Pigeon Chess

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Throughout the ages there have always been snake oil salesmen. People who earn their living by promoting toxic misinformation. But since the arrival of the modern age and social media, they have found a tool to expand their trade. I came across an article that pretty much sums this up as "pigeon chess".

Those who ponder solutions to these societal problems usually conclude that “more education” is the answer. But is it? Educated people are often simply more proficient at finding the wrong answer. Sophisticated B.S. is still B.S. This fact is cleverly summarized by an internet meme known as “pigeon chess,” which was coined by an Amazon commenter who said that debating with certain people was “like trying to play chess with a pigeon – it knocks the pieces over, craps on the board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory.”

Source: [url=https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/02/07/math-politics-some-problems-don’t-have-solutions-part-iii-14557]From Math To Politics, Some Problems Don’t Have Solutions (Part III)[/url]

jimmy for the win. sophisticated bs = pigeon chess. aka versed dummies.

I remember a fellow dictionary-ite about 12 yrs ago pointed out the difference in the definition of 'sophisticated' between 2 dictionaries 100 years apart. In the mid 1800's the defintion used to have the connotation of being duplicitous.

I had to bump this. It is just such a funny analogy.

I fail to see how the pigeon chess analogy - quite insightful itself - would serve as an argumennt against call for more education.

what is needed, is more of the appropriate kind of education which teaches critical thinking skills.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was the main law for K–12 (K = Kindergarten) general education in the United States from 2002–2015. The law held schools accountable for how kids learned and achieved. The law was controversial in part because it penalized schools that didn’t show improvement. Act of 2001 (NCLB) was in effect from 2002–2015.

Some of the problems with the program were that the student spent most of their time learning to pass the various test rather than actually learning. It also held back the high achievers and even the average achievers. No child left behind mean that the class proceeded at the pace of the slowest learner.

Also it also produced many teachers who cheated in order to not be penalized financially by the inability of their students to perform.