The Group Grade
When you were in school, if you had a similar experience as me, you were probably assigned group projects on occasion. The nature of my degree made group projects pretty common and sometimes the larger part of the overall grade. Of course, not everyone was interested in doing the work or even in learning the skills necessary. These people just wanted the degree, not the knowledge that the degree represents...they were content to let the others in the group carry them.
There are people that live their whole life getting by on the group grade...they're in all walks of life. What is disconcerting is that sometimes (probably more often than I want to believe) they are in critical positions. They aren't exposed until there is an event that they are supposedly qualified to handle where they fail miserably...often causing harm to others.
As an example, the mayor and city council of New orleans, the governor of Louisiana, the President of the United States and all of the associated agencies to those offices following hurricane Katrina. Everyone involved screwed up to the point that people died...I think they have had their exposing event.
You want to believe that people know what they're doing, but, think about the people you deal with every day...no job is completely populated by overqualified genius' and everyone has an agenda. On a side note, have you ever noticed how a CEO will call their company a "team" until the bonus checks get passed out?
As I stated in a previous post, the media (and slower witted people...don't worry, even if they read this they won't know we're talking about them) assumes that the qualities of a character that an actor has portrayed are the qualities of the actor. By the same token, having a job title doesn't mean you are qualified. Of course, these kinds of assumptions are what people that attempt to manipulate others count on. It could be something as innocent as a magic trick or something as deceptive as naming a law that restricts personal freedom and paves the way to a totalitarian regime "The Patriot Act".
Yeah, I've got issues. I just wish there weren't so many things that reinforce them.
There are people that live their whole life getting by on the group grade...they're in all walks of life. What is disconcerting is that sometimes (probably more often than I want to believe) they are in critical positions. They aren't exposed until there is an event that they are supposedly qualified to handle where they fail miserably...often causing harm to others.
As an example, the mayor and city council of New orleans, the governor of Louisiana, the President of the United States and all of the associated agencies to those offices following hurricane Katrina. Everyone involved screwed up to the point that people died...I think they have had their exposing event.
You want to believe that people know what they're doing, but, think about the people you deal with every day...no job is completely populated by overqualified genius' and everyone has an agenda. On a side note, have you ever noticed how a CEO will call their company a "team" until the bonus checks get passed out?
As I stated in a previous post, the media (and slower witted people...don't worry, even if they read this they won't know we're talking about them) assumes that the qualities of a character that an actor has portrayed are the qualities of the actor. By the same token, having a job title doesn't mean you are qualified. Of course, these kinds of assumptions are what people that attempt to manipulate others count on. It could be something as innocent as a magic trick or something as deceptive as naming a law that restricts personal freedom and paves the way to a totalitarian regime "The Patriot Act".
Yeah, I've got issues. I just wish there weren't so many things that reinforce them.
posted by itsjustme at 2:19 AM
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