Honorable Forum:
This thread* is an excellent example of what I am trying to "get at" in the
endless essay I call "Culture Against Society," so I thank Malcolm, Sarah,
and Jane for their insights. In my "umbrella" work, also interminable, that
I call "Advancing Toward Eden," I argue that if culture is to advance beyond
mere exploitation, the social/cooperative impulse must come into ascendency,
that hype, hustling, and other forms of manipulation/deception run amok have
to be identified for what they are--at ALL levels of social organization,
not just "within" "science" or academia. But science and academia are not
entirely pure themselves, and that is where the effort must begin if the
continuous efforts of the "general public" to restore social order to
cultural hierarchies is to gain any traction.
The Academy, by its nature a holdover from guilds, needs to examine itself
more than it needs a greater and greater emphasis on the number of angels
that can dance on the head of a pin. It may be a cut above snake oil
peddlers, but the burden of intellectual integrity is apparently carried by
an increasingly an increasingly smaller percentage of the whole, the
majority of which seems more an more focussed on "jobs" and other cultural
trappings and traps.
Comfort and "security" have long been the bait for luring the insecure from
"Eden," and the compounding irony of decling comfort and security derived
from those delusions seems more lost on those who deign to know what is best
than those who are relatively benighted. Along with bowing to the
multiplicity of emperors, far too many "scientists" are less and less
interested in testing for the null hypothesis by challenging their own
sacred assumptions. This is the abandonment of intellectual integrity, not
its celebration, and while I do not rest my entire case upon it, just one
indication that this might be true is that few insititutions of higher
learning actually teach it, much less have courses in it--philosophy
notwithstanding (it has its own ironies). Thanks goodness I know some
third-grade teachers who have their fingers in the dike!
The reality is that most institutions (by their very nature?), and most
academics, not to mention the lower influence-peddlers are demonstrably more
interested in defending the status quo than in challenginge it. (As usual,
there are notable exceptions among them who are exceptions, but they are not
encouraged by the institutions which hold them captive or their "colleagues"
who, seeing the guillotine poised, choose, "sensibly" not to rock the boat.
WT
*Perhaps it could become a fabric?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Shevtsov" <jane....@gmail.com>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, January 16, 2010 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all
Let me play devil's advocate on this one. Is a more difficult-to-read
textbook better than an easier one that conveys the same information?
My impression is that writers like George Orwell and E.B. White were
largely responsible for the increased streamlining of modern prose
compared to that of 100 years ago. (I am not saying that streamlined
prose is necessarily better -- IMHO, Strunk and White are responsible
for a great deal of mediocre writing.)
BTW, what fraction of children in Texas completed the eight grade in
1908? The state did not have a compulsory education law until 1915.
Jane
On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 12:46 PM, malcolm McCallum
<malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org> wrote:
Its actually much worse than that. A retired friend of mine brought
me a book on Human Health.
It was dated around 1908. The student who read this book would
require a much higher reading
comprehension, larger vocabulary, and greater dedication than a
student using the health book
widely used for principles of health in modern college classes. The
book had depth, provided specifics
and generalities, and it very aptly provided positive guidance on the
overview of how to live a healthy life
based on the dogma of the time. Now here is the punchline, that book
was mandated by the
stated board of education in Texas for 8th grade. I almost fell over.
I have seen some graduate level
textbooks that are not as good as that 8th grade text. I suspect that
this is more widepread than we might want to believe.
Malcolm
On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Abraham de Alba A. <aalb...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
Yes Mal, it is depresing to see that "critical thinking" is very seldom
applyed even in "educated" persons, I myself think that it is a primary
fault of our educational system. It is not until you are in your masters
or
even PhD that your mentor appreciates your thinking capabilities and not
your "knowledge".
What can we expect after 20 years of indoctrination in school ? and
that´s
for the ones that manage to go to school.
Abraham de Alba Avila
Terrestrial Plant Ecology
INIFAP-Ags
Ap. postal 20,
Pabellón Arteaga, 20660
Aguascalientes, MEXICO
SKYPE: adealba55
Tel: (465) 95-801-67, & 801-86 ext. 126, FAX ext 102
alternate: dealba.abra...@inifap.gob.mx
cel: 449-157-7070
________________________________
From: malcolm McCallum <malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org>
To: ecolo...@listserv.umd..edu
Sent: Fri, January 15, 2010 7:11:47 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all
At what point does the scientific community realize that the current
surge in patent medicines and nonsense medical devices are seriously
eroding the nation's confidence in science?
This is not directly related to ecology, but ecology is science and if
people misuse science to sell products that are medically irrelevant
it certainly must affect all science.
For example, if the average person sees a supposed physician on TV
parading products that "absorb fat out of your body" or send "magnetic
impulses into your joints" or provide the "healing effects of light",
he/she does not necessarily recognize the difference between
commercial claims and scientific ones. Further, if that person is
suckered in to buy this sucker bait, he/she is certain to find, once
any placebo affect passes, that it is shear snake oil. Consequently,
these folks see these advertisements with supposed nutritionists,
phds, MDs, etc. and learn not to believe what they say. Along comes a
scientist claiming extraordinary changes such as climate change, ozone
layer issues, problems with pollution, and endangered species...on TV,
even in commercials. Why should they believe them? It looks and
smells just like that snake oil aunt Martha bought off TV that did
nothing but moisten her skin.
Does anyone else see that a deeper problem exists here? These
products are much more harmful that simply misleading people, they are
more than simply false advertising, they really should not be allowed
to make the extraordinary claims that they do. Some of the products
are harmless, some are dangerous simply in the fact that folks choose
to depend on these prior to seeking real medical advice, but all have
a serious potential to erode the general public's view of the
scientific community.
--
Malcolm L. McCallum
Associate Professor of Biology
Managing Editor,
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Fall Teaching Schedule:
Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm;
Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm
Office Hourse- TBA
1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
and pollution.
2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
MAY help restore populations.
2022: Soylent Green is People!
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not
the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and
destroy all copies of the original message.
--
Malcolm L. McCallum
Associate Professor of Biology
Managing Editor,
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Fall Teaching Schedule:
Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm;
Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm
Office Hourse- TBA
1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert
1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss,
and pollution.
2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction
MAY help restore populations.
2022: Soylent Green is People!
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any
attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not
the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and
destroy all copies of the original message.
--
-------------
Jane Shevtsov
Ecology Ph.D. candidate, University of Georgia
co-founder, <www.worldbeyondborders.org>
Check out my blog, <http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com>Perceiving Wholes
"The whole person must have both the humility to nurture the
Earth and the pride to go to Mars." --Wyn Wachhorst, The Dream
of Spaceflight
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