Paul Lockhart, a mathematics teacher at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, here criticizes public math education. I thought it might provide another perspective on the relationship between creativity and mathematics that we discussed on Friday.
The video’s almost 20 minutes long, but it’s fascinating. The freedom of choice has been a fundamental part of American ideals since the very founding of our country; it’s no wonder we’re so obsessed with having a large selection of options to choose from. We expect it in everything we have and do- I’m expecting it now, even, by my wary glances at the closet (what do I wear? Long sleeves for the winter cold, short sleeves for comfort, sweats and a hoodie because I’m too tired to care?) and my bedroom door (should I bother getting breakfast, or should I just cram for the math test? If it’s breakfast I want, what do I eat? If I go for the cram session, what should I focus upon first?). We want a wide variety, or we feel trapped. After ages and ages of having plenty of choices, it’s in our nature to expect them and consider them good.
Schwartz, however, focuses on what’s bad about having all those choices. He plays devil’s advocate and argues that having plenty of choices won’t necessarily lead to happiness and satisfaction, and he gives two main reasons for this: it leads to paralysis from the shock of having more choices than we can quite handle, and we end up disappointed when our high standards aren’t met. He’s funny, thought-provoking, and an overall joy to watch and learn from- not to mention the fact that he throws in the secret to happiness near the end, which I’m sure would catch anyone’s interest. He’s certainly caught mine.
- Thrupthy
http://www.ted.com/talks/rick_warren_on_a_life_of_purpose.html
Rick Warren, the author of a best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life”, and an internationally renowned pastor encourages those at TED to use the influence given to them for the greater purpose of making this world a better place.
His argument was very motivational and rich with biblical allusions and metaphor. I went into the video already knowing who Rick Warren was and the expanse of his influence in the Christian community. But his claim did not revolve around his religious beliefs, they were simply how he got to the conclusion that he did. The most significant part of it was that his point was the same on all levels, across all religious lines: it is imperative that those with influence use it to give those without influence a voice. Otherwise, there is no purpose to any of it.
Philip Zimbardo posits an interesting theory in this talk. He suggests that we hold a certain time frame closer to us than others, and he explains the personalities associated with each respective frame. For example, if one is past-oriented, then he will spend most of his time focusing on the experiences he has had in the past and will continuously replay in his mind either his failures or his successes depending on his worldview; present-oriented, he will be either hedonistic or fatalistic; future-oriented, goal-seeking or transcendental.
Zimbardo’s main point is that there is an ideal time frame in which one can orient himself in order to achieve happiness more easily. If you’re interested, then by all means, go ahead and watch the video!
-Richard
http://www.ted.com/talks/josh_silver_demos_adjustable_liquid_filled_eyeglasses.html
Although I do not wear glasses or contacts, I know they are very important to many people around me who would not be able to see or carry out daily activities otherwise. I think that Josh Silver’s concept of adjustable liquid filled glasses is ingenious. Some of the people who have commented on his talk argue that everyone who wears glasses should simply train their eyes to improve so that they do not need glasses, but it is much easier said than done. Training the eyes to improve takes a lot of dedication and time that the people who Silver wants to distribute his glasses to do not have. Silver reminds his audience that poor vision is an educational and economic problem as well as a health problem. Students who cannot see are naturally unable to obtain a good education. Therefore, many poor children miss out on educational opportunities and thus have difficulty finding a profession in the future. Silver also mentions that 60 percent of people wear glasses and, in countries like Africa, there is only about one optometrist for every eight million people. His invention enables people with bad eyesight to adjust their own glasses. In addition, the glasses currently cost only nineteen dollars but Silver wants to make them even cheaper so that poor people who make about a dollar a day can afford them. Until scientists are able to find a way to improve eyesight easily and affordably, Silver’s invention is an amazing and simple way that people, who cannot afford to visit an optometrist, can see.
Since we were so recently evaluating our public educational system, I thought it would be fun to post a TED video on the topic. Yay!
And, by the way, this is not really diatribe-it is more of a lighthearted discussion . . . until the last three minutes or so.
~Anthony
Apparently, the accounts of old Lang students are active on this blog. Let’s put them to use, eh?
I’m genuinely curious. Many students bemoan Lang as being difficult, and recommend others to take Lit instead; in my admittedly limited experience, the opposite has been the case. This leads me to wonder: what are your first impressions of the class? Does it seem difficult to you, so far? For those who have taken Lit, do you find Lang to be easier or more challenging?
-Francis, ex-Langer
(you probably haven’t been given names yet, but I assume this post will still be around when you get them…)
The Postmodernist Generator uses all the vagueness of postmodernist writing (see Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language“) to generate meaningless text which looks surprisingly (especially considering this is all automated) realistic. Refresh the page to get new text.
– Dara
I think most of us enjoyed reading Swift’s A Modest Proposal so I thought it was worth noting the similar essay A Modest Proposal: Three-Strikes for Print written by a Princeton computer science professor, Ed Felten. The essay refers to the recently-adopted “three strikes” policy in France (in Cory Doctorow’s words, “if you’re accused of [copyright] infringement three times, you lose the right to access the Internet”).
Yesterday the French parliament adopted a proposal to create a “three-strikes” system that would kick people off the Internet if they are accused of copyright infringement three times.
This is such a good idea that it should be applied to other media as well. Here is my modest proposal to extend three-strikes to the medium of print, that is, to words on paper.
A Modest Proposal: Three-Strikes for Print
– Dara
The morning after Charles spends the night reading the literature that Dr. Grogan has given him, Charles sets out his day with an aura of gloom and a new, frightening understanding of his love for Sarah. He realizes, through Dr. Grogan, that Sarah may have been using Charles’ pity for her as a lure – to make him love her. Charles feels victim to the flawed love he has for Sarah, and this knowledge causes him to lose his sense of innocence. Fowles creates a contrast between Charles’ new awareness and the surroundings he encounters the next morning.
In this passage, Fowles’ diction and terms of clarification – expletive and amplification – present a clear contrast between Charles’ new attitude and Fowles’ portrayals of nature. The author opens with composed diction, describing the hills as “dove-grey”. This picture of softness and calm directly contrasts with Charles’ irritable character. Fowles’ strong diction expresses Charles’ attitude indirectly, describing the people around him to establish this tone. He states, “the people…had that pleasant lack of social pretension, that primeval classlessness of dawn population…” Such biting, petulant descriptions emphasize Charles’ new pessimism and loss of innocence after learning that Sarah may be using him for his love and pity. Fowles then describes the two separate forms of warmth Charles experiences. He amplifies the sun’s rays, with the phrase “this undefiled dawn sun” to stress how Charles no longer contains the warmth of purity, but warmth of experience.
Fowles continues this tone of purity in nature through two methods – a delicate, sweet purity, and a religious purity. The sky is described as “a deliciously tender and ethereal blue” and the tree trunks as “honey gold”. Fowles not only appeals to the sense of taste, but uses diction that gives nature a childlike innocence that infers purity. The author appeals to purity in religion towards the end of the passage, stating that “there was something mysteriously religious” about the tree trunks. Fowles expands his theme of purity into the animal world of nature, describing the fox and roe deer in an almost angelic sense. They both look at Charles strangely, as though he is “the intruder”. The roe deer views Charles “in its small majesty”, with “the same divine assumption of possession” as the fox. Through diction, amplification, and expletive, Fowles establishes the contrast between Charles’ loss of innocence and nature’s purity.