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Fascinating, Joan U. I LIKE being in the company of "artists and mad scientists" But then, I, too, was awake 1/2 the night. Carole H. --- joan carol urquhart <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thank you for posting this Janet! > > Piaget said "To understand is to invent." > > Seymour Papert said > "The normal state of thinking is to be off course > all the time and make > corrections." > (in The Children's Machine) > > Sherry Turkle said > "Children don't learn natural language by learning > its rules, but through > immersion in its cadences." > (in Life on the Screen) > > The nature of the way we search for information on > the Web > is an exercise in intuition and in non-linear > thinking... > a juxtaposition of ideas out of sequence as we click > here and there in no > particiular order > while surfing to (seemingly) no logical outcome, > a right-brained what-if approach ... > a suspension-of-judgement... > a lets-try-this-to-see-what-happens way of thinking. > > This is not formal rule-driven learning behaviour. > But it is how most creative thinkers think > (artists and mad scientists alike...inspite of their > education). > > Marshal McLuhen described electronic technologies of > the 20th century as > extensions of our central nervous system. > Will the 21st century classroom / research lab be a > wired one? > > Simulating thoughts from the bottom up, in the > middle of the night. > Joan U. > > -----Original Message----- > From: janet paterson <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Thursday, October 21, 1999 10:31 AM > Subject: NEWS: Worth Thinking About: Learning Things > Backwards And Forwards > > > >WORTH THINKING ABOUT: LEARNING THINGS BACKWARDS AND > FORWARDS > > > >"School curricula reinforce the impression that > logical subjects like math > and science require starting with basics and > progressively adding more > sophisticated conclusions and applications. > > > >"But the very nature of logical laws make it > equally feasible to work > backward from conclusions, or observations, to > hypotheses. Deduction and > induction are entirely complementary. > > > >"In reality, scientists and mathematicians do not > do their crafts in the > linear, progressive way their subjects are usually > taught. > > > >"Practitioners commonly start with a flash of > insight (the stereotypical > light bulb lighting), a hunch, a dream, a guess, an > elaborate hypothesis or > postulate, and then work backward, forward, and > around it to try to make it > fit with established knowledge. > > > >"Physicists or engineers commonly try using complex > mathematical gadgets to > solve the problems that interest them without > knowing or caring how the math > was logically derived. > > > >"Experimenters tinker in laboratories and make > surprising discoveries that > theoreticians then labor to try to explain > logically. > > > >"Alternatively, theorists like Einstein come up > with wild new theories like > relativity that experiments may have to struggle for > decades to find a way > to test and prove. > > > >"Scientific knowledge does not grow incrementally > down a predictable track. > Rather it grows volcanolike, sometimes oozing in > patient rivulets, sometimes > erupting in fiery ferment, and occasionally > exploding, blowing away the rock > of established truth. > > > >"Pedantic, linear teaching rarely conveys the true > drama and mystery of the > human quest for knowledge. > > > >"School plods where human imagination naturally > leaps." > > > > > >>From "School's Out," by Lewis J. Perelman; > >you may be able to find it through > ><http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/newsscancom/> > >(We donate all revenue from our book > recommendations to Literacy Action, > >in support of adult literacy programs.) > > > >NewsScan Daily > ><http://www.newsscan.com/> > > > >janet paterson > >52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset > >613 256 8340 po box 171 almonte ontario canada K0A > 1A0 > >a new voice: > <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/> > ><[log in to unmask]> > > > ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com