Chris, I rest my case. Make it a good day
-Louis- Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org 203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com Valdosta, Ga 31602 (C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__ / \ / \ / \/ \_ \/ / \/ /\/ / \ /\ \ //\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/ \_/__\ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\ _ / \ don't practice on mole hills" - / \_ On May 6, 2015, at 12:49 PM, Christopher Green wrote: > On May 6, 2015, at 7:57 AM, Louis Eugene Schmier <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> You know, sometimes I hate Isaac Newton, or, at least, his devotees who >> advocated that everything is a machine and is governed by intelligible, >> universal, and immutable laws. I say this because the scholarship of >> teaching and learning has turned the classroom in a Newtonian pedagogically >> and technologically mechanical system. > > I usually ignore Louis far-too-long and not-particularly-enlightening > ruminations on his life as a “real” teacher. But this particular claim misses > the mark by such an enormous distance that I feel I have to comment. Whether > some overly-excited science “boosters” like to speculate that “everything” is > governed by mechanical laws is not really the point. The point is that there > is far too great tendency among far too many people to presume, on the > contrary, that everything that is the slightest bit complicated (which is > pretty much everything) is somehow “mystical” or “divine” or otherwise beyond > human comprehension. The mechanist program says only, “Let’s see which of > these phenomena we can explain in a mechanist fashion. For any phenomenon we > can model in that way, there is no longer a need to regard it as being > ‘mystical.' For those things that we cannot model mechanically at present, > the question of how it works remains open.” Thus, the famous line from > Laplace, when asked by Napoleon about the absence of God in his model of the > cosmos: “I have no need of that hypothesis.” > > Now, to be sure, there are lots of people saying lots of stupid things about > education these days, and offering (for sale, note) various contraptions that > purport to “solve” the “problem.” The issue here, however, has far more to do > with P. T. Barnum than it does with Isaac Newton (viz., “There’s a sucker > born every minute.”). Or worse yet, the politicians who over-ride the wisdom > of actual educators to impose these devices on the classroom (if even a > classroom remains) are having their campaigns financed by the very people who > are hoping to make a buck by replacing real teachers with their devices. That > is the problem. Not Netwon and not mechanism. > > In short, Louis, you have been badly diverted from the real issue, which is > exactly their intent. > > Regards, > Chris > ….. > Christopher D Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 > Canada > > [email protected] > http://www.yorku.ca/christo > ………………………………... > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=931223.50b956e1f0f315eddcd01dfbd8b87bc1&n=T&l=tips&o=44565 > or send a blank email to > leave-44565-931223.50b956e1f0f315eddcd01dfbd8b87...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=44566 or send a blank email to leave-44566-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
