Paul Dillon writes:
>
>...: We are always at a disadvantage since we have no agreed upon
>date at which a language capable of transmitting concepts first appeared.
Might it be problematic in our musings to assume that language does
transmit concepts?
The evidence in science education is that concepts are not in particular
transmitted to the students. Furthermore, the lesson best learned by most
people in science education is not "delivered" in the form of language from
teachers to students. Students appear to figure out for themselves that
they "are not good in science" and that only certain special people can be
good in science, yet this lesson is not printed in the texts and few
teachers say it in class. So, it appears that what is attempted to be
"transmitted" via language is largely not and what is learned is largely
not from langugage.
Hmmm.....
Dewey
PS: I see this learning that we are not good at science and only certain
special people are as the maintenaince of a class system.
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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)426-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)426-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418 Fax: (208)426-4330
Boise State University dykstrad@email.boisestate.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper: GHB, Uilleann
"As a result of modern research in physics, the ambition and hope,
still cherished by most authorities of the last century, that physical
science could offer a photographic picture and true image of reality
had to be abandoned." --M. Jammer in Concepts of Force, 1957.
"If what we regard as real depends on our theory, how can we make
reality the basis of our philosophy? ...But we cannot distinguish
what is real about the universe without a theory...it makes no sense
to ask if it corresponds to reality, because we do not know what
reality is independent of a theory."--S. Hawking in Black Holes
and Baby Universes, 1993.
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