Unfortunately, most Americans have been subjected to government schools where the “dumbing-down” of our educational system has been deliberate.

I agree that there are other adjectives that probably would be more appropriate, but this is neither a new usage, nor a ‘dumbing-down’ of the English language.

First of all this an AFP article, which, in my book is teetering on the edge of credibility in the first place. I have NEVER read an AFP article that didn’t require some serious scrutiny.

Gluons have never been isolated, and therefore remain theoretical. I defy the community to show me otherwise.

The same goes for quarks. Their rest mass remain unknown. Ask the more basic question of how do you know that quarks are only 5 percent of the atomic mass, and you’ll get to the root of the problem: They can’t explain it to you because they don’t know themselves. They’re guessing. Wildly.

The Standard Model of particles hinges on this house of cards. The only thing that seems to keep it from falling is a huge amount of money locked up in the desperate attempt to prove the model is true.

The statement starts with the assumptions that these particles have been either characterized or isolated. Then the statement asks where is the remaining mass.

The conclusion is that it’s all in the form of energy.

But Einstein’s equation has precisely nothing to do with the nature of mass, but rather has everything to do with how it related to energy through a conversion factor.

Atomic fusion and atomic fission were observed in the late nineteenth century, and explained by Einsteins’ equation. Predictions about the possibility of the huge amount of energy available in atoms led directly to the creation of atomic weaponry, which would not have been possible if Einstein’s equation weren’t accurate. That’s your proof.

An announcement 60 years hence from some French dude that Einstein’s mass/energy equation is now proven by calculating the mass of unproven particles on the subatomic level don’t cut it.

What’s currently going on with Gravity Probe B (search on the net) is an experiment meant to quantify, and positively prove or disprove two consequences of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, namely the geodetic effect (time is slower in proximity to mass) and the frame-dragging effect (spacetime dragged along by a rotating mass). Both must be real, and of the correct magnitude, in order for Einstein to be right. The larger (geodetic effect) has already been proven by Gravity Probe B to within less than 1% error. That’s BEFORE any refinement of the data. The remaining test is expected two orders of magnitude smaller and required full and very scrupulous treatment of the same data. The verdict is still out on the second prediction. They have a few months to go.

See: http://einstein.stanford.edu/
Now that’s an heroic effort.

Sam

Think of all the lives that will be saved now that we know for sure!

I’m actually in complete agreement with you on this. We need to wrest control of our language back from the leftists and the idiots. Or am I being redundant?

One of the things about English that is (was?) so beautiful is its precision. Seriously. There is exactly the right word for everything. Unfortunately, when the meanings of words become corrupted, it becomes increasingly difficult to communicate complex ideas.

Couple that with the dumbed down public school curriculum that has completely abandoned any meaninful study of grammar and it won’t be long before meaningful communication about complex issues will be nearly impossible.

Your post was excellent. It was very well put and was reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’ “Abolition of Man.”

It’s not just the dumbing down of the word that’s harmful. It’s the obscuring of the value. It’s the muddying of the natural law such that students are unable to discern virtue from mediocrity. You are right to point out the insidious effect when the word, “heroic,” is divorced from the virtue of true heroism.

Thank you for bringing up the issue. This trend is widespread throughout K-12 and especially in higher education. Our culture will be the worse for it.

Take Care, mailloux