tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post8002762001514409922..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Humans Teaching Humans about Human EvolutionAnne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-21749504948857700792010-02-27T08:18:44.996-05:002010-02-27T08:18:44.996-05:00Evolution and art may be connected. See http://www...Evolution and art may be connected. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p49ggWS1RI.Andrew Lehmanhttp://neoteny.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-71364726864421430732009-11-04T12:36:08.582-05:002009-11-04T12:36:08.582-05:00*our* not or*our* not orHolly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-63802592692037561762009-11-04T12:34:51.835-05:002009-11-04T12:34:51.835-05:00I believe that Ross Nehm's work and future/in ...I believe that Ross Nehm's work and future/in prep/press work will help a lot. <br /><br />Also there's this: http://www.springerlink.com/content/q471115921060722/<br /><br />A pdf of which I am emailing to you right now. <br /><br />But this means that we have to take more time to assess at the beginning and the end of semesters in order to better or teaching effectiveness. Oi! ;)Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-15159598990429355892009-11-04T12:30:49.540-05:002009-11-04T12:30:49.540-05:00This idea about p-prims comes at an opportune time...This idea about p-prims comes at an opportune time. I have twice in the last 24 hours been frustrated with students reviewing for an exam who, in response to me explaining a concept, said "well, I understand it as..." and giving a completely wrong explanation of an evolutionary phenomenon. The challenge of teaching anthropology really is that even if the students have never studied it before, they already know (or think they know) more about humans than any chemical they would ever encounter in chemistry or cell they would ever look at in a biology class.<br /><br />When they are telling me how they are (mis)understanding the material, they are really showing me the pre-existing ideas they came to class with. I wish I knew a better way of finding these things out in advance. Any ideas from your conference Dr. Dunsworth?EllenQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04805375871164019260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-51462078418105174422009-11-04T10:57:41.394-05:002009-11-04T10:57:41.394-05:00Thanks to Dr. Buchanan's suggestion I was able...Thanks to Dr. Buchanan's suggestion I was able to paste the quote from Lem's _Solaris_ that I'd mentioned in my comment in "On Stepping Back," one which I find more relevant to the discussion at hand. The following dialogue is a conversation between two researchers of the titular planet, the first having had prior experience with 'Solaris' and the second being the book's protagonist, characterized as an overly rational psychologist. <br /><br />--------------------------<br /><br />"We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there are times when we think pretty well of ourselves. And yet, if we examine it more closely, our enthusiasm turns out to be all sham. We don't want to conquer the cosmos, we simply want to extend the boundaries of Earth to the frontiers of the cosmos. For us, such and such planet is as arid as the Sahara, another as frozen as the North Pole, yet another as lush as the Amazon basin. We are humanitarian and chivalrous; we don't want to enslave other races, we simply want to bequeath them our values and take over their heritage in exchange. We think of ourselves as the Knights of the Holy Contact. This is another lie. We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. We are searching for an ideal image of our own world: we go in quest of a planet, of a civilization superior to our own but developed on the basis of a prototype of our primeval past. At the same time, there is something inside us which we don't like to face up to, from which we try to protect ourselves, but which nevertheless remains, since we don't leave Earth in a state of primal innocence. We arrive here as we are in reality, and when the page is turned and that reality is revealed to us--that part of our reality which we would prefer to pass over in silence--then we don't like it any more."<br /><br />I had listened to him patiently. "But what on earth are you talking about?"<br /><br />--------------------------<br /><br />I restate (with added emphasis) our protagonist's response:<br /><br />"But what on EARTH are you talking about?"Arjunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04388786712611397453noreply@blogger.com