Certainty In Spite of Facts

I find it amazing, although I probably shouldn't, that so many people are absolutely convinced of things in spite of evidence to the contrary.  Let me give you an example -- people all over the US have expressed the belief that our public schools are failing and are in crisis.  They say that the evidence in support of this belief is that students in the US do not score at the top of the heap on international tests.  They continue to say that our country is in danger because our students aren't number one in the world on these tests and they say that our students are performing worse now than in the past.


They continue to believe this even though the data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that our scores on international tests have never been at the top, and in spite of the fact that our scores have improved each time our students have been tested.  Let me state that again: our scores get better each time our students are tested.  Our students are performing better on international tests now than they have ever performed.


Here's another statistic: the number of Americans with some college education has increased from 10% in 1940 to 56% today.  Again, we aren't number one in the world in terms of college degrees obtained.  But this hasn't hurt our GDP.  It is still well above China and Japan, the next closest countries.  


So, I'm appalled that so many people still argue that our schools are failing and that these failing schools will hurt our economy and make us less competitive.  Where is the data?


I'm particularly struck by this when I think about the assumptions of people like Columbus when they set off to explore.  Columbus and his backers were certain they would find lots of gold when they landed.  Some European explorers were so certain they would find gold that they forced the natives to work in mines that failed, over and over again.  And what about the US invasion of Iraq, which American leaders said was necessary because the Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction and American lives were at risk?  Where was the evidence of that?  Plenty of people at the time expressed doubts, but more people wanted to listen to those saying we had to invade.  Tragic.


I guess it's not news that people can be misled, quite easily, when someone speaks with authority.  It's depressing, though, that humans haven't learned to demand evidence.

More Sonic Thrills

I spent a wonderful afternoon last Sunday, sitting on my porch in my new rocking chair, reading and listening to the birds.  It was so quiet on my street and the weather was perfect -- not too hot and not too cold, with a light breeze.  I really love hearing birds singing.  It's another of my sonic thrills.


Sounds are a very important part of my life.  It's not surprising, then, that I have become a huge fan of audiobooks in the past ten years.  I like listening to books because I can do other things while I listen to them (multitasking is my whole life, it seems) and because I get to hear good books while relaxing.  However, not just any audiobook will do.  I find that I can really only listen to fiction.  I prefer to read nonfiction.  I also find that certain narrators are absolutely unlistenable to me.  I have some very specific preferences.

• In general, I prefer women narrators.  However, their voices cannot be too high and I really prefer that they not have upper-class English accents.  Unless, of course, we're talking about Rosamund Pike. 
• Regarding male narrators, I prefer voices that show some energy.  I can't stand Dick Hill as a narrator.  Does it get any more stagnant than his narration?  Not possible.  Oh, and who calls himself "Dick"?????
• If I'm listening to a novel that takes place in Scotland or Ireland or England, the narrator's accent should be Scottish or Irish or English.  Why does Samuel Gillies or Joe Dunlop or Michael Page narrate books by Ian Rankin, which take place in Scotland?  I prefer James MacPherson when I'm listening to Rankin.  And I'm so grateful for Gerard Doyle, who narrates Adrian McKinty's books, which take place in Northern Ireland.  I feel like I'm there when I listen to him.

There are certain words that I love strictly because of how they sound.  These are usually words that start with an 'm' or a 'p'.  If both of those letters are in the word, it's probably one of my favorite words.  For example, I like the words:

• pimento
• pipit
• pippin (to be fair, I also like this word because of Scottie Pippen)
• mercurial
• madcap
• maharaja
• mineral
• memento mori
• prism

Also, my favorite town name is Mineral Point.  It's a town in Wisconsin.  I visited it once and didn't find it particularly charming, but I love the way it sounds.  Mineral Point.  It's a beautiful name.