A single story is usually what we get about an event, place or person. Those single stories form our narrative and eventually decisions, we must always try to go beyond that.
Chimamanda Adichie Talks at Ted about the Single Story
and on a more fun note:
From Hold Me Tight, an interview by CBC Ideas with Sue Johnson, I understand that people must have strong or near unconditional support of someone in there life to be able to develop. That it is hard wired for our social nature that we must have someone we can trust in to be there for us. Without it we can’t thrive. As an example, Sue states that a crying child must be shown that it is loved and supported for it to feel secure enough that it doesn’t need to cry at trivial things.
This contradicts the Pavlovian view that if a child is rewarded with attention for crying (at a trivial cause) then it will just cry more, and that the appropriate thing to do is ignore the child until they are done crying.
Her talk explores goes beyond infants and looks at adult relationships and long lasting relationships as well.
But the unconditional support approach and the Pavlovian approach, prescribe very different methods for dealing with a crying infant. When the time comes, being a parent wont be easy. That is certain.
Teaching alway seems like it is simple and natural. Eric Mazur in his talk Confessions of a Converted Lecturer will likely convince you otherwise. He is very illuminating of another possibility for university level education.
It is interesting how his inspiration from “Force Concept Inventory has lead him to redesign his methods for teaching: readings before class (in the sciences!), online feedback forms before class, adjusted questions to previous exams and night before questions, in class questions, independent thought, peer discussion, multiple choice clickers, adjustments to students’ expectation and leading of students’ expectations, and lots and lots of data and a belief in that data.
It also seems to be catching on http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/interactive/conctest.html. For good reason.
While I don’t claim to know much about genetics or gene therapy, I though I knew enough to know that this was impossible! Gene Therapy Cures Color-Blind Monkeys.
I’m all to happy to be shown that I was mistaken. If this research is replicated is other labs, this is fundamental, and goes far beyond color blindness! What an interesting world it will be.
I’ll say it right now. Google Wave will change the internet more than anything else has. It will be bigger than facebook, youtube, twitter, wikipedia, icq, skype. I think it will define a new medium in a similar way that email did. Except this will be much, much cooler!
I recently moved to a new apartment. I didn’t worry about a bed so much, but I made sure that the internet was installed on the first day I moved in. I am an information drunkard. It is the crutch I lean on, for not doing much myself.
Currently there is a difference between the online and offline world. The internet hasn’t really entered our physical space and our physical interactions with the world. This of course will change. Geolocation in mobile devices such as iPhones is the first tip to puncture the aparently thin wall between the internet and physical reality. This projection device innovatively shows what could be. I don’t think we will be projecting imagery onto physical reality when it will be easier just change our perception of it. All this without even going in for brain hacks. Of course we will get to brain hacks because it will just be easier to have your phone, watch, calculator and memory enhancement embedded than external.
I’m all for this future as my memory is terrible, so I’ll just use the infallible digital internet memory.
But we better get ready for the culturals shifts that come from instant reactions, by large groups of physically dispersed but temporarily and consciously intertwined people.
Currently that crowd is saying #amazonfail due to Amazon removing the full visibility of many LGBT books from sales rankings. They claim the titles are “adult” and not suitable, while many plainly erotic hetrosexual titles remain. Booksquare gives a pretty good run through.
It seems that Canada is doing ok in the middle of the world wide economic crisis. Fears remain, but after watching Iceland implode, US housing collapse and banks across the world failing or needing to be propped up, Canada hasn’t had such difficulties. Newsweek backs this up.
So it’s a good time for a little song and dance.
“Lies We Tell Kids” by Paul Graham is an excellent essay dissecting the motivations for lying to children and some of the results. Seems appropriate around Christmas.
There’s never a point where the adults sit you down and explain all the lies they told you.
Absolutely incredible Ant hills / dens! An ant’s brain is so small that clearly doesn’t comprehend the entire design and structure of what it and its millions of siblings construct or do. Specialization and simple rules guide the actions of each ant, but this is dramatic visible proof of what is possible from simple commands, repeated over and over again!
The prettiest engineering is inspired by nature. This flying fish clearly shows that.