorize what i was told and solve problems just like that.

[XemnasXD]

Yeah Pre-Algebra isn't that hard. Still though, pre-algebra in the US is taught in 8th grade (in a unaccelerated course), which is pretty lame.
BTW, I didn't say asians are smarter than non-asians, its just that they have more pressure from their parents and teachers, so they work harder.

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

I didnt learn pre-algebra until 7th, but im in Algebra 2 now as an 11th grader :O. Honestly i think if i had started out pre-algebra earliar i would have been completely lost. I didnt learn my times tables until i was in 4th grade and my mom forced me to write them for 3 hours everyday.(I cried everytime literally, dont laugh i wanted to play lol). I am a pretty intelligent person tho, i can hear something and simply memorize what i was told and solve problems just like that.

So you're saying if a teacher gave you 2+_=7 you would be unable to fill in the blank in the fourth grade because thats pre-algebra work. You are also saying that you never encountered a problem like that till the 7th grade. I find those things hard to believe especially if you consider yourself to be intelligent.

[cpinney]

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

lol, no.

[XemnasXD]

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

lol, no.

i'll propose the same question to you then. No one confronted you with 2+_=7 until you were in middle school?

[cpinney]

no pre-algebra is taught anywhere from 4th-6th in the US depending on the state. Average is 5th though...

lol, no.

i'll propose the same question to you then. No one confronted you with 2+_=7 until you were in middle school?

yes actually, as far as i can remember.

[JuelzSantana]

lol if it counts for anything, america is based on the idea that you are born with a certain level of intelligence. and asian and african countries use persistence/diligence to gain intelligence.

people are born with certain levels of intelligence. One of the biggest problems with No Child Left Behind is that it encouraged schools to lower or raise the bar for students. For example you start getting rid of special accelerated programs for all kids to keep up with the subject matter or you lower the difficulty of the subject matter so that it evens out at all levels or you start combining Applied, College Prep, Honors, and AP classes so that you only end up with say College Prep and AP. The results have been negative across the board.

You can't gain intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to understand/apply information. It is not upgradeable. Its not something you can get more of. You can line up 30 students and teach them the same thing and guaranteed they will learn at different paces. Some will pick it up faster than others even if eventually they all pick it up. You can't train to get more intelligence, its innate. There are different types of intelligence so just because a child doesn't learn math doesn't mean they aren't intelligent at all but sometimes it means that the child isn't very intelligent. In fact thats more often than not the case. Americans have got this idea in their head that kids are all equal at the start and as they develop they branch off. That is one of the flaws the education system tries to correct by segregating the intelligent kids from the less intelligent kids. Its cruel both ways but necessary on a certain level.

Sadly alot of schools get extra benefits for having kids with special education needs so they have a slight incentive to mark certain students as dumber than they actually are. That student may have just started off a little slower than the rest but after years of being treated as if she/he IS slower than the rest they conform to this identity. Of course this won't work on a truly intelligent student or a student who is pushed constantly but it will work for students who live in environments with little control whose school needs often go unattended or ignored.

Not everyone is a genius. Not everyone is even smart. People have potential but only up to a certain limit. At that point you see the clear separation between the kids who are intelligent and the kids who just do their homework and study hard. No amount of teaching an unintelligent child intelligent work will make him/her more intelligent. Asians make a very VERY clear admission of this through rigorous testing and a very competitive educational atmosphere. The intelligent are singled out even amongst all those who study hard and they are the ones who get the top spots in the best university. The rest become nobodies in a sea of nobodies. In a way its a much crueler system than the one we have in the US because no one, not even the people who study their hardest (because they all do) will ever outshine the people who are truly more intelligent because them studying their hardest is probably 10x more productive than the average student studying their hardest.

@Juelz: It's called gaining knowledge not intelligence.
@XemnasXD: Love ur post.
************
Yea the US education system sucks balls.
I have a few friends taking Calculus 1 sophomore year, that's how good they are. I'm in almost all honors classes and frankly, its too easy, I'm in College Prep Algebra 2 (cuz my cp geometry teacher says Algebra 2 honors is too hard for people who have taken cp geometry >.>) and its way too easy. I don't even have to try to get an A in this class.
This no child left behind thing is fcking up my CP classes. Half of the people in my Algebra 2 class don't know anything, and they are in CP. Really? They should be in Standard.
Don't get me started on standard classes. They work at a snails pace, get practically no homework etc. If anything they should get more homework, they don't know as much as CP, Honors and AP kids.
If you look at my school districts standardized testing scores.... Oh my god, I can't believe this is our average. 73%. And we are the best in the fcking district.

Like XemnasXD says our way is more people friendly, but really we should raise the bar. In most classes you need at least a 60% to pass. I think even a 70% is too low. People who can't get an 80% or higher are not in the right level.

And even though I would like to say more:
This is the end of this post.

no i actually meant they gain INTELLIGENCE, the kids are forced to have a higher level of intelligence to keep up with the expectations of the parents and other adults.

[XemnasXD]

we just went through this...you can't gain intelligence...

[Ningyotsukai-san]

we just went through this...you can't gain intelligence...

+1

Knowledge != Intelligence;

if you didn't understand that, like was said above knowledge doesn't equal intelligence.

Knowledge is a practical understanding of whatever field you're applying it to (from experience or education), where as intelligence is the ability to understand and profit from experiences....

ability ~ the quality of being able to perform

quality ~ degree of excellence

If I go to some kids and explain to 'em what the variable x equaled to in: 5x + 35 = 175

All won't catch on as fast as everyone else...

[blackfalcon]

Spoiler!

Intelligence (also called intellect) is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn. There are several ways to define intelligence. In some cases, intelligence may include traits such as creativity, personality, character, knowledge, or wisdom. Intelligence comes from the Latin verb "intellegere", which means "to understand". By this rationale, intelligence (as understanding) is arguably different from being "smart" (able to adapt to one's environment), or being "clever" (able to creatively adapt).

yes being intellegent doesnt mean smart. but there are ways to make your intelligence better.

[JuelzSantana]

we just went through this...you can't gain intelligence...

can you link me to a respectable article (not wikipedia) that says this? ive never heard this in my entire life.

There are probably as many definitions of intelligence as there are experts who study it. Simply put, however, intelligence is the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with one’s environment. This general ability consists of a number of specific abilities, which include these specific abilities:

* Adaptability to a new environment or to changes in the current environment
* Capacity for knowledge and the ability to acquire it
* Capacity for reason and abstract thought
* Ability to comprehend relationships
* Ability to evaluate and judge
* Capacity for original and productive thought

Additional specific abilities might be added to the list, but they would all be abilities allowing a person to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with the environment. Environment in this definition doesn’t mean the environment of the earth, such as the desert, the mountains, etc., although it can mean that kind of environment. It has a wider meaning that includes a person’s immediate surroundings, including the people around him or her. Environment in this case can also be something as small as a family, the workplace, or a

now as i said before.. im not saying that the children in other countries do better because they know more information.. they have greater intelligence because parents and teachers and society over in other countries might push them to have to have a higher intelligence level. this can be argued forever but think about it. there is no way a kid is born more intelligent than another. it just depends how they develop and what forces are acting on their development. if u have a child that is thrown in front of a tv all day of course they will be less intelligent.

edit: goin to bed, tty guys about this tomorrow ><