時尚雙語:10件學校不會教你的事情
Curse Words in Shakespeare
The works of William Shakespeare are often held up as the epitome of good English. However what most people aren't aware of is that they are full of sexual innuendo and that they even contain the odd curse word. In fact there are even references to the C-word, with it being alluded to three times in Shakespeare's plays. Once in Hamlet, once in Henry V and most blatantly of all in Twelfth Night, where the character Malvolio actually spells the word out.
CIA/MI6 Overthrowing Democratic Governments
In the west we're taught at school that we are the good guys and that the rest of the world are the bad guys, and that it's our job to spread our “democratic values” around the globe. However what we're not taught is that our governments (namely the British and American) have actually at times masterminded the overthrow of democratic governments in order to pursue their own nefarious ambitions. There are numerous examples of this, particularly in South America and the Middle East, one of the most notable being the ousting of Iran's democratically elected government in the early 1950's.
College Drop Outs
Another thing not often spoken about at school is that many of the worlds most successful and intelligent people didn't actually like education and in some cases left it altogether. In fact, Albert Einstein, the very poster boy of intellectualism, intensely disliked school. He compared being at school to like being in the army and resented the way it tried to put boundaries and constraints on people. Other famous people who were critical of organised education include Victor Hugo, Leonardo da Vinci and the writer Alexandre Dumas.
Historic Pornography
In history class, when we learnt about ancient Greece and Rome, we were taught about the wars, literature, art and invention of those classical civilisations. However what was never mentioned was the obsession the ancient world had with sex. It permeated almost every aspect of society and was graphically represented in much of their artwork. In fact when places such as Pompeii and Herculaneum were excavated they were found to be covered in erotic frescoes and sexual inscriptions. So much so that the discoveries were kept from public view and sometimes even vandalised so as to obscure their explicit nature.
Fascist Coup Planned for America
Another piece of history that you probably weren't taught about at school concerns a little known plot to implement a fascist takeover in the United States. The plot, recently investigated by BBC Radio 4, was led by wealthy industrialists and bankers, including Prescott Bush (grandfather of George W. Bush), who were displeased with Franklin D. Roosevelt's progressive political policies in the early 1930's. The plan may have succeeded were it not for a Marine Corps Major General named Smedley Butler, who blew the whistle on the plot after being approached by the influential power brokers who wanted him to lead the uprising.
Columbus Didn't Discover America
The truth is that Columbus wasn't even close to being the first to discover the New World. The Vikings visited the Americas some 500 years before Columbus did and there are also people who believe that the Chinese beat him to it as well. On top of this there is the simple fact that there were people in the Americas before Columbus arrived. It's only a vestige of Eurocentric imperialism that leads us to think of America as having been “discovered” in the traditional sense and it's left many people who are native to the continent with the feeling that their pre-Columbus history has been ignored and devalued.
Playing Video Games is Good For You
Children are often chastised for wasting their time playing computer games. However research shows that video games can help improve reflexes, eyesight and intelligence. Shoot-em-up games in particular were shown to aid visual skills. There is even a doctor from New York's Beth Israel Medical Center, named James C. Rosser, who co-authored a study suggesting that surgeons that played video games were faster and less prone to making mistakes than their non-game playing counterparts.
TV is Educational
TV, like video games, is another thing that is often seen as being a bad influence on people. The criticism it gets however couldn't be more misguided, as television is in fact one of the most educational things ever invented. It allows people to learn about the entire world from the comfort of their own living room and has been responsible for the collective education of a large chunk of humanity for the last fifty years. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the Moon Landings, the plight of Africa and global warming are just a few of the things we've been informed and updated about by television. May it continue to entertain and illuminate us long into the future.
Fractional Reserve Banking
Fractional Reserve Banking is a system of banking that essentially allows banks to lend out money that they don't actually possess. It's legal and operates to varying degrees across the planet. It's the root cause of inflation and is something that few people know about and even fewer people understand. If people were educated about it, they wouldn't allow it to continue. However as our education systems are more concerned with the superficial than the essential, we'll probably all continue in ignorance of it until the world economy collapses under the weight of our collective debt.
The Drug Use of Poets and Writers
One of the greatest ironies of education is the way children are constantly told of the dangers of drugs and alcohol while at the same time being encouraged, and sometimes forced, to learn about poets and writers, most of which were notorious drug users, alcoholics and womanisers. Famous figures in literature who are associated with drugs include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas de Quincey and Jack Kerouac. One popular drug of choice amongst writers was laudanum, a solution of opium in alcohol, and was commonly used for both medicinal and recreational purposes, particularly during the Romantic period. Author Aldous Huxley was also open about his drug use, writing about his experiences with LSD. In fact I'm sure that in a hundred years time teachers will be forcing children to learn about Marilyn Manson and Pete Doherty in much the same way that they try to teach them about writers of poetry and fiction today.
1,莎士比亞作品中的不雅詞語
莎士比亞的偉大作品常常被人們推崇,並且被視爲是英語文字中的楷模。但是，大家卻都沒有發現作品中有很多性暗示語言及粗話，髒話。事實上，書中還有很多關於女性生殖器官的註解，這些詞彙在莎士比亞的3部作品中都有所提及。一處是在《哈姆雷特》，一處是在《亨利八世》，還有一處，也是筆墨最多的就是在《第十二夜》中了，馬伏里奧幾乎都要把那個單詞，一個字一個字拼出來了。
2，中央情報局推翻民主政府
在西方世界，我們在學校的教育灌輸下，認爲我們是代表正義的一羣人，而剩下的在這個世界上的都是非正義的人羣，所以，我們的責任就是要在全世界範圍裏傳播我們的“民主價值觀”。然而，學校沒有教給我們的是，我們“偉大的政府”（即英國和美國）爲了謀求自己的政治報復，會時不時地去策劃，指揮推翻別國的民主政府。這樣的例子數不勝數，尤其發生在南美和中東地區。其中最臭名昭著的例子恐怕就是發生在20世紀60年代的驅逐伊朗選舉產生的民主政府。
3,大學裏發生的輟學事件
還有一件事情，在學校也很少提及：很多世界聞名的成功人士很討厭學校教育，有些甚至從來就沒有接受過學校教育。比如愛因斯坦，這個絕頂聰明的小孩就極度討厭上學。他把上學比作是在服兵役，討厭各種各樣的規矩把人都束縛了起來。除了愛因斯坦之外，還有很多批判傳統教育法的名人，如維克多·雨果﹑達芬奇和著名作家大仲馬等等。
4,歷史上著名的淫穢書物
上歷史課的時候，講到古希臘和羅馬時，我們談到的是戰爭﹑文學﹑藝術﹑還有那些經典文明所創造出來的發明。但是我們卻從來沒有談及過古老世界對於性的困惑。其實，對於性的困惑幾乎滲透於這個社會的每個角落，並且在很多藝術作品中都以圖畫的方式表達了出來。事實上，歷史上的很多古城，如龐貝和赫庫蘭尼姆古城就是從一堆雕刻着春宮圖的壁畫雕刻中挖掘出來的。
5,關於美國的法西斯計劃
另一項學校不可能告訴你的歷史上的驚天大祕密就是關於在美國實施法西斯的機密。BBC廣播4臺是在最近纔開始針對這個祕密計劃進行調查的，而且得到了很多大企業家和銀行家的支持，其中包括了美國現任總統小布什的祖父普利史考特·布什。他曾經對於20世紀40年代羅斯福總統提出的新政感到很不滿。而且調查發現要不是因爲一個叫巴特勒的海軍司令，這個實施計劃差一點就要成功了。他因爲受到一些勢力強大的掮客的支持，希望他能夠領導這次推翻起義，使他在最後時刻阻止了這個計劃。
6,哥倫布並沒有發現美洲大陸
事實的真相就是哥倫布並不是第一個發現美國這個新大陸的人。北歐海盜們早比哥倫布500年踏上這片土地。也有人認爲是中國人把哥倫布趕到美洲大陸上的。不管怎樣，一個不爭的事實就是早在哥倫布之前就有人生活在那裏了。這只不過是因爲人們長久以來以歐洲文化爲中心的思想使得我們認爲美洲大陸是被“發現”的。這也使得那些天真的人忽略了在哥倫布之前的美洲大陸的歷史。
7,玩電子遊戲可是有益身體健康的哦～
孩子們總是因爲浪費時間在玩電子遊戲上而捱罵。但是，研究發現玩電子遊戲可以提高身體的反射能力，視力和智力哦～射擊類遊戲尤其可以幫助提高視覺能力。更有一個來自紐約Beth Israel醫療中心的James C. Rosser醫生在一篇聯合發表的報告中曾經表明玩電子遊戲的外科醫生要比不玩遊戲的外科醫生反應更快，更少犯錯。
8,電視的教育意義
電視如同電子遊戲一樣，常常被人們認爲是個對人們發展有着負面影響的發明。但是這樣的批評再也不能誤導我們了，因爲電視所具有的教育意義使之成爲了史上最棒的一項發明。電視的出現使我們可以舒舒服服地呆在家裏，足不出戶就可以瞭解全世界。而且，近50年來，電視承擔了向全人類普及知識的重任。柏林牆倒塌﹑月球登陸﹑非洲的窘困還有全球溫室效應等一系列事件，只是我們從電視中得到的一小部分信息。電視還將在未來的日子裏帶給我們歡笑，點亮我們的生活。
9,部分準備金銀行體系
部分準備金銀行體系是指允許銀行向外進行借貸業務，而這些錢並非銀行所有。這樣的行爲合法且在全球範圍內以不同的形式實施着。正是這個原因導致了通貨膨脹，但是這個原因只有很少人會知道，有更少的人會懂得這個道理。如果人們都瞭解到這些的話，一定不會讓這樣的事情繼續進行下去的。然而我們的教育總是重表不重本，所以我們只能繼續裝傻直到世界經濟被日益積累的債務所拖垮的一天。
10,詩人和作家們食用毒品
教育的一個可笑之處就在於一方面堅持勸導孩子們遠離毒品和酒精，另一方面卻被積極鼓勵甚至逼迫孩子們學習那些詩人和作家的作品。要知道，他們之中有很多人可是癮君子，酒鬼和花花公子。那些吸毒的文學大師有Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas de Quincey 和 Jack Kerouac。鴉片酊是他們最喜歡的一種毒品，尤其是在浪漫主義時期。這種毒品就是把鴉片溶解在酒精裏，常常被用來治病或者產生的幻覺使人得到放鬆。Aldous Huxley編輯對於他食用毒品的事實十分坦白，寫了很多關於其食用LSD後的經歷和感受。我很確信，在之後的一個世紀，老師們還會像現在一樣逼着孩子們學習他們的詩歌和小說而不會提及他們的吸毒經歷。
