video; Harry Potter and the Socratic Paradox

[thebreakingwave]

I've noticed a lot of people talking about what they can teach or what they want to learn and that got me thinking. I was pretty distracted in school and I don't really feel like I know what I should know, but at the same time, I don't really know what I don't know.

[Perhaps its telling that he still thinks of what he ought to learn in prescriptive measures that have to do with school-based learning.]

If that made any sense to you, I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think the average person should know. Maybe skills I ought to have or books I should've read?

Comments

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[justdumbluck]

I think most of what you should know you wouldn't have learned in school anyway. Like how to defend yourself--pretty hard to learn in a place where you get in trouble for fightin'.

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[thebreakingwave]

I'm not too bad at that, but we took classes on it.

[You only get in trouble if you're caught fighting.]

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[justdumbluck]

Seriously? Never heard of a school that taught that; where I come from it was all math and the alphabet. What kinda stuff did they teach you?

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[thebreakingwave]

[Harry probably should've made a better list of what he knows before he asked this question, but it's too late for that now.]

I learned the basics - math and alphabet - at primary school and then more hands-on, useful things at a secondary school.

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[justdumbluck]

Huh, I thought it'd be just the book stuff all the way through.

[He shrugs; even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have stuck around anyway.]

Still, if it takes 'em that many years to get to the important stuff, you woulda' been better off findin' somebody else to teach you right away, don't you think so? Math doesn't do you too much good if you're dead.

[It's a pretty negative view of things, but that's the kind of thinking Firo's life ingrained in him.]

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[thebreakingwave]

I think that a lot of the basics are important to learn when you're really little, that way they sort of stick better.

[He's pretty sure that learning languages when you're very young is important and easier than when you're older, so it stands to reason that can be expanded to other subjects as well.]

Where I come from, mostly there's not too great a risk of people, of kids, getting hurt or needing to fight all that much. Actually, I want to say there's no more risk than 'usual', but I'm not sure what counts as 'usual' around here.

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[justdumbluck]

Maybe you're right.

[That's one of the things Firo never cared to think about so he's content to take this guy's word on it.

He laughs.]

Yeah, everybody's so different here that it's hard to tell what's normal. And from what you just said, it sounds like our homes are really different--there's always a pretty big risk back where I'm from.

[video]

[seered]

Something tells me that things the average person should know doesn't include what to do in the event of inter-dimensional kidnapping.

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[longestnose]

Well, young master, I think you're going to get a lot of different answers, from many different types of people.

[A beat, and a slight incline of his head.]

Though I suppose that's what you want.

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[intersection]

The average person? That's kind of... all about perspective, isn't it?

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[helpmeguideit]

Average person?

[ Smiles. ]

I'd say regardless of who you are -- knowing history is the most useful.

[thebreakingwave]

That was the plan.

[Not much of a plan, but there you go.]

[thebreakingwave]

It is.

I don't think everyone will have the same answers; if they did, I'd only ask one person.

[thebreakingwave]

[Why is everyone so fixated on that one word?]

History is a pretty broad field.

[thebreakingwave]

True enough. Still, I figure that we'll muddle through okay.

[intersection]

[ This is... awkward. ]

The average person has probably read Shakespeare. At least once in their life, probably in high school.

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[tailcrook]

Never went to school, but... knowing where I am and what's there is the most important thing to me. Or something - know your world.

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[glom]

[ why is no one asking the obvious question here... ]

How old are you?

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[backwardscompatible]

That rather depends on which century's "average" you're aiming for.

[longestnose]

Well books I can't help you with. Those I read aren't necessarily the ones that need to be read by men. [He wouldn't understand the language, anyways.]

But knowing how to fight--to defend yourself, I think is always a good skill. Knowing how to avoid the fight is a skill to learn, as well--and one people seem to forget.

[He never shies away from a fight, but there has been many a battle he wished could have been avoided.]

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[twitterpate]

You're never going to use algebra in real life, kid.

[helpmeguideit]

I'd imagine it is different depending on where you're from.

[seered]

I don't believe we have any other choice.

[Muddle or die.]

The media library might be a good start. There isn't any Earth literature available, but there are books on this universe. It might be helpful.

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[servant]

Can you wash your own socks?

[thebreakingwave]

I guess I'll just have to dive in and see what's what.