Thursday, March 02, 2006
Convenient Science. Anna Bloviations attended a 'drug awareness/prevention forum' held at the high school of my Rep's (my) affluent district. Entertainment (at a cost of $1,000 for the evening) proved engaging, funny, and informative: Michael N. could honestly audition for a slot on Comedy Central. The gist of his one-hour presentation is that hitherto unknown science now shows that the human brain does some pretty remarkable development between the ages of twelve and seventeen (hence the apprehension about under-age binge drinking). In fact, new studies show that in females and males, the human brain is not fully developed until ages twenty and twenty-four respectively (damn those males). Most interesting (from a college tuition paying perspective) was the fact that undergraduate binge drinking reduces brain capacity by 10%. So.... we spend all that money for tuition only to have them come out of the system stupider than when they went in....
I had two nagging thoughts as I listened to this illuminating presentation: 1) funny that this science would come out just as it has become customary that kids live with their parents until nearly thirty years of age. What about the brains of those fourteen-year-olds who got off at Ellis Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Thought #2 was: gee too late. My and my kids' brains are already functioning at well below capcity. And yet, it could be worse. We could be Republicans...
I had two nagging thoughts as I listened to this illuminating presentation: 1) funny that this science would come out just as it has become customary that kids live with their parents until nearly thirty years of age. What about the brains of those fourteen-year-olds who got off at Ellis Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Thought #2 was: gee too late. My and my kids' brains are already functioning at well below capcity. And yet, it could be worse. We could be Republicans...
Comments:
Post a Comment
