The cabin was great. I took 143 pictures over the past week, so be prepared.
My next chronicle will be on a pre-cabin trip I took, but first some words on the Dutch schooling system. I had an extensive conversation about it with Hans on the two-hour car trip down to the cabin, and then with Lieselot on the way back up.
Starting right from primary school (Kindergarten through Grade Six), the brighter kids are siphoned off the top and put into more advanced programs--such is the case with all three kids I live with. This differs quite a bit from the Canadian system, I think, where the focus is on keeping students advancing at the same rate as everyone else.
Students then face a choice in secondary schooling (Grade Seven through graduation) over the composition and length of their program. Full time education is only required until they're 16, although you can't get admitted to any universities if you take this path. Students who choose to take schooling right through to 18--as the majority of them do--have a choice between four profiles: science and technology, science and healthcare, economics and society, and culture and society.
(I'm simplifying a bit, but hell, it's not like I'm being paid to write this stuff. If you want the full story, go research it yourself.)
Anyway, I think this is probabably is a better system and philosophy than what we have in Canada. So long as everyone is still able to receive quality, sufficient education should they so choose, it makes sense to challenge the gifted students and give them the opportunity to advance quicker and at a higher level if they're capable. Giving every person an equal chance doesn't necessarily mean treating them all the same, regardless of ability.
I was going to add that it's also nice to siphon kids off the top based on ability to learn, not ability to afford (which is how I see it in American and Canadian systems), but there is a slight hedge on this; any secondary schooling after 16 years old requires an annual fee, although it's only about 900 Euros (1300 Canadian).
University structure is about the same, with majors and minors awarded in different areas. Tuition is about half here what it is in Canada, and also administered a bit differently. From what I understand, you pay based on how old you are and what year of studies you're in, not on the specific courses you're taking. So, say, a person under 30 in their third year of studies would pay a flat annual rate, no matter if they were in science or arts. (Note: that may be completely false as I couldn't find a website to confirm it, but that was my understanding.)
However, stories of the unaffordability of school fees still show up here in the newspapers. That may be partly due to the fact that tuition fees in neighbouring Germany are zilch and almost zilch for neighbouring France. (Though don't get too jealous; the economies of both those states are currently stagnating something awful.)
As for the quality of the universities in Holland, well, with recent research like this being done, can there be any doubt?
October 12, 2007
Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows.
"My forecast is that around 2050, the state of Massachusetts will be the first jurisdiction to legalize marriages with robots," artificial intelligence researcher David Levy at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands told LiveScience. Levy recently completed his Ph.D. work on the subject of human-robot relationships, covering many of the privileges and practices that generally come with marriage as well as outside of it.
At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky, "but once you have a story like 'I had sex with a robot, and it was great!' appear someplace like Cosmo magazine, I'd expect many people to jump on the bandwagon," Levy said.
[...]
In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.
"It may sound a little weird, but it isn't," Levy said. "Love and sex with robots are inevitable."
I'm sorry Mr. Levy, but it's weird. It's weird as hell. If you don't think so, you have a problem.
No comments:
Post a Comment