[iDC] partial vs. peripheral attention

[dave cormier]

I've only been partially/peripherally following the debate this morning 
on the list and thought that, instead of reaching for my tinfoil hat I 
would actually come in and contribute. I tried to make this post make 
sense... and have failed miserably. onward.

Brian Holmes wrote:
/"What I propose is to press for high-quality education at all class 
levels, in all areas of cities and also in the suburban and rural zones 
where so much of the USA's current neofascism and religious zealotry has 
come from. This education would definitely include musical education, 
access to musical instruments, access to different ways of using them also."

/What I find interesting about this kind of statement is how someone 
with a liberal arts education from a prestigious university thinks that 
the silver bullet of 'high-quality education at all class levels' is 
somehow going to destroy fascism. Your argument here seems to follow a 
fairly standard postmodern line
/
"From my perspective, cultures are shaped, not only by the free will of 
those who live in them, but also by the patterns of expresion and 
interaction which have been deliberately organized."
/
A line that I have a great deal of sympathy for. And yet. And yet you 
somehow believe that 'A Good Education' is going to save America from 
falling into the depths of religious fanaticism. Where is this 'good 
education' that you are speaking about? Those instruments you propose to 
give to students... what will be played on them? The education system we 
have was designed by imperialists to teach the masses a few basic 
lessons. read. write. obey a clock. follow discordant and alienating 
instructions. obey. It IS the controlling influence in our society, it 
affects 'young people' in a way that is far more profound than any media 
organization would even dream of putting on their Christmas Wish List.

Trying to get down with the young folk isn't about giving up the vision 
of the past... it's about trying to field a product that those students 
will have any connection with. We are fighting, sadly, against a legacy 
of that 19th century educational system that has convinced the people 
who went through it that that is what education MUST BE. Any changes 
need to be seen in the light of who actually makes the policy decisions 
in education.

If you've got the educational system that we can apply on a country wide 
scale... a system that allows us to force students to hypermediate, to 
think for themselves... To actually learn the patience that it takes to 
actually think through something.

 What I'm not convinced about, though, is that there is any connection 
between 'deep thought' and hypermediation. Media tricks aren't really 
all that savvy.

thanks for the interesting conversation...

dave.

>
>
> john sobol wrote:
> So if I’m cautiously optimistic about the possible
>
>> evolution of networked youth culture it is in fact specifically in 
>> the modest hope that if such bridges are built it may help slow the 
>> suicidal industrial tendencies of literate society by integrating 
>> ‘diffuse awareness’ in the economic value chain. It’s not something 
>> that I expect to happen quickly, if at all, but what exactly are you 
>> offering as an alternative?
>
>
> Just the modest proposal that one quit gushing the advertising talk 
> for long enough to consider the general disaster of commercialized 
> communication in the USA. We definitely agree that literate society is 
> beset by suicidal tendencies, but I don't think they can specifically 
> be blamed on literature, nor do I think that the solution is 
> integrating diffuse awareness in the value chain. Distraction has been 
> engineered for so long that it's pretty well integrated. What I 
> propose is to press for high-quality education at all class levels, in 
> all areas of cities and also in the suburban and rural zones where so 
> much of the USA's current neofascism and religious zealotry has come 
> from. This education would definitely include musical education, 
> access to musical instruments, access to different ways of using them 
> also. When it comes to an ability to survive with both pleasure and 
> dignity in this world, there is room for lots of people's approaches, 
> I was just objecting to this kind of line I see and hear all the time, 
> "you gotta do what the kids are doin." From my perspective, cultures 
> are shaped, not only by the free will of those who live in them, but 
> also by the patterns of expresion and interaction which have been 
> deliberately organized. Distracted consumption has been deliberately 
> organized, with a particular focus on young people. However, I really 
> doubt that is what you are offering the world, John. I'm just 
> suggesting maybe there's a better language - whether spoken or written 
> - to describe the way forward.
>
> best, Brian Holmes
>
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-- 
=========
dave cormier
educational coordinator http://worldbridges.net
cohost http://edtechtalk.com
tech coordinator University of Prince Edward Island

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