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Nora
- Female
- Tucson, AZ
- United States
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- Blog Posts (6)
- Discussions (13)
- Photos (12)
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- Videos (2)
Nora's Discussions
Science Education Under Attack
1 Reply
Started this discussion. Last reply by Nora Jun. 20, 2008.
Collaborative Project Proposal
15 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by l'm Jul. 11, 2008.
Nora's Videos
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My G-g-generation by the Zimmers
Added by Nora
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Nora's Page
Latest Activity
Is that a "Staircase Descending DuChamp"?
Lovely image. Exploding brain? Cities on a partially decomposed planet?
Comment Wall (13 comments)
- At 3:32pm on June 20, 2008,
Arno Joentgen said… - Nora, hi.
Sorry for answering late, but I need some time and quietness to formulate, especially in English.
I tried to leave a comment for you two hours ago, but it seems Opera does not work well with ning :(
Not much happened since we last met.
My girlfriend and I bought an apartment and now we enjoy living together (its the first time for both of us).
I still have the same job, albeit I now work in different projects. And I am still interested in GS.
For most of the time I continued reading the threads on the IGS message board. Many of the discussions were to fast for me to participate (remember: slooooow formulator).
I dont understand what is happening to the IGS. To me the activities of the IGS have almost come to a halt - at least from my point of view - and this seems to be a bad sign.
Therefore I was really happy when I read Steve's email about this new forum.
Greetings,
Arno
- At 2:56pm on June 20, 2008,
Arno Joentgen said…
- Hi Nora,
thanks for the discussion about "Science under attack",
As you know I do not live in the U.S.. Do you think is would help if I signed in too?
Greetings,
Arno
further your pro
- At 10:12am on June 18, 2008,
Nora said…
- I saw that post, David. I will most likely comment there, but it might be a while. Lots going on right now, and as you note, the curriculum requires some thoughtful evaluation before I can formulate a reaction. I'll try to focus on it soon, perhaps over the weekend.
- At 12:23am on June 18, 2008,
David Linwood said… - Hi Nora,
I have left a Forum question about Cognitive Education and Communication for K-12. Your comments would be most valuable.
Love, David
- At 1:51pm on June 4, 2008,
Nora said…
- Hi Bob. Perhaps you need to get a couple of sheep for your field. I hear they can mow almost as effectively as tractors!
I do remember your Bits and Pieces, although I didn't exactly know they were "yours" at that point, since all the names on IGS publications had no faces behind them for me at that time. If you don't mind copying the relevant Newsletters, I'd love to see them. In some of my early Glimpse posts, I did research a few of the original Glimpse stories to get "updates". Unfortunately, most of those stories happened long enough ago that I couldn't find much. Maybe with some of yours, I could. In any case, I'd love to have the copies, either for reprint or for ideas on new posts.
- At 10:25am on June 4, 2008,
Bob Potter said… - Nora, that's actually a garden gate, with a smiley face above yours truly. Potter's field contains no bodies that I know of, but is a headache to keep mowed now that we have lost our neighboring farmer's cows. (The last dairy farm in town, which a year ago went out of business, as all the extremely wealthy New Yorkers buy land and houses at obscene prices, and the farmers go to work as caretakers for the rich. Re Glimpse: I too was a fan of this Joyner effort, and was interested in the fact that it was the only GS literature that came in the mail that Ginny took any interest in. So, as you know, I tried to revive it, and for a few years had a "Bits 'n' Pieces" page on the back of the Newsletter. I had actually saved the old Glimpses, and got ISGS permission to reprint certain on the best items. Have you thought of looking through my efforts and doing some more recycling? If you have no access to the old Zelner-era Newsletters, I'd be glad to make copies and mail them to you. I do remember that the page got a lot of favorable comment. Funny, it died when Mordkowitz took over and his wife was doing the Newsletter; apparently she was one wife who did not read even the Newsletter's attract-interest page and didn't know the routines.
- At 10:31am on May 28, 2008,
Nora said…
- On the IGS forum, we have recently had some posts from a fellow named George Kruszewski, apparently an Australian currently in Poland. Today he gave a link to this site: www.puzzlebasedlearning.edu.au regarding a book and course titled Puzzle Based Learning. The book will be available in June through Amazon and I intend to buy a copy. It seems like exactly the kind of thing we might want to do. In fact, I think the Uncritical Inference would fall into this category--a puzzle, but about language use instead of math.
I have also seen research over the years on the various ways language can get us into trouble, like priming, where the apparently casual introduction of a term or numeric value can significantly affect a subject's later answers to questions on an unrelated topic. It seems to me we could find a wealth of examples to teach consciousness of abstracting with puzzles and stories that deliberately take advantage of people's automatic behavior.
It also occurs to me that we have a compatriot in Melbourne who might even already know about this stuff, since he teaches math himself--David Hewson. Perhaps someone should send him an invitation to join this community and see if he has any direct experience with the puzzle program or its inventors.
- At 7:08pm on May 27, 2008,
David Linwood said…
- Hi Nora,
I like your approach -- more non-verbal doing and less verbalizing. I feel the learning GS basics is better reinforced with non-verbal experimentation than overly verbal "philosophizing". Maybe we can collect some examples from our Ning personnel?
David
- At 9:15am on May 27, 2008,
David Linwood said…
Hi Nora,
Nils Barricelli and I met at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1959, where I was in the math department. I was assigned as a mathematician-programmer to write his cellular automata programs.
I also had an assistant (Lee Lawrence) to help me with parts of my computer program . As a trio we got to be friends and Nils showed us how to play Bocce -- the Italian game with a small target ball and several different-colored large balls that we threw.
Lee Lawrence was a basket-ball player and quickly converted his skills to Bocce -- dominating the game. Barricelli was delighted-but-angry about this competition. He had played this game all his life, and here comes a young American upstart!
I was content to beat Nils once in a while. We became close friends. I used his cellular automata games to teach programming in the Engineering School at Stony Brook. The students loved the automata games and learned programming just to compete in the "Automata Olympics" I started. The grand prize was 5 bucks out my own pocket. That was like $50 bucks today.
The Dean of the Engineering School was astonished when the computing center started to print thousands of pages of cellular automata "villages"-- but the learning rate in programming was so fast he accepted the paper costs.
An Historical Note.
- At 1:11pm on May 25, 2008,
Nora said…
- David, thanks for the story about Barricelli and cellular automata. It provides some interesting parallels between the evolution of complex life, and the development of complex computing models. I think we can learn a lot from studying complexity and complex adaptive systems (CAS). Ed Bailey has been talking with a professor by the name of Kenneth Stanley at Univ of Central Florida who specializes in CAS, and has drawn some very intriguing connections between the features of CAS and the features of what he calls cognitive accuracy. Stanley just published paper that shows that seeking novelty can increase the efficiency of a CAS. Ed compares this with the relative value of seeking novel solutions in human systems (like businesses) rather than sticking with "the way we've always done it."
Profile Information
- Where do you live?
- Tucson
- Are you a teacher or student?
- No - Other
- If you're not a teacher or student, what do you do for a living?
- Writer, editor, technical support, all around tour director, etc.
- What interests do you have that others might wish to contact you about?
- Writing, editing, birding, language, behavior, neuroscience, etc.
- If you could have a front row ticket to any sporting event, concert, theater, or event, what would you choose?
- A major eruption of Kilauea (assuming "front row" means "safe distance" ;-)
- What well-known living persons would you like to meet during Happy Hour?
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ann Druyan, Al Gore, Viggo Mortenson
Nora's Photos
Nora's Blog
Another nice quote from A Word A Day
I confess to getting many of my favorite quotes from A Word A Day, a wonderful daily ezine that does just what it says--sends a word a day, with definition, example and bonus quotes. I learned a few new words and word histories, but I would keep up the subscription for the quotes alone. The majority of the quotes seem to speak directly to my understanding of humanity, language and culture.
Here's today's:
No one means all he says, and yet very few say al… Continue
Here's today's:
No one means all he says, and yet very few say al… Continue
Posted on June 16, 2008 at 12:50pm —
What's Words Got to Do With It?
This morning I had a flurry of email exchanges with my friend and mentor, Ed Bailey, a psychiatrist, researcher and all-around clever guy. One of us happened to say the phrase above--I don't recall who said it first. A few minutes later, this appeared in my inbox. I think it's brilliant. What do you think?
"What's Words Got To Do With It"
You might understand
That the sound of your words
Makes my brain react
That it’s only the thrill
My brain meeting yours
Words seem to attract
It’s physical… Continue
"What's Words Got To Do With It"
You might understand
That the sound of your words
Makes my brain react
That it’s only the thrill
My brain meeting yours
Words seem to attract
It’s physical… Continue
Posted on June 7, 2008 at 10:16pm — 3 Comments
Two new quotes today
I came across both of these just today and find them both quite succinct and astute, although completely different in sense and purpose:
The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.
-Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness.… Continue
The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.
-Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness.… Continue
Posted on June 5, 2008 at 5:47pm —
Talkin' 'Bout MY Generation....
I learned a new word today, and saw a great video to drive the meaning home.
In reverse order, here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY
If you can still see through through the tears streaming down your face, here's the word:
Zimmer, as in "zimmer frame". I think it might be largely a British term--at least, that's what all the links seem to point to. Here's a link to a picture of same:… Continue
In reverse order, here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY
If you can still see through through the tears streaming down your face, here's the word:
Zimmer, as in "zimmer frame". I think it might be largely a British term--at least, that's what all the links seem to point to. Here's a link to a picture of same:… Continue
Posted on June 4, 2008 at 1:00pm —
Glimpse
Thought you all might find my non-Ning blog of interest: check out Glimpse.
http://glimpse.blogspot.com/
I started it in part as an attempt to recreate some of the whimsical sense of the original Glimpse, a periodical published by the International Society for General Semantics back in the 80s. Jeremy Klein has told me several stories about the work he and Russ Joiner did to get issues out: manual paste up, xerox-reducing illustrations from uncopyrigh… Continue
http://glimpse.blogspot.com/
I started it in part as an attempt to recreate some of the whimsical sense of the original Glimpse, a periodical published by the International Society for General Semantics back in the 80s. Jeremy Klein has told me several stories about the work he and Russ Joiner did to get issues out: manual paste up, xerox-reducing illustrations from uncopyrigh… Continue
Posted on May 22, 2008 at 9:38pm —
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