Russell Nagami's Blog

I think school up through highschool is 90% useless.  In Kindergarden the actual things learned in school are 100% useless, and every year you get a little more useful knowledge until only 90% is useless senior year of high school.  I probably remember 1% of what I learned all from K through 12, not including very basic things like how to read and what a shape is, in which I would say it’s in the 2 to 25 percent range.

Schools seem to focus a large amount of time on stuff that doesn’t matter, especially with the advent of wikipedia, calculators, etc.  I originally thought this might not make an interesting topic, but reading Seth Godin’s recent manifesto on education showed me that it concerns others as well.

As a point of interest, let’s look at some of the subjects I took in high school, noting that I had an over 4.0 GPA cumulative.

• History: Don’t remember anything.  Maybe a few odd facts here and there, but I’ve learned much more watching Band of Brothers.
• English: Some unpolished skills in writing, read a few books that I don’t remember, maybe 2 or 3 that I do remember.  All the reading I actually care about was performed outside of class.  There was 1 book I found interesting in HS, and that was The Beach.  Recently I reread “To Kill A Mockingbird” and it had new depth, and in undergrad I reread “Things Fall Apart” and enjoyed it much more.  I don’t know any terms such as “subjunctive” or “preposition”.
• Spanish: Don’t remember anything except, donde esta el baño?
• Chemistry:  Took 2 years of chem and TA’ed for my favorite teacher, I remember maybe 20%, because  I was just good at it and it just made sense.  The most useful thing I learned in chemistry was dealing with units, which was a lifesaver in undergrad getting my ME degree.
• Physics: Don’t remember anything.  What little I did learn was taught at a higher level in undergrad.
• Biology: Don’t remember anything.  Well, I remember putting a white rose in colored water can change its color and that once I pulled the chair out from behind a girl.
• Math: I subconsciously a lot of math that I learned in HS, but it would be hard for me to pull it out.  If you give me a problem from HS I can probably solve it, but going mostly on instinct, I don’t actually “remember” most of what I learned.  However, it was useful in undergrad when it was still relatively fresh.
• Economics: I took this class non AP because I didn’t want to wake up for zero period.  The only thing I remember learning is what an opportunity cost is.  Something that should be taught much earlier IMO.

In other words, four years of my life studying hard to get into a good college and I didn’t learn jack diddly in the long run.  I wish I had learned much much more, and am saddened to think that for the majority of the population that’s all the education they’re giong to get.  Why not teach something useful?  Here are some of the things I think they ought teach.  Things everybody (or near enough) should know:

• Personal finance (thanks to my friends for reminding me to put this here).  If you want to learn a bit, here’s my most recommended book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.
• Why you shouldn’t dig yourself into a pile of debt.
• How to do your taxes, how to use tax breaks, why a flat tax is not “simpler” than a graduated tax.
• How to not be a dick (picture).  I could use this class, and I know that most Americans could also (no offense).
• Drivers Education.
• How to deal with your problems.  Emotional, dealing with other people, how to use google to answer questions, etc.
• How to deal with other people.
• Natural networking.
• How to find a job.
• The differecnce between how poor people and rich people look at money.
• How to cook.
• Different exercises used by different sports for different reasons.
• How to ask doctors questions.
• How to not be embarrassed.
• How to raise kids that aren’t dillweeds, sissies, and/or screaming little monsters.
• etc.

What’s the point of being able to name all the Presidents of the US of A in order if you can’t cook yourself a meal?  What’s the point of knowing the quadratic equation if you can’t balance a checkbook?  What’s the point of knowing the themes and symbolism in “Romeo & Juliet” if you can’t deal with your emotional problems?

I recently rewatched the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, watched the related video “We Stand Alone Together” and read “Beyond Band of Brothers” by Major Dick Winters.  The whole time all I could think was how grateful I am.  These sources offer some insight into what the military man goes through to protect the freedom and lifestyle enjoyed in this country.  It’s one thing to be told that these men fight and die for us, but to see it so vividly portrayed and told from the first person has a much deeper impact.

The story of Bastogne was particularly eye opening.   I cannot imagine being surrounded by an enemy adamant on killing me, freezing in a foxhole with inadequate food, clothing, and ammunition, and watching my friends get killed or maimed by a constant barrage of artillery fire.  For two weeks.

I just wanted to write this post to say, thank you.

You know what’s scary in the US?  Any idiot can walk into a store and buy a gun, with ZERO training.  I was in a gun store a couple months ago and was scared to see a guy thinking of purchasing a gun who knew absolutely nothing about guns.  Anyway, I figured I’d do a quick post on gun safety for fun.

Google “10 Commandments of Gun Safety” and you’ll get a huge variation on advice.  I’ve posted what I consider to be the best, easiest to remember, and most effective rules.

1. Assume that all guns are always loaded and will go off at the slightest touch.
   I once shot my friend Brett in the ass with a BB gun.  I always kept it unloaded but as a joke my brother loaded it when I was away.  I pointed it at Brett’s ass, assuming the gun was unloaded, and then shot him with a 6 mm plastic pellet through a thin pair of basketball shorts, ouch, sorry man.
2. Since all guns are always loaded and ready to go off, always point your gun in safe direction.
   My friend Rajiv once shot me with a paintball gun which had a hair trigger while handing it back to its owner.
3. Similarly, don’t point your gun at something you don’t intend to shoot.
   This also means that other people will infer that you intend to shoot what you’re pointing your gun at.  If you point your gun at someone, they are within rights (morally speaking, not legally) to draw on you and fill you with holes.  You may know your gun is unloaded, safety is on, and action is open, but remember rule 1: they will assume your gun is loaded and ready to fire.
4. Safety on and finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.
   Don’t rely on the safety (which is why there are three rules more important than having the safety on), but have it on.  If the safety is on, the trigger shouldn’t be able to be pulled, but you should still keep your finger off the trigger.  Only a true moron carries his gun with his finger holding down the trigger, relying on the safety to stop it form firing.  Develop a “stiff finger”, which means that anytime you handle a firearm your finger should be straight along the side of the gun, not in the trigger guard.
   

   Gun, Enemy, Friend - can you see the problem?

5. When preparing to shoot, know your target AND WHAT’S BEYOND.
   Why?  Check out the screencap on the right from Killer Elite.  Even if you hit your target, the bullet can penetrate and deal damage to something or someone behind it.
6. As a courtesy, if you must swing your barrel around such that it points at someone, place your hand over the barrel to indicate to the person you’re pointing your gun at how confident you are that it will not fire.

There are a bunch of other smaller rules to know, but the above is what i feel everyone ought to know, and the smaller rules are generally common sense.  Here’s a quick list:

• Keep firearms unloaded unless in use.  Personally for home defense, I keep ammunition nearby but not loaded.
• Use the proper ammunition.  Not just caliber, but powder load etc.
• If you pull the trigger and nothing happens, keep your gun pointed in a safe direction.  Wait a minute before ejecting the cartridge.
• Wear ear and eye protection.  Unless you want gunpowder in your eyes and to lose partial hearing.
• Make sure your barrel isn’t obstructed before firing (mud or whatnot).
• Don’t alter your firearm (use a gunsmith), keep it maintained.
• Know how to use your firearm.  How to load it and unload it safely, field strip it, clear jams, etc.
• Don’t run, jump, or climb with your firearm.  In other words, don’t horse around.
• Store your firearm(s) and ammunition safely and out of reach of children.  I would also recommend teaching your children about firearms and firearm safety to remove the mystique around them and so that if their friend shows them a gun they know what to do.

Imagine if you will, a dictatorship that uses military power to suppress the people.  The army, police, and secret police that would be used to put down the common folk would have to be made up from them.  At what point do the weapons of the oppressors refuse to suppress their own families and turn against their masters?

Clone troopers would never turn on their masters.  This is why clone troopers are a government’s wet dream.  Unquestioning soldiers taking orders from a few people, able to put down rebellion without emotion.  No qualms about killing the innocent, no family to worry about.  All at the disposal of a few who hold the command.  After all, who else would man a space station whose only purpose is to destroy planets?  Side note: of course, I wonder how they found engineers to design such a weapon, but then again we have nuclear weapons in real life.

Clone troopers are obviously fake, so how does this apply to real life?  Let’s take a look at the power of modern weapons and gun rights.  The NRA is fighting for US civilian’s rights to carry things like assault rifles and pistols.  The military has tanks, explosive rounds, ships, bombs, etc.  In other words, with the power of the military, there is no way a civilian militia could oppose the government.  What good is a hunting rifle against tank armor?  And taking this a step further, for every new weapon technology that comes out, fewer men can wield more power.

This post had no real point, just some observations I had while thinking about Star Wars and wanted to share.