Many College Students are ‘Book Virgins’

Intellectual Takeout ^ | 6/24/16 | Daniel Lattier

[Pippa]

Oops here’s the website

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html#contents

[Hoffer Rand]

I interviewed a young lady a few weeks ago. She has a JD degree, but hasn’t ever used it (I don’t think she was able to pass the bar, but that’s my personal opinion). Now, she thinks she might want to go into instructional design (no background in that, either). We asked what type of books she enjoys reading. Her answer was “Harry Potter books.” She’s in her mid-30s.

[LibWhacker]

Nice list, Pippa. Wish I had read half of those books when I was a kid. That’s when our brains are still forming and I think a good reading program in childhood changes a person forever, for the better. I could read those same books now and not get the anywhere close to the same benefit, though I may still enjoy it. At least that’s been my observation when looking at people who read a lot as children vs. those who did not.

[Edward.Fish]

Did you watch Attack on Titan?

Not really, I gave it eight or so episodes and then went w/ something else. (It had some interesting plot-elements, and the production quality was really good, but in the end I didn't really like it.)

[wastedyears]

Really? What didn’t you like about it?

What kinda shows do you like?

[Edward.Fish]

Really? What didn’t you like about it?

It's really been a while, but it was probably more the underlying metaphysics than anything else. (The metaphysics is why I don't really like Evangelion either.)

What kinda shows do you like?

Well, it's kind of varied -- I love a good comedy, and a good science-fiction; high-fantasy can be really enjoyable as well -- but I'm a bit of a storyteller myself so it needs to have some good/interesting story.
I suppose a list of a few shows and why I like them could help:

1. The first couple of seasons of Sliders -- I liked the What if? nature of the parallel Earths.
2. Star Trek -- I like the sci-fi and setting, though the reboots seem to be style over substance.
3. Tenchi Muyo -- It's kind of a comedy with a sci-fi backstory... or perhaps a sci-fi story with a lot of comedy.
   (I also have fond memories of it from when I took Japanese and could flip the languages back and forth on the DVDs.)
4. Young Justice -- The manner that "The Light" and the background goings-on are presented was masterfully done; plus good super-hero stories.
5. IT Crowd, Red Dwarf, Hyperdrive -- English comedy, masterfully done and w/o being, say, Adam Sandler-level humor.
6. Stein's; Gate -- Time travel anime; very good.
7. Accel World, Konosuba, Log Horizon & Overlord, Sword Art Online -- Mostly pulled into the game genera, but each with its own 'personality' and interesting story and/or world. SAO is probably the weakest on the list. (Konosuba has IMO the best characters.)
8. D-Frag! & Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? -- Fun little comedy romps.
9. Yu-Yu Hakusho -- One of the few "fighting anime" I like, mostly because of the characters.
10. Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, various others -- Sci-fi goodness.

I could list more, but I think that gives a good cross section.
What about you?

[wastedyears]

Seitokai Yakuindomo is a really ridiculously funny ecchi comedy.

[Edward.Fish]

Thank you — I’ll check it out.

[Chickensoup]

“Harry Potter books.” She’s in her mid-30s.

_______________________

Not uncommon.

It is scary to see how uninformed and uneducated our up and coming supposedly best and brightest are.

[Chickensoup]

Then she said; “Is that a bookmark you’re holding, or...”

___________________________

“...are you glad to read me?”

[Hoffer Rand]

It is scary to see how uninformed and uneducated our up and coming supposedly best and brightest are.

This is so true. This young woman said several things in her interview that I would have found better ways to phrase, even if I felt the overwhelming need to unburden myself of that information. We asked her to describe a time she had received difficult feedback from a supervisor and how she handled it. I thought she was going to start crying, right there in the interview. She mentioned that a supervisor had criticized the quality of her writing (legal briefs) and wanted her to put more research into it. She actually said she thought the supervisor was toxic, so she quit the job over that feedback. We asked her to describe a time she failed to fulfill a commitment, and she blamed the customer for her failure. Her answer came down to "I didn't get it done, but it was HIS fault." Did I mention we hired somebody else? She had been our front runner candidate until the second round of interviews, looked decent on paper, but push a little, and it all fell apart!