Happy Fathers Day!
I read in the June 10 issue of Time about the cicadas that
should emerge along the East coast this summer. After 17 years under ground, cicadas emerge, molt, mate and die. This brood is from 1996. The article stated that scientists do not fully understand the reason for this cycle. I find that
odd. If scientists want to study a creature that matures after 17 years and then has the overwhelming urge to mate, they should attend a senior prom.
Ben Franklin said that all people want to appear reasonable. I agree with that statement, but it started me thinking. Actually, I have been thinking for a long time. I mean it started me thinks about what most people think about themselves. I have come up with a list. I have enough
material here to write about for a while.
Most people think:
1. that they are above average intelligence.
2. that they fairly good looking.
3. that they are a “people person.”
4. that they have a sense of humor.
5. that they are open-minded.
Most people think that they are above average intelligence. I guess that is because they do not know how an average is calculated. We can’t all be average. We are evenly split between above or below average.
When I attended the military academy, I struggled in my classes. For some reason I had decided to take Russian, a difficult language, at least for me. However, on the up side, I had the same roommate for two years because we were the only two in the company taking Russian. I also had a hard time in math. My grades after my plebe year were low. I set my goal to graduate in the top half of the class-above average. Although I did much better for the next three years, my plebe year grades kept me in the bottom half of the class, a group known as "goats." I graduated 392 in a class of just over 700-bottom half.
I would have been better if I had set my goal to be one standard deviation from the average. Then I would be in a group of 68% of the class (based on a normal bell curve distribution). Granted, even the bottom half of a class from West Point is still a darn good accomplishment.
I read in the June 10 issue of Time about the cicadas that
should emerge along the East coast this summer. After 17 years under ground, cicadas emerge, molt, mate and die. This brood is from 1996. The article stated that scientists do not fully understand the reason for this cycle. I find that
odd. If scientists want to study a creature that matures after 17 years and then has the overwhelming urge to mate, they should attend a senior prom.
Ben Franklin said that all people want to appear reasonable. I agree with that statement, but it started me thinking. Actually, I have been thinking for a long time. I mean it started me thinks about what most people think about themselves. I have come up with a list. I have enough
material here to write about for a while.
Most people think:
1. that they are above average intelligence.
2. that they fairly good looking.
3. that they are a “people person.”
4. that they have a sense of humor.
5. that they are open-minded.
Most people think that they are above average intelligence. I guess that is because they do not know how an average is calculated. We can’t all be average. We are evenly split between above or below average.
When I attended the military academy, I struggled in my classes. For some reason I had decided to take Russian, a difficult language, at least for me. However, on the up side, I had the same roommate for two years because we were the only two in the company taking Russian. I also had a hard time in math. My grades after my plebe year were low. I set my goal to graduate in the top half of the class-above average. Although I did much better for the next three years, my plebe year grades kept me in the bottom half of the class, a group known as "goats." I graduated 392 in a class of just over 700-bottom half.
I would have been better if I had set my goal to be one standard deviation from the average. Then I would be in a group of 68% of the class (based on a normal bell curve distribution). Granted, even the bottom half of a class from West Point is still a darn good accomplishment.
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