RE: FW: Technologies and Their Effect on Learning as a Biological

Bill Barowy (wbarowy who-is-at mail.lesley.edu)
Thu, 14 Oct 1999 09:49:36 -0400

Just curious -- and I have to apologize for posting irresponsibly, as I=
won't be around for the next few days to read any responses -- but is=
there something to this brain-based idea? It just seems, at first blush,=
to fit with the materiality of learning -- that ontogenetic developments=
have a biological contribution, and to fit with the idea of the cognizer=
being a material part of the world that is being known -- no duality there?=
I'd like to avoid engaging in a reactant frenzy of postulating how future=
developments will violate our extant norms and values, but to consider some=
of the deep possibilities for understanding ourselves.

Rolfe reminds me of Cytowics book 'The man who tasted shapes' and while I=
may have waved that flag too often in this forum, I still find it=
compelling to see the neurological connections (no pun intended) to=
cognition, and of course, seeing the human body as a system into which the=
brain is structurally and functionally inseparable, then the contribution=
of emotion to human activity also cannot be untangled from cognition. It=
has the nature of a Gordian knot that the blade of traditional analysis des=
troys.

Well, to "zoom in" on any one part of the whole is problematic, be it brain,=
body, individual, social, or artifactual elements of cognition, it is also=
knot possible to keep in mind the whole thing and all of its details=
simultaneously. That is just the limit of our own cognitive contribution=
to universe coming to understand itself. To reach the ultimate=
understanding would require a theory as complex and material as the thing=
itself. =20

bb

> It almost certainly is 'for real' ...."brain based" education is the
>latest fad among those who insist that education can not only be
>professionalized but become 'scientific.' As with all such fads it is
>entirely premature or, to paraphrase Frank Zappa's take on the circularity
>of human events, it's just too previous man.
>
> Recent neurobiological research has provided extremely interesting
>data however, some of which suggests a more promising approach to learning
>theory(s); e.g., 'feelings' can be considered as cognitive as any other
>percept on empirical grounds.
>
> for what it's worth, Rolfe
>
>
>> Rolfe Windward
>> Dept. of Education, Lindsey Wilson College
>> windward who-is-at lindsey.edu
>> "We know more than we can say" -M. Polanyi