[Xmca-l] Re: Andy Blunden on unit of analysis and Huw on cognition

Mon Sep 7 19:21:03 PDT 2020

Andy,
I don’t know if you recall, but I introduced myself to you off list in April of 2013, at the encouragement of Natalia Gajdamaschko. I pestered you with questions until you told me to join the chat.  I owe you some kindness for putting up with me. Here’s another question: Do Husserl and Dewey resonate at all with one another regarding “an experience”? 
Henry

> On Sep 7, 2020, at 6:20 PM, Andy Blunden <andyb@marxists.org> wrote:
> 
> Goodness! Thank you for your kind words, Henry. I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders.
> 
> The thing about an interview is that it is not a lecture. The Q&A format means that it is the unity of two minds. Evidently, "project" maybe important to me because of my interest in social theory but that is not where Anthony's and my mind meet, I guess.
> 
> The thing about "project" is that it avoids the ambiguity of "activity" - do you mean it like "there's a lot of activity on this list" or "this activity is aimed at making CHAT accessible." Mass noun or countable noun? Plus I avoid all the baggage carried by the word "activity" which leads to people telling me that I don't understand what "activity" means. Plus "project" really emphasises what is implicit in "an activity" - that it is driven by an unfolding aim and has the kind of subjectivity not normally imputed to an activity, or a group. I don't believe that projects are guided by "cognition," or at least that this is a useful lens to understand activity. "Cognition" is something we analysts abstract from activity. In John Dewey's words: ‘an experience’ is an ‘original unity’, not a combination: “The existence of this unity is constituted by a single quality that pervades the entire experience in spite of the variation of its constituent parts. This unity is neither emotional, practical, nor intellectual, for these terms name distinctions that reflection can make within it,”
> 
> Andy
> 
> Andy Blunden
> Hegel for Social Movements <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://brill.com/view/title/54574__;!!Mih3wA!Vy_0-fM1JnXDSWVjL-73cISms5hBR8csLKVmw2-QzFNJ3NCM5QBlQOrW0WMFrJ0oJ6r4tQ$>
> Home Page <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm__;!!Mih3wA!Vy_0-fM1JnXDSWVjL-73cISms5hBR8csLKVmw2-QzFNJ3NCM5QBlQOrW0WMFrJ3iK4VYyA$>
> On 8/09/2020 5:03 am, HENRY SHONERD wrote:
>> Gente,
>> It’s been more than a week since Anthony linked us to his interview of Andy Blunden. I’ve been doing some slow listening and thinking about it. 
>> 
>> Hands down the best. through best in Andy’s talk is perizhvanie, both individual and collective. His story about his own moment of empowerment as an engineer was inspiring. But in looking back on his work as a union rep, Andy recalled those who were broken in the work place, sought therapy and finally went on the dole. I assume it is very much the later kind of story that put the fire in the his belly as a lifelong Marxist. 
>> 
>> A quibble and a modest proposal. I have read more of Andy’s work than that of any other Vygotsky-inspired author, including Vygotsky. Based on my reading of Andy, I think that he has overlooked something in responding to Anthony’s questions: Project as the unit of analysis for the social sciences.
>> 
>> Another quibble and modest proposal. Huw, in the second interview with Anthony (the one liked below), asserts that “cognition is the conscious guiding aspect of activity”. If we can we substitute “project” for “activity” and recognize that affect is as much of a guide as intellect for any project, then we bring project and perizhivanie together in making sense of the human project. 
>> 
>> In communty
>> Henry
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Aug 29, 2020, at 9:53 AM, Anthony Barra <anthonymbarra@gmail.com <mailto:anthonymbarra@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> "Straddling the Abstract and the Concrete -- with Andy Blunden": 
>>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://youtu.be/ec94eQSSX8E__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyp6RYKHhg$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://youtu.be/ec94eQSSX8E__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IMcOT5oGA$>
>>> 
>>> "Researcher and chronicler Andy Blunden reflects on his own relationship with Vygotsky, his role and contributions to the Vygotsky-sphere, and some developmental landmarks of his own. (Originally published August 28, 2020)
>>> 
>>> Thanks again to Andy. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Anthony Barra <anthonymbarra@gmail.com <mailto:anthonymbarra@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> Huw Lloyd is an interesting guy and a gracious conversation partner. 
>>> 
>>> He recently helped me close some (of the many) gaps in my knowledge and understanding here: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/4kspsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyrRBkfyog$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/4kspsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IOQe1eSLA$>
>>> 
>>> Huw's commentary will likely be enjoyable even for fellow experts, who could compare his answers to what their own might be, as well as my questions to what they might've asked. 
>>> 
>>> I do feel a bit weird pushing my stuff here, but at the same time, enough people have told me in public and private that they enjoy the videos, so I do like sharing them.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> Anthony
>>> 
>>> (audio-only here: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/hlspsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyqvAn40mQ$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/hlspsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85INDZx1Ftw$>)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --------------------------------------------
>>> Video description and Timestamps:
>>> Researcher Huw Lloyd, fluent in numerous mental models, is a good explainer of concepts -- including many I was completely unversed in. A few threads run through the entirety of this chat: development, self-awareness, and construing an active orientation to any given situation.  
>>> 
>>> SECTION 1: Our pathways to Vygotsky  
>>> 
>>> 0:36 - Reflections on Huw's recent "Vygotsky and Parenting"  (https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/ymqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCypunBtHwA$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/ymqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IMmjZIOjA$>) 
>>> 
>>> 1:45 - Pros and cons of taking scholarly shortcuts  
>>> 
>>> 6:07 - Huw's arrival to Vygotsky, in part through dissatisfaction  elsewhere  
>>> 
>>> SECTION 2: Huw's ideas about Active Orientation 
>>> 
>>> 16:38 - What is Active Orientation?  
>>> 
>>> 23:30 - Is Active Orientation a practice? (An exercise in self  awareness) 
>>> 
>>> 31:58 - Active Orientation can be documented (microgenesis research of  Huw's) 
>>> 
>>> SECTION 3: What is Developmental Education? 
>>> 
>>> 40:37 - A primer on Davydov and Developmental Education  
>>> 
>>> 46:07 - Empirical thinking vs. Theoretical thinking  
>>> 
>>> 50:23 - Grokking the material and the History of ideas  
>>> 
>>> 52:59 - Problems are Good  
>>> 
>>> 55:40 - An illustrative lesson of Davydov's  
>>> 
>>> 1:03:43 - Some key characteristics of developmental education  
>>> 
>>> 1:07:41 - Crises, construals, and neoformations  
>>> 
>>> 1:10:20 - The Desert Oak: a developmental TRIZ problem  
>>> 
>>> SECTION 4: Imagination and Confidence-building  
>>> 
>>> 1:16:07 - Imagination, flow, and problem-solving 
>>> 
>>> 1:24:10 - Systems and Design Ideas (TRIZ approach)  
>>> 
>>> 1:30:22 - Earned, authoritative confidence: Your tempered ideas are  become Real 
>>> 
>>> 1:35:20 - The importance of problem-construal or framing 
>>> 
>>> 1:48:04 - Problem-creating, -solving, and -construing  
>>> 
>>> 1:53:51 - This is rich, highly concentrated material (Foundational, generative, "unfoldable" concepts)  
>>> 
>>> 1:55:27 - Notational vs. developmental education (and epistemology)  
>>> 
>>> 1:57:10 - Final two questions (adult-development & advice for  problem-designers) 
>>> 
>>> 2:06:20 - Complex vs. complicated (and self-regulation and distance  learning)  
>>> 
>>> 2:09:46 - An idea for lunch (as promised: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/bvqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyr93um2Lw$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/bvqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IMu2Pv5mA$>)  
>>> 
>>> References: 
>>> 
>>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/5vqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyoYeLAIMg$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/5vqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85INPU-JiCw$> - "A Study of Active Orientation" (brief  introduction) 
>>> 
>>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/2xqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyoIBxk2lw$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/2xqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IPBkikkbw$> - "TRIZ: a Powerful Methodology for Creative  Problem Solving" 
>>> 
>>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/dxqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!Q-FOypuQ50Fs6KMfRXZJGvbmXGi9AtHM3lnhCTZBnGDMeBwLYmuvCNi1q7slCyq4dNHC8w$  <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://tiny.cc/dxqpsz__;!!Mih3wA!S33cTVIkU7U9v9FUG591iGWUqwJtBKNyXVcYA2nA_QKFGGvaUmFJKVsQ-Ah85IOUymWXPg$> - "Going with the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and  Girls) in Their Literacy Learning"
>>> 
>>> 
>> 

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