On Vocationalism

I recently read a transcript of a very old interview with computer education visionary, Alan Kay, about what needed and still needs to happen to make computer-assisted learning a success. Some of his conclustions made me realize that no matter how old or young the student is, the bottleneck is usually the educator.

"Virtually all learning difficulties that children face are caused by adults' inability to set up reasonable environments for them. The biggest barrier to improving education for children, with or without computers, is the completely impoverished imaginations of most adults. - Alan Kay"

With our society's constant fixation on terms like "job security" and, as Kay puts it, "vocationalism," students are often forced down a path that develops competency in a trade, but fails to foster the curiosity and intuition that lead to a lifelong love of learning.

It always used to bother me when people would ask what I wantned to be when I grew up. It wasn't because I didn't know or was scared of the future - it was actually the opposite - I had too many things in mind for myself. As Robert Heinlein said in Time Enough for Love, "Specialization is for insects."

It seems that as soon as technology invades the classroom, we shift from emphasizing conceptual learning to prioritizing tactical skills. I say, "Why not both?" Check out the interview with Kay to challenge your thoughts about how and why we should be educating.

So rather than trying to create scenes like this one:


We should be striving for this:



(Disclaimer - the prior image comparison does not an any way represent any hostility toward OLPC, which I feel is one of the most important efforts of the 21st century.)

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy

The Foundation Trilogy

by Isaac Asimov

My favorite science fiction author by far is the legendary Isaac Asimov. Asimov has remained a foundation for the science fiction genre because, unlike what you find on the Sci-Fi channel or on the shelf of your local Barnes & Noble, his books are equal parts of both science and fiction.    

The Foundation Trilogy is almost certainly his greatest triumph. The term trilogy is perhaps a bit deceptive, as each novel is comprised of two or more related novellas. The stories are anchored upon the fictional science of psychohistory. Asimov's fictional use of the term refers to the process of combining history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make precise predictions of the collective actions of human populations over extended periods of time. 

Hari Seldon, famed mathematician, has discovered through the use of psychohistory that the Galactic Empire, though outwardly strong and nigh impregnable, is on a collision course with events that will result in its total collapse, an event so catastrophic it will plunge the galaxy into a Dark Age lasting well over 30,000 years. With the doom of the Empire inevitable, Seldon fabricates an intricate plan. Using his full knowledge of psychohistory, he places a colony, a Foundation, of specially selected people groups on the planet Terminus, located on the brim of the galaxy.  He places them in such a way that after the collapse of the Empire, Terminus will aid in the reconstruction of the galaxy and reduce the Dark Age to a mere 1,000 years.

The rest of the novellas document how the Seldon plan unfolds. It is fascinating to see the ingenuity of Seldon's placement of the Foundation. It isn't long before Terminus is the dominant planet it its area, despite its small population and lack of a military. Terminus controls the surrounding planets' populations in a number of ways,  including literally inventing a religion and spreading it to them. 

I won't go through the whole plot here, but trust me, it's a great read. Things get really interesting in the second book, Foundation and Empire. A spontaneous mutation occurs in the fabric of history which was impossible for Seldon to predict. A telepathic warlord known as The Mule begins a military campaign that causes Terminus to completely deviate from the Seldon plan. Here we learn of the existence of a Second Foundation that watches over the first and attempts of keep the Seldon plan in check.

My bottom line is that The Foundation Trilogy is an awesome read. It is intricately scientific, realistic, and fascinating. If you're looking for a science fiction novel that contains actual science, or you just want to check out the roots of contemporary sci-fi, the books are a great choice. There's a reason they call Asimov the Father of Science Fiction.

 

(By the way, there are actually more Foundation books, outside of the original trilogy. The original trilogy is Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. Start there.) 

You are not invisible on the web

I'm convinced a way to truly get to know someone is to look at the history tab on their browser. I don't recommend actually doing this. It's creepy and I don't think your friends and family would appreciate it.

Think about how your web history reflects your personality.  The average person spends several hours each day online.  It's our primary method for gathering information.  When was the last time you didn't google something you wanted to know?  

Do you check the Drudge Report every five minutes?  Do you Facebook stalk romantic interests?  Are you googling communism and anarchy?  Are you addicted to pornography?  

You can tell a lot about a person based on how they browse in their spare time.  Search engines know us better than we know ourselves.  Think about all the information Google gathers when a person has web history enabled for their account.  That is why the first line in their Code of Conduct is, "Don't Be Evil."  Imagine what Google could do if they chose to be.

This isn't a conspiracy theory.  I just think people forget the internet is a public place.  It's an exchange of information that leaves you vulnerable for potential invasions of privacy.  Here is a podcast I produced that discusses the topic a little more.