What if students were given responsibilities of the government?

a reply to: Pyrrho

That's gotta be the scariest idea even put on the table. Next they'll be microchipping these young adults into complete Zombotic Robot puppets.

a reply to: deadlyhope

Why are we relying on a few hundred old white men in DC to come up with every law, regulation, program funding, etc

We're not. There are black, hispanic and asian men, not to mention women, in congress and senate as well.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

psmag.com...

You're the second person to say that, but data shows that religious white males are far over-represented within the Senate.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: AboveBoard

Make participation part of a loan payback system where students of a certain caliber can earn "reverse scholarships" from the govt for their viable ideas.

But here we are! Students being bought by the government for the virtuous occupation of working on ideas.

Really? That's all you got out of my post.



Nothing about how it could be educational for them, and benefit the rest of us too? I'm being sincere here.

TED talks have had many young college kids come in with brilliant ideas! You know how you can pinch the screen on your phone or tablet and spread your fingers to zoom it in? College kid developed that. It won't save humanity, but it has made a vast improvement to our technology - especially people who do design, architecture, engineering, graphic art, etc. - they use it all the time.

What's wrong with incentivizing people to use their intelligence to solve major problems we face as a country? What's wrong with rewarding brilliance? I'm not talking about asking students to develop policy and laws for everyone to follow, so much as go after things that could tangibly/materially improve our lives.

*sigh*

AB

a reply to: AboveBoard

Wow somehow I skipped past your post even though I really like the idea you've come up with! Give students projects , not power and allow their ideas to come to fruition based on merit, even rewarding their efforts.

Awesome. Thanks for pitching in.

If they were kindergarteners they would be much more qualified, and far, far less corrupt.

a reply to: deadlyhope

Thanks.

Seems like most people here just want to rant about the government or shake their cane at "kids these days!"

I thought your idea was pretty interesting!! Put those fresh tech-savvy brains to work on something productive that could help the country.

I haven't seen anyone come up with a reason not to do this other than cynicism, which isn't a very helpful one.

Good on you for wanting to harness some of that brain power for the good of all.

AB

PS they could even get the reward of a percentage of a patent or something. Co-authors.

a reply to: deadlyhope

Actually, we already have such a system in place.

Its called getting a job and working until you gain enough practical experience to know a good decision when you find it.

Notice, I did not say anything about making these decisions. Many times good decisions and innovations come from those with experience, and who posses the imagination and not necessarily those with education.

a reply to: deadlyhope

Wow. Did you just say this? Yes, I truly believe...in fact I KNOW.

You: "...ivy league students with bachelor degrees are immature little kids that would throw tantrums still? Stanford and MIT students come up with a lot more ideas, statistics, inventions than we would imagine."

Bachelors? Ha. Means nothing. Neither does a Masters degree...or several. Nothing....it takes YEARS of EXPERIENCE in the government and world and international affairs to deal with all the different political systems and innerworking of the different ideologies.(nutcase leaders, oppressors, quack militaries etc, etc).

A 30-something with 5 Masters in 5 subjects..still...has no experience. And in this case...thats a big deal. A big one.*

*PS. I have an Associate, Bachelors and Master degrees in 2 fields. And I would never profess to understand or know how to deal effectively in international affairs.

Neither would a Harvard, MIT student. And now-a-days a Bachelors degree...even Masters doesnt amount to experience. And you DID say they would still be students.

Respectfully...what color is the sky in your world? Wow...just...wow. Your expressing this is the very reason I make this point....

a reply to: AboveBoard

I was responding to an earlier poster who claimed that college kids are not bought by the government.

If the government starts using the loans issue to incentivize them, then they are bought by the government are they not?

However, let's think about this: If I were a college student and had a revolutionary idea like pinching the phone screeen, why would I want to simply trade it for abeyance of debt when, if I was really smart, I could sell the idea with royalties and be making money for the rest of my natural life ... enough to pay the debt many times over?

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I think I pointed this out. Theory only takes you so far. You need real experience to temper it.

Now I do not necessarily agree that you would have to have current government involved. We want to corruption out as much as possible, but you would want people who have experience in their fields.

However, I also disagree that you need "Ivy League" because I disagree that they exclusively represent the "best and brightest." They simply have that stigma.

a reply to: deadlyhope

You're the second person to say that, but data shows that religious white males are far over-represented within the Senate.

Doesn't matter. The statement contradicted is yours, not mine.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yes I understand the desire to keep innovations like that for one's own future.

That was an example of how college kids aren't simply worthless and inept. (not saying you said that, but several posters have implied it)

I think there could be a balance. I mentioned later about patents being in the student's names as added incentive, and to provide a future from their inventions if they create them. Not sure if the Universities have rules in this regard, so that may impact it as well.

The Nat Geo project is pretty cool. You have tons of teams working on the same problems and hopefully out of that some real-world solutions will evolve. I don't see any down side to that. Do you?

So if a group creates something, gets a patent on it and, if they have student loans, get a reverse scholarship or even some kind of cash grant if they come up with a solution to, say, 3D printing new steel or other kind of safer bridges for way less money that can be created on site with one machine or something, then they are rewarded.

Research is at the heart of many university programs. Just because the govt supports them in their efforts through grant money doesn't make the effort useless.

AB