[Erik Latranyi]

I blame the lack of science and logic education in primary schools, coupled with the consumerist "if we teach logic and science, people won't buy / go to church" disincentive to make schools better. (Data shows that race also plays a huge part in school defunding but dang, that's politicized; and many schools don't use funds well anyway, in this area at least.)

(Some states' solution seems to be removing science education and replacing it with Christian Bible studies. I somehow don't see that helping, but then I've always believed religion is fine if you spend some time thinking about it rather than just doing what the priest/minister/imam/rebbe says. Of course, I would say that/)

Keep in mind when I say science isn't really taught, I mean the scientific method, not a bunch of trivia they dug up using it. There are graduate students who don't know how science actually works. Most Americans don't know how science works, thinking it's done by fashion or by committees of unelected bureaucrats. And in fairness abuses of the systems set up to make science work have played right into that, along with the insane triumph of "publish-or-perish-and-you-can-only-publish-positive-results." But sooner or later, it seems the science community, no matter what the discipline, always self-corrects.

When Edison released his data on strange doings wtihin electric lamps to the scientific journals, many called him a fraud. Some actually did the experiments and as a result we have diodes and vacuum tubes today; what he actually did was create a primitive diode, but he did not have the theoretical background to know it (nor did anyone else at that time!). Eventually other discoveries caught up and the Edison Effect bulb, which he didn't name, became vacuum tubes, which gave way to transistors. But that's science self-correcting. (It's an old example from when "science" was ¾ rich guys sitting around in armchairs making theories, so does it count? I don't know but it's an interesting anecdote. At that point, by the way, Tesla was still in school; some people like to give Tesla credit for Edison inventions which occurred while Tesla was in school and not doing much of anything else.)

The scientific method is too important to be shoved aside for freakin’ trivia or calculus or, God help us, Bible studies. I do believe in religious education, don't get me wrong, but in public schools where every school has a mix of people of different religions? Ouch.

(Side note: a Turkish friend once surprised me with his knowledge of non-Muslim religions. He said, “Our religious education is excellent. We learn about every other religion and how they're inferior to Islam.” He was smiling when he said it, but ... well, America’s a melting pot. It's long been our strength. Thomas Edison’s father was Canadian... if he’s stayed in Canada, perhaps Canada would have General Electric and all the industries around it.)

Moderators, feel free to delete this entire post if you feel it's over the line. I tried to stay general.

The scientific method requires unlimited questioning of theories.

Unfortunately, we have become so polarized that when one side or the other questions something it usually results in efforts to silence or denigrate the questioner. There is very little logical debate.

 

[77 Monaco Brougham]

I blame the lack of science and logic education in primary schools, coupled with the consumerist "if we teach logic and science, people won't buy / go to church" disincentive to make schools better. (Data shows that race also plays a huge part in school defunding but dang, that's politicized; and many schools don't use funds well anyway, in this area at least.)

(Some states' solution seems to be removing science education and replacing it with Christian Bible studies. I somehow don't see that helping, but then I've always believed religion is fine if you spend some time thinking about it rather than just doing what the priest/minister/imam/rebbe says. Of course, I would say that/)

Keep in mind when I say science isn't really taught, I mean the scientific method, not a bunch of trivia they dug up using it. There are graduate students who don't know how science actually works. Most Americans don't know how science works, thinking it's done by fashion or by committees of unelected bureaucrats. And in fairness abuses of the systems set up to make science work have played right into that, along with the insane triumph of "publish-or-perish-and-you-can-only-publish-positive-results." But sooner or later, it seems the science community, no matter what the discipline, always self-corrects.

When Edison released his data on strange doings wtihin electric lamps to the scientific journals, many called him a fraud. Some actually did the experiments and as a result we have diodes and vacuum tubes today; what he actually did was create a primitive diode, but he did not have the theoretical background to know it (nor did anyone else at that time!). Eventually other discoveries caught up and the Edison Effect bulb, which he didn't name, became vacuum tubes, which gave way to transistors. But that's science self-correcting. (It's an old example from when "science" was ¾ rich guys sitting around in armchairs making theories, so does it count? I don't know but it's an interesting anecdote. At that point, by the way, Tesla was still in school; some people like to give Tesla credit for Edison inventions which occurred while Tesla was in school and not doing much of anything else.)

The scientific method is too important to be shoved aside for freakin’ trivia or calculus or, God help us, Bible studies. I do believe in religious education, don't get me wrong, but in public schools where every school has a mix of people of different religions? Ouch.

(Side note: a Turkish friend once surprised me with his knowledge of non-Muslim religions. He said, “Our religious education is excellent. We learn about every other religion and how they're inferior to Islam.” He was smiling when he said it, but ... well, America’s a melting pot. It's long been our strength. Thomas Edison’s father was Canadian... if he’s stayed in Canada, perhaps Canada would have General Electric and all the industries around it.)

Moderators, feel free to delete this entire post if you feel it's over the line. I tried to stay general.

Although I consider there to be multiple problems with modern day education, I think the biggest failure among them is that students are not taught HOW to think for themselves / promoting intellectual curiosity, or, for that matter, seem to be discouraging students from having independent thoughts / ideas that stray too far from what is the "accepted settled orthodoxy"...however one might define that term.

 

[valiant67]

Rather than telling people what to believe, education should be telling people how to analyze what is presented to them. It’s obvious analytical skills are missing for much of the population.

 

[serpens]

A number of disgruntled enthusiasts have been posting multiple videos on YouTube complaining about a so-called "epidemic" of blown head gaskets on Hurricane I-6 engines.

Are these just the ravings of people already angry with STLA who have multiple axes to grind?...or...is there actually a nugget of truth hidden in all the bile and acrimony?

That's odd, I haven't seen anything about headgaskets at all on the forums.

What about carbon build up in this direct injected engine? I saw some concerns because port injection is missing?

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15342328/explained-why-some-engines-have-both-port-and-direct-injection/#

It's going to have the same carbon buildup issue as everything else that's purely direct injection. The only thing you can really do is some kind of induction service every so often (70k-80k miles? definitely before 100k)

Carbon buildup is much less of an issue than it used to be. We've come a long way since those first DI engines - I had to get my BMW N54 engine walnut blasted at 60k miles. People really don't do that anymore. I just saw a 120k mi BMW B58 motor opened up recently at it was dirty but not anywhere near what my N54 engine was at half the miles.

 

[DC-93]

What about carbon build up in this direct injected engine? I saw some concerns because port injection is missing?

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15342328/explained-why-some-engines-have-both-port-and-direct-injection/#

From what I’ve read, BP, Exxon and Shell are the only 3 fuels that should be used in direct injection gas engines, for various reasons.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Rather than telling people what to believe, education should be telling people how to analyze what is presented to them. It’s obvious analytical skills are missing for much of the population.

We were taught to prove what was presented to us, as part of the assignment, from middle school right up to grad school. Even in grad school, we were given copies of Excel, MathCad and another spreadsheet, and all three gave slightly different results. We were made to delve into how they did the calculation, so as to understand how we might not get the precise answer, or a consistent one, with different tools. Most people just accept that the tool is correct, and they go with the answer. Even the simpler assignments made us question, is this the right order of magnitude? Does the answer fall within an expected range? If not, why not?
But that is lacking in many educational systems.

 

[Beentherebefore]

Should have called it a "Hemicane"...

Maybe a little less cute - "Hurricane Turbo 6 with HEMI head" .

 

[Doug D]

We were taught to prove what was presented to us, as part of the assignment, from middle school right up to grad school. Even in grad school, we were given copies of Excel, MathCad and another spreadsheet, and all three gave slightly different results. We were made to delve into how they did the calculation, so as to understand how we might not get the precise answer, or a consistent one, with different tools. Most people just accept that the tool is correct, and they go with the answer. Even the simpler assignments made us question, is this the right order of magnitude? Does the answer fall within an expected range? If not, why not?
But that is lacking in many educational systems.

In physics, chemistry and math (algebra, geometry, calculus) we had to "show our work" to verify and prove our answer in HS and college. In college chemistry we had a test where we were given a substance and had to do tests on it to determine what it was. If you accurately determined what it was you received an "A". If you were wrong, you were told to try again, but the best you could do would be a "B". If wrong again, then the best was a "C" and so on. Basically, you had 4 chances, or you failed.

 

[CherokeeVision]

From what I’ve read, BP, Exxon and Shell are the only 3 fuels that should be used in direct injection gas engines, for various reasons.

What fuel you use shouldn't matter since zero fuel is getting on the intake valves to clean them off.
It is oily fumes from the crankcase being routed back into the engine that results in the build up on intake valves.
Only way I could see the fuel you use making a difference there is if a lot of fuel is leaking into the crankcase to mix with the oil.

 

[DC-93]

What fuel you use shouldn't matter since zero fuel is getting on the intake valves to clean them off.
It is oily fumes from the crankcase being routed back into the engine that results in the build up on intake valves.
Only way I could see the fuel you use making a difference there is if a lot of fuel is leaking into the crankcase to mix with the oil.

Do some research.
There are some opinions and some facts.

 

[Adventurer55]

Although I consider there to be multiple problems with modern day education, I think the biggest failure among them is that students are not taught HOW to think for themselves / promoting intellectual curiosity, or, for that matter, seem to be discouraging students from having independent thoughts / ideas that stray too far from what is the "accepted settled orthodoxy"...however one might define that term.

That's one of the reasons kids don't want to leave home. They're not taught any real world skills anymore. When I was in high school in the late 70s I couldn't wait to get the hell out of my parents home and influence. I wanted to do things my own way, if I screwed up, I got back on my feet and started over. Especially it seems with wives.

 

[LouJC]

Ideology not analytic skills are taught in school. Some young folks I have interacted with don't even know which political party was involved in the starting of and escalation of the Vietnam war. I told them watch the Ken Burns series on this, and read McNamara's book on it, and learn.

 

[Dave Z]

The scientific method requires unlimited questioning of theories.

Unfortunately, we have become so polarized that when one side or the other questions something it usually results in efforts to silence or denigrate the questioner. There is very little logical debate.

Not in science, only in public.
In science you can question if you have evidence or a proper theoretical foundation. The people who get shouted down are the ones who got "talking points," not the ones with serious objections.

 

[AHBGuru]

Critical thinking skills are definitely on the endangered list.

If the Hurricane does actually wind up in the Durango Pursuit within a couple of months, we'll learn in due time if they hold up in police service.

One amusing complaint I noticed, here and yonder (actually, just yonder), was the blasted thing has no engine oil dipstick. It's almost like they don't trust us with anything nice.

When it comes to this fancy new engine, I'd suggest a durability betting pool, but that's not something us elitist liberals are supposed to do.

 

[Zagnut27]

Not in science, only in public.
In science you can question if you have evidence or a proper theoretical foundation. The people who get shouted down are the ones who got "talking points," not the ones with serious objections.

Questioning is fine, but it must be backed up with independent research that you submit for review. Otherwise questioning is pretty meaningless, merely saying you don't believe something doesn't cut it.

I'll add that a good portion of our populace does not know how to recognize or find reputable sources either. Or the difference between primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

That's one of the reasons kids don't want to leave home. They're not taught any real world skills anymore. When I was in high school in the late 70s I couldn't wait to get the hell out of my parents home and influence. I wanted to do things my own way, if I screwed up, I got back on my feet and started over. Especially it seems with wives.

This.

No real world skills because most of their teachers lack real world skills. When professors and teachers only know the teaching role and have never worked in the real world, they tend to only teach theoretical skills, not the real skills needed today. The average high school graduate does not know how to balance a check book. They just let the bank handle things for them, never catching errors.

Kids today think influencing the world and participating in debate is sharing a meme. Most have no fundamental facts to back up their positions if you press them…they only choose to believe what is “popular” among their friends, which is extremely dangerous as it leads to group think rather than individual thought.

 

[77 Monaco Brougham]

Questioning is fine, but it must be backed up with independent research that you submit for review. Otherwise questioning is pretty meaningless, merely saying you don't believe something doesn't cut it.

I'll add that a good portion of our populace does not know how to recognize or find reputable sources either. Or the difference between primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.

The other problem now is that there is such a glut of information available from any number of sources, that people are now able to surround themselves only with sources which will happily tell them what they already believe...an "echo chamber effect", if you will.

I believe the term used for this phenomenon is "confirmation bias".

 

[Bob Lincoln]

Ideology not analytic skills are taught in school. Some young folks I have interacted with don't even know which political party was involved in the starting of and escalation of the Vietnam war. I told them watch the Ken Burns series on this, and read McNamara's book on it, and learn.

Most people don't know that the Vietnam war was a resource war, plain and simple, in disguise. Oil and natural gas access.

 

[kmhenry75]

As most conflicts are.

 

[Dave Z]

This.

No real world skills because most of their teachers lack real world skills. When professors and teachers only know the teaching role and have never worked in the real world, they tend to only teach theoretical skills, not the real skills needed today. The average high school graduate does not know how to balance a check book. They just let the bank handle things for them, never catching errors.

Kids today think influencing the world and participating in debate is sharing a meme. Most have no fundamental facts to back up their positions if you press them…they only choose to believe what is “popular” among their friends, which is extremely dangerous as it leads to group think rather than individual thought.

You'd be surprised at how many teachers have been in "real world" jobs. Or maybe that's just people I know. At the college level, just about every adjunct I know was a professional for 20-30 years, and most of the full timers do work in their field.

Second paragraph - it's not kids. Adults are just as bad and older adults are worse; they think WSJ editorials and “entertainment news” and YouTube videos are real sources, and scientifically vetted research, where all the methods are described, are not.

If it doesn't have all the sources of information delineated, it's not science.