Me like. But what about that graph on the life of threads. Are you going to
need to re-do it now. That's like a response ten years after the fact.
It reminded me so much of Wertsch's book and his emphasis on the
irrreducible tension between agent and mediational means. A partnership,
what a radical idea. So often it seems we aim to situate agency in a "thing"
if its us humans, animals, or tools - it is much more difficult to see it
between "things".
Nate
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The book I picked up was *Planet of the Blind* by Stephen Kuusisto, and it
contains the following description:
"On the street we are a magnet for those who once knew a blind
person, or who have a blind family member, or know somebody who is going
blind. On Lexington Avenue in Manhattan a businessman asks me how to get
help for his wife who has been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. We're
at the curb waiting for the light when he notices how I check the time with
my braille watch by opening its hinged crystal and feeling the raised dots
on the face.
'That's such a beautiful thing!' he says. 'I've never seen anything
like it. I don't mean to intrude, but my wife is going blind, and I've been
trying to learn about ways of adjusting.'
'I'll tell you what,' I say. 'Let the dog concentrate on this
street crossing, and then I can talk.'
On the far side we discuss the correct mechanics for crossing the
street.
'I need to focus at crossings,' I tell him. 'I'm the one who makes
the decision about when to cross, not the dog. So I must listen carefully
to the traffic flow. When I think it is safe I command the dog to move
forward. At that point the dog evaluates the command by checking it against
what the cars are doing. The whole procedure demands our combined
attention.'
'You know, all these years, when I've seen a blind person with a
guide dog, I thought the dog was watching the street lights! I believed it
was the dog who ran the whole show. I never stopped to think of it as a
partnership!'"
What do YOU think?
Eva
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