Should people who got less than 500 points in the leaving even allowed to vote?

evolving_doors

marcus001 wrote: »

How much more competent would our political class be if they were handpicked and held to account by the cognitive elite?

Thinly veiled 'I got over 500 points' thread

Samaris

evolving_doors wrote: »

Thinly veiled 'I got over 500 points' thread

Albeit apparently did nothing since if that's still the major point of pride!

K.Flyer

evolving_doors wrote: »

Thinly veiled 'I got over 500 points' thread

I got over 500 points in the leaving, I want to run the country...

Yet still made errors in the thread title.

bananabread12

I don't see the leaving cert as a measure of intelligence...

A cousin of mine completely failed the Leaving altogether but is now completing her PhD in econometrics and mathematics so she's hardly a dummy. At the end of the day different people respond to different learning techniques. Let's look at languages - some students can regurgitate endless lists of past and present tenses ect while others require a visual interpretation. One is not necessarily better than the other - the former may forget information quicker than the latter ect but the Leaving Cert only registers and records on what is written at that particular moment in time - not what information is retained several years down the line. That is why in terms of intelligence it is a very poor measurement unless of course the goal is to record general exam preparation on, say, a Monday irrespective of what it may be on the Tuesday or the Sunday or the following Monday.

There is also a maturity issue involved. I know of several 14 year olds that would put many 18 years to shame in terms of maturity. Teenagers develop differently and at different speeds. An 18 year old may not be mature/disciplined enough/have distractions in the home ect, that may severely impact their examinations and thus the Leaving would in no way be an accurate reflection of their academic potential. I have a masters in a mathematically rigorous area and I certainly didn't receive 500 points in the Leaving Cert - not the colour of it. Why? Perhaps I just didn't respond to being forced to have my entire life determined by my understanding of a dead language of literally no applicability in the modern business world. Perhaps it was because my brain fought bitterly against being told that there are invisible men in the sky looking down at me and that I was to reject scientific discovery in order to conceive of this sheer fantasy. Whatever it was it certainly made clear to me that our education system must be abolished for the good of the next generation.

Chuchote

But is intelligence the best thing to depend on? Intelligent people have almost certainly made the human race extinct by designing an unsustainable model of industry. We have three years to drastically cut carbon emissions before climate change is unstoppable. The intelligent types who run industry worldwide are showing no sign of doing so, probably dooming the next generation to be the last humans alive as the planet becomes unliveable.

The beauty of democracy is that all people can vote, so different talents including a good heart and common sense come into the decision. If industry were run as democracy we might not be facing the terrible fate the industrialists and politicians have walked us into.

marcus001

Omackeral wrote: »

Why don't you answer the question instead of being a dick? Unless you are just a dick?

I just don't understand how someone could get a masters degree without first getting a leaving cert or its equivalent. I wasn't making a jab at his intelligence.

Plenty of people have been dicks to me in this thread you don't see me crying about it.

pjohnson

marcus001 wrote: »

I just don't understand how someone could get a masters degree without first getting a leaving cert or its equivalent. I wasn't making a jab at his intelligence.

Plenty of people have been dicks to me in this thread you don't see me crying about it.

Plenty of people in this thread have told you they have achieved this. If you are as smart as you claim this shouldn't be so difficult to understand

marcus001

pjohnson wrote: »

Plenty of people in this thread have told you they have achieved this. If you are as smart as you claim this shouldn't be so difficult to understand

I never claimed to be smart. Don't need to.

This thread isn't about me, even though the overwhelming majority of responses have been. And its not the usual tongue in cheek you get on boards, its mostly people who are insecure about their results trying to use other qualifications they have recieved to prove they're smart.

I think he's also the first one to claim to have a masters without ever sitting the leaving. The only explanation that makes sense is that he's not from Ireland and matriculated elsewhere, which would make his point somewhat irrelevant.

pjohnson

marcus001 wrote: »

I never claimed to be smart. Don't need to.

This thread isn't about me, even though the overwhelming majority of responses have been. And its not the usual tongue in cheek you get on boards, its mostly people who are insecure about their results trying to use other qualifications they have recieved to prove they're smart.

Really? Moreso people laughing at the overimportance you place on the LC and showing just how pointless it is.

marcus001

pjohnson wrote: »

Really? Moreso people laughing at the overimportance you place on the LC and showing just how pointless it is.

Well I don't place much importance on the leaving except as an entry route into college, but if it was required to vote it would become more important.

pjohnson

marcus001 wrote: »

Well I don't place much importance on the leaving except as an entry route into college, but if it was required to vote it would become more important.

It is possible to get into College without an LC, or even a dogsh*t awful one. School Leavers Courses provide an alternative route into college and can then allow people to achieve a College degree or Masters.

Will I Am Not

Smartest guy I know doesn't vote. A cousin of mine absolutely smashed her leaving cert but is politically ignorant on a grand scale.

I had 3 young lads working with me for the Summer, one of them got well over 500 points and he came across thick as a log for the whole time he was there.
It's a flawed concept.

somefeen

marcus001 wrote: »

I just don't understand how someone could get a masters degree without first getting a leaving cert or its equivalent. I wasn't making a jab at his intelligence.

Plenty of people have been dicks to me in this thread you don't see me crying about it.

I had no leaving cert. Started an honour degree at 20 and graduated in the 4 years with an award for overall achievement. Went straight into a relevant job.
Was also offered a masters but didn't take it.

I didn't matriculate elsewhere or anything I got in off the back of a 3 month fetac course.
I'm very proud of the fact I managed a relatively maths heavy university course with no maths apart from foundation level for the Junior cert.