There is a bit of a misleading headline (by one of the news outlets) in that it is made to seem like multiple Wharton students think the average US work makes $800,000. In fact, it is just one student. Lack of clarity as you point out. Maybe the question was phrased with ambiguity. And the fact that many Wharton students do not know what the average income is depends on what level of education they are at. Are these freshmen? If so, we should give them a break. If they are in their last throes of an MBA degree, they should know better. I am having a difficult time feigning concern or outrage on this one....
My thoughts too, what grade were these students in? But also, it begs the question from the high school years, what were students 1. being taught, and 2. what are they learning? Also, are they relying on the internet for information, and what is the quality of the teachers and learning system? We just have too many holes in the equations anymore when it comes to finding an answer. And unfortunately, it is really hard to read or follow any news story anymore as you only get bits and pieces of confusing and conflicting information and the headlines are all "click bait" and many times the story barely relates to the headline... but we all must learn to weed out the chaff to get to the real story, if there ever was one.
This is excellent. Far from missing something, you are absolutely into something. This is the reason why I am (nearly) off Twitter and why I no longer watch or even subscribe to cable TV. I grew up on “too good to check” (which I always thought was a British journalism phrase!) and you are correct that social media and the synthetic outrage it engenders is enticing us all into opting out of probing things if they already satisfy our prejudices. What results is a real problem - a kind of societal lack of intellectual rigor and erosion of fairness in our thinking.
Californians have been moving to Idaho for years, but now we have been "discovered" by the rest of the country, too. It's not necessarily a good thing.
When our news comes from a FB “curated” feed, twitter or, really, any type of SOCIAL media we get what we deserve.
Cable news started us off with the need to fill a 24/7 news hole. It was OK when Ted had his idea because he was the only one. In fact, I did some international travel and it was especially great to have an English language news channel to watch in hotels. Then the other networks jumped on board.
At least when print newspapers were a primary source you could tell the NYT or USA Today from the sensational rags, if for no other reason than where they were placed in store; the rags all purchased space in the checkout line. It was easier to recognize fact checked news because there were real editors separate from advertising and circulation.
Now, anyone can have a website that looks legitimate.
These 4 paragraphs are so important to read and absorb. We also need more critical thinking!
We also need more thoughtful thinking. I remember the days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley. Now, that was how news was done and should be done today. No drama, just the facts. At the beginning, they actually had the nightly news done in 15 minutes. Then we viewers turned the TV off and went out to socialize (face to face naturally). Eventually, news was expanded to 30 minutes and then, of course, cable news, twitter and so forth. I was raised by reading the Christian Science Monitor. you do not hear much about that newspaper anymore but back in the day, it was highly respected with extraordinarily well-written articles.
As a university professor, I find publicly humiliating students to be the egregious act here, not the $800,000 response. Yes, I complain about students with my colleagues but I would never tweet something that belittles them on social media.
I think your missing an important point. Reacting to one end of a collection of data and tainting anything else it may contain is exactly how information gets misconstrued.
Not to mention the nationality makeup of those polled. Are they all American students? Perhaps the $800K was an international student whose cultural understanding of America is based on TV families. That number would be fairly accurate if you thought Americans lived like “Modern Family”
Your observations are spot on: It's like the statistic that most accidents happen within five miles of your home. I remember thinking, "Isn't that where I spend most of my time, so... duh?" Our 24/7 news cycle demands sometimes lead to content that doesn't contain much of anything.
I think it is more a matter of perception. My husband is retired; I work because I want to. My income is less than 6 figures. We have a net worth a little above the average which you noted. Now, knowing this, I feel like I have the world by tail. I have everything I could ever want, give away a good amount of money for no reason. My husband, on the other hand, thinks we could be living under a bridge any time now. :-). My guess would be that a lot of the professor's noted results were likely indicative of the fact that the students haven't lived long enough to have an experienced perception of real life yet.
I think when mommy and daddy take care of literally everything you have no clue. Parents for some time have been raising children rather than adults (says my wife and I agree). And anyone with a minimal level of curiosity would read and have some clue. College student, especially graduate level, should be quite curious.
Even the $745,000 is a bit misleading as an average because net worth would figure in all the equity on people’s homes, the median according to the link is $141,000, so half the population below and half above that amount, not as “shocking” , I agree the story here should be a Wharton professor who themselves didn’t break this down and somewhat shamed her own students
Today’s Wharton newsletter: Scary at face value but reminds me of a former president’s lack of knowledge of a pair of socks and Rainman’s answer to: Doctor:
Ray, do you know how much a candy bar costs?
Raymond:
'Bout a hundred dollars.
Doctor:
Do you know how much one of those new compact cars costs?
Raymond:
'Bout a hundred dollars
Some people’s interests lie elsewhere due to upbringing, noblesse oblige or social psychopathy;Some of the absurdly wealthy have no clue; other’s brains are simply wired differently.
There is a bit of a misleading headline (by one of the news outlets) in that it is made to seem like multiple Wharton students think the average US work makes $800,000. In fact, it is just one student. Lack of clarity as you point out. Maybe the question was phrased with ambiguity. And the fact that many Wharton students do not know what the average income is depends on what level of education they are at. Are these freshmen? If so, we should give them a break. If they are in their last throes of an MBA degree, they should know better. I am having a difficult time feigning concern or outrage on this one....
And how do we know that the student who guessed $800,000 wasn't just being snarky in his/her response???
we dont' because the prof won't give the courtesy of a reply. ..speaking of snarky.
My thoughts too, what grade were these students in? But also, it begs the question from the high school years, what were students 1. being taught, and 2. what are they learning? Also, are they relying on the internet for information, and what is the quality of the teachers and learning system? We just have too many holes in the equations anymore when it comes to finding an answer. And unfortunately, it is really hard to read or follow any news story anymore as you only get bits and pieces of confusing and conflicting information and the headlines are all "click bait" and many times the story barely relates to the headline... but we all must learn to weed out the chaff to get to the real story, if there ever was one.
This is excellent. Far from missing something, you are absolutely into something. This is the reason why I am (nearly) off Twitter and why I no longer watch or even subscribe to cable TV. I grew up on “too good to check” (which I always thought was a British journalism phrase!) and you are correct that social media and the synthetic outrage it engenders is enticing us all into opting out of probing things if they already satisfy our prejudices. What results is a real problem - a kind of societal lack of intellectual rigor and erosion of fairness in our thinking.
You make som great points here. It jibes with this article I read yesterday in The Week
https://theweek.com/us/1009328/americas-hyperbole-addiction-is-the-worst-thing-ever
This was great, Bill. I suspect you will receive a reply from the professor in the not-too-distant future.
By the way, you create some catchy headlines as they present an intriguing “hook”….thank!
Californians have been moving to Idaho for years, but now we have been "discovered" by the rest of the country, too. It's not necessarily a good thing.
When our news comes from a FB “curated” feed, twitter or, really, any type of SOCIAL media we get what we deserve.
Cable news started us off with the need to fill a 24/7 news hole. It was OK when Ted had his idea because he was the only one. In fact, I did some international travel and it was especially great to have an English language news channel to watch in hotels. Then the other networks jumped on board.
At least when print newspapers were a primary source you could tell the NYT or USA Today from the sensational rags, if for no other reason than where they were placed in store; the rags all purchased space in the checkout line. It was easier to recognize fact checked news because there were real editors separate from advertising and circulation.
Now, anyone can have a website that looks legitimate.
These 4 paragraphs are so important to read and absorb. We also need more critical thinking!
We also need more thoughtful thinking. I remember the days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley. Now, that was how news was done and should be done today. No drama, just the facts. At the beginning, they actually had the nightly news done in 15 minutes. Then we viewers turned the TV off and went out to socialize (face to face naturally). Eventually, news was expanded to 30 minutes and then, of course, cable news, twitter and so forth. I was raised by reading the Christian Science Monitor. you do not hear much about that newspaper anymore but back in the day, it was highly respected with extraordinarily well-written articles.
As a university professor, I find publicly humiliating students to be the egregious act here, not the $800,000 response. Yes, I complain about students with my colleagues but I would never tweet something that belittles them on social media.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Manufactured outrage is indeed prevalent in today's "everyone's a publisher" world.
I think your missing an important point. Reacting to one end of a collection of data and tainting anything else it may contain is exactly how information gets misconstrued.
Not to mention the nationality makeup of those polled. Are they all American students? Perhaps the $800K was an international student whose cultural understanding of America is based on TV families. That number would be fairly accurate if you thought Americans lived like “Modern Family”
Your observations are spot on: It's like the statistic that most accidents happen within five miles of your home. I remember thinking, "Isn't that where I spend most of my time, so... duh?" Our 24/7 news cycle demands sometimes lead to content that doesn't contain much of anything.
$745k? ? ? - I thought I was OK but I’m not in that group and I’d bet not many of us are!
That's the average. Median is $121k. Of course the average is skewed by billionaires, etc. T
I think it is more a matter of perception. My husband is retired; I work because I want to. My income is less than 6 figures. We have a net worth a little above the average which you noted. Now, knowing this, I feel like I have the world by tail. I have everything I could ever want, give away a good amount of money for no reason. My husband, on the other hand, thinks we could be living under a bridge any time now. :-). My guess would be that a lot of the professor's noted results were likely indicative of the fact that the students haven't lived long enough to have an experienced perception of real life yet.
I think when mommy and daddy take care of literally everything you have no clue. Parents for some time have been raising children rather than adults (says my wife and I agree). And anyone with a minimal level of curiosity would read and have some clue. College student, especially graduate level, should be quite curious.
Even the $745,000 is a bit misleading as an average because net worth would figure in all the equity on people’s homes, the median according to the link is $141,000, so half the population below and half above that amount, not as “shocking” , I agree the story here should be a Wharton professor who themselves didn’t break this down and somewhat shamed her own students
What is income inequality
Today’s Wharton newsletter: Scary at face value but reminds me of a former president’s lack of knowledge of a pair of socks and Rainman’s answer to: Doctor:
Ray, do you know how much a candy bar costs?
Raymond:
'Bout a hundred dollars.
Doctor:
Do you know how much one of those new compact cars costs?
Raymond:
'Bout a hundred dollars
Some people’s interests lie elsewhere due to upbringing, noblesse oblige or social psychopathy;Some of the absurdly wealthy have no clue; other’s brains are simply wired differently.