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'You don't really think that is Jupiter do you?'


Johnboy

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yep... the frightening thing about this kind of people is they're everywhere and they look just like normal people.

driving a black cab in London I come across these sort of people all the time and the worrying thing is most deal with our money!! :D

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I know it's often difficult to ignite the passion we all have in the night sky with others. All to often you just get a shrug of disinterest when pointing out Jupiter or showing someone how to find polaris, but from time to time you do get someone who's really interested and for them it could be there first introduction to the night sky , and how to find objects. That person may then pick up a scope. I know that's how it happened for me.

That and your nieces bf sounds like a (insert ur own expletive) :-)

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Someone once said to me that it's the sense of wonder only found in children and people with science based interests that separates us from the rest. Once you lose that sense of wonder you may as well give up or move on to something that gives it backto you. People are missing out as far as I am concerned.

I am not religious but observing many targets often makes me feel somewhat spiritual.

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Some people just find it hard to believe i think!

I had to really explain to someone it was jupiter - him and his girlfriend were both convinced that jupiter was infact the ISS! lol.

That, at least, should be easy enough; since the ISS takes about 90 minutes to make an orbit, it should cross the sky in less than 45 minutes (much less, in fact, but let's not introduce a load of geometry). Ask them to watch and see if it does.(Of course, doesn't help if they don't believe the ISS orbits that quickly either!)
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The trouble with daft people is that they assume you're at least as daft as they are!

When I told a neighbour in the pub what I did for a living, he said:

"Design mobile phones?? You Jez?? - But you're not clever enough to do that!"

"Erm.. Actually I'm the Lead Designer on mobile phone projects." I replied.

"Nar... Don't be soft Jez", he said, "Them sorts of people are all Japanese!"

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hey reminds me, not long after taking up the hobby ,a guy sat in the canteen at work with others sat around saw i was looking at an astronomy magazine or book(cant remember which) oh he said " i saw a bright star the other night ,thats the north star init ".

"well im new to this but it wasnt polaris the north star as its sort of a normal star "

" blimey,and your a stargazer, everybody knows the north star is the brightest"

you just cant win with some people. i just nodded and put my head back into my reading,while he looked all smug ,having put me right !

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To be fair, the blokes I work with probably think I'm a simpleton because I know nothing about football. If you're not in astronomy, you're not going to know what's what in the night sky.

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I recently was taking my apprentice home after working late and I pointed in to the sky and said to him " Thats Jupiter over there"

his reply was "whats a jupiter".

i can deal with that. i teach 5 year olds, i can deal with any level of not knowing. you can teach people who don't know.

what i can't stand is people assuming their ignorance makes me wrong. or that because they don't understand something therefore it's wrong, or impossible, or whatever - it's the same logic as thinking the moon landings are forged ("i don't know how they did it, therefore it couldn't be done").

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As a former teacher, I blame school. It is truly dismal (say I) that you can go through school learning all sorts of useless guff (Bismarck's Foreign Policy, Colbert's economic policy, the coal output of Poland) but not look at something so simple as a planet visible from such terrible places as the centre of London. Jupiter, for the anti-hero and fall guy of this thread, is not something real. It is something from a book. You can't see it, don't be ridiculous. His ignorance is not his fault. Not entirely. We have a National Curriculum. Does this wonderful document (semi-illterate the last time I read it) mention looking at Jupiter as something an education ought to provide? No it does not. Should it? Yes it blumming well should.

Olly

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As a former teacher, I blame school. It is truly dismal (say I) that you can go through school learning all sorts of useless guff (Bismarck's Foreign Policy, Colbert's economic policy, the coal output of Poland) but not look at something so simple as a planet visible from such terrible places as the centre of London. Jupiter, for the anti-hero and fall guy of this thread, is not something real. It is something from a book. You can't see it, don't be ridiculous. His ignorance is not his fault. Not entirely. We have a National Curriculum. Does this wonderful document (semi-illterate the last time I read it) mention looking at Jupiter as something an education ought to provide? No it does not. Should it? Yes it blumming well should.

Olly

As some one who walked out of school as soon as i legally could , and who is struggling with a 14 year old refusing to go to school. (I cant disagree with his reasoning to be honest, he would do far better working)

School is a massive fail, its boring, uninspiring, out of date, education as a whole is out of touch with reality. which is of course massively Ironic as it is supposed to teach it.

and of course its a massive propaganda machine.... "we don't need no education".....

Unless you are lucky enough to have a 1 in a million teacher who knows (or should that be cares to) how to inspire.

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Had exactly the same last year!! Was on a coach back from Blackpool a bit worse for wear but pointed out Jupiter to a coach full of people who burst out laughing and didn't beleive me, unfortunatly I didn't have an iPod then or anyway to prove it so sat back down and slept all the way home haha!! Xxx

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As some one who walked out of school as soon as i legally could , and who is struggling with a 14 year old refusing to go to school. (I cant disagree with his reasoning to be honest, he would do far better working)

School is a massive fail, its boring, uninspiring, out of date, education as a whole is out of touch with reality. which is of course massively Ironic as it is supposed to teach it.

and of course its a massive propaganda machine.... "we don't need no education".....

Unless you are lucky enough to have a 1 in a million teacher who knows (or should that be cares to) how to inspire.

I absolutely despised school, which came on coincidentally around the same age as your offspring.

There must be something about that age (no not rebellion! :D ) cos once you kinda realise that almost everythign you are being taught is superflous to almost all walks of life, then you lose faith in the whole system.

Strangely, I liked maths, physics and chemistry, and even cooking, lol! It was the thigns liek histroy, french, italian, music, religious studies, geography, and any other subjects which I found dreadfully dull and depressing.

I strongly beleive that at the age of 14/15 you should be allowed to drop certain subjects and focus entirely on what you enjoy. Even let those who wish to study plumbing or electrickery start college at 14 so they have a head start in the trade.

Forcing people to learn thigns they dont like isnt the way forward imo.

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thats pure arrogance, something i cant stand in people. ignorance and a curiosity, yes, outright ignorance born out of arrogance, no.

yeah. it's hard to know the tone the guy arguing with the op took. i just get the sense that it might have had a bit of this flavour. especially when people talk behind someone's back. but sure, i wasn't there, i'm probably completely wrong (it happens a lot).

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I absolutely despised school, which came on coincidentally around the same age as your offspring.

There must be something about that age (no not rebellion! :D ) cos once you kinda realise that almost everythign you are being taught is superflous to almost all walks of life, then you lose faith in the whole system.

Strangely, I liked maths, physics and chemistry, and even cooking, lol! It was the thigns liek histroy, french, italian, music, religious studies, geography, and any other subjects which I found dreadfully dull and depressing.

I strongly beleive that at the age of 14/15 you should be allowed to drop certain subjects and focus entirely on what you enjoy. Even let those who wish to study plumbing or electrickery start college at 14 so they have a head start in the trade.

Forcing people to learn thigns they dont like isnt the way forward imo.

When I was at school they did have some more vocational studys, Car mechanics and Bricklaying, which were for the "Less capable" I really wanted to do the car mechanics as I love to tinker.... but no I had to do French or German..... so so useful I n later life that was for me.

The wood work teacher didn't even know how to apply French polish let alone how to make it. I just looked at him and laughed. I had just done a glorious restoration of 2 1950's clocks, one waxed and the other French polished, both sold for a fair few quid after the movements were sorted.

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There's nothing at all to be ashamed of about not knowing something....we all don't know a lot more than we do know, but for a person who doesn't know something to behave in an arrogant manner to someone who may know is wrong and disrespectful.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture where, in some people, ignorance is seen as a virtue....the sort of idiots who mock people who want to study at school, or who express any interest in anything that may not be considered utterly mainstream.

I've met this attitude before and it sends me straight to boiling point and I have no time at all for it.

Rob

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