Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 24-15
- THE WEAKNESS OF GEN Z THINKING SKILLS IS INCREASINGLY EVIDENT and a direct result of the public school system. “While a global onslaught of misinformation, social media saturation, partisan politics, and science skepticism continuously challenge how information is shared, understood, and how it influences the decisions people make,” developmental psychologists suggest that adolescents can begin to acquire and apply formal logical rules & processes around age 13. But, as important as critical thinking skills are, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that nearly 60% of 8th-grade teachers fail to emphasize Deductive Reasoning in their classroom, instead more focused on teaching ‘facts’ preparing their students to pass standardized testing which impact teacher pay and school funding, so kids simply don’t learn to take “a logical approach to turning general ideas into specific conclusions.” [FORTUNE]
- ‘ELECTION INTEGRITY’ IS SLOGAN OF THE YEAR. But, while elections are constitutionally under the purview of States, not the federal government, an Executive Order now directs federal agencies to “distribute Vote-by-Mail ballot application forms, assist in completing, and send to election authorities,” with $400 million allocated to engage private partisan organizations (notably Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, teachers unions, Sierra Club) to work alongside federal employees – from Departments including Health/ Housing/ Agriculture/ Veterans affairs/ Welfare/ Education (“targeting low income clients of voluntary tax preparation clients”) and Education (“threatening campuses to Register students or lose federal funds)… This Executive Order empowering electioneering on the taxpayers’ dime raises serious ethical and legal concerns, and is inherently political, directed primarily at groups expected to vote for one party over another – an inappropriate and unconstitutional federalization of elections.” [EPOCH TIMES – 3/28/24]
- THE IMPACT OF LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS IN EDUCATION is already showing up. University students (from undergrads to doctoral candidates) under a heavy academic workload and time pressure, who relied on ChatGPT suffered memory loss, increased procrastination and drop in grades, according to latest research published in International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education. The ‘poor memory’ impact resulted from the chatbot making school work “too easy, allowing students to reduce their cognitive efforts to complete academic tasks, although students more sensitive to rewards of good grades were less likely to use generative A.I. out of fear of getting caught.” We ain’t seen nothin’ yet. [FUTURISM – 3/6/23]
- THE LATEST THREAT TO EMPLOYEE RETENTION IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. A.I. is now projected to automate up to 30% of workforce activities across all occupations by 2030. Over a third of workers who already value flexibility and meaningful work over repetitive tasks and now regard caring leaders, health and well-being as more important than compensation, now say they plan to quit their jobs in next 3-6 months, according to MCKINSEY QUARTERLY. Realistic employee policies & procedures are more important than ever. DCG have decades of experience in accomplishing this objective, and provide courtesy consultation.
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
How to tie your shoes without laces loosening. Who knew? https://biggeekdad.com/2023/03/how-to-tie-your-shoes/
Talk about extravagant real estate!!! https://www.businessinsider.com/sky-mansion-33-story-luxury-apartment-complex-mallya-india-2024-3
The Supreme Court of New York is currently deciding whether to allow New York City to allow over 800,000 illegal immigrants to vote in municipal elections. Since the current Democratic Mayor won his primary vote by only 7,200 votes, this would unquestionably “dilute the votes of citizens while shifting electoral power to foreign nationals with ties to the U.N., Wall Street, and the global financial system long based in NYC.” [BREITBART]