I was working with a student about various strategies for writing/researching a paper. She asked "would it hurt if I put this information in?" While it was a literal question, my response was a little more theoretical when I responded: "education never hurts. It is lack of education that hurts." This is not to say that only official education and its outcomes, such as papers and projects are the only solution to personal and societal challenges, but it does set out what constitutes authentic learning. If it is authentic/meaningful learning, then it should comfort us on some level. Not necessarily placate us, but it should be part of this meaningful struggle to understand/change/accept the world.
Getting back to the institutional nature of education, we might see learning as a more abstract process than a literal event, such as getting a degree. Learning might be seen as comprised of individual moments rather than a set process. It is those of us that can think abstractly and put strategies in place that address the unseen/abstract into the seen and concrete yet change that concreteness as the situation demands through new learning or re-framing what we know that sets us up as wise.
Of course, in a theoretical and artistic sense we can always argue that learning does hurt; information can be destructive. This may center on misinformation, misinterpretation, or the reality that what is good learning for one person might be harmful to another. This seems to be part of the message of a play in New York called "57 Bits of Emotional Knowledge," at least according to the review written by Ben Brantley. As Brantley writes " Tell me. I want to know. I need to know. I have to know. Oh, I’m sorry you told me. I wish I didn’t know that. ... The impulses behind those sentences have animated every human being who has walked this planet."
Brantley goes on to summarize: "The first vignette portrays a man and a woman, caught in mid conversation. She has a secret; he wants to hear it; she’s not sure that’s a good idea, but she finally whispers it to him. We’re not privy to what this secret is. But there’s no question that what the woman has said has effected a chemical change in their relationship. That’s what knowledge does."
And, as Brantley recounts one of the scenes, a woman says: "It doesn’t hurt to know. Information and also love.” “If you’re lucky,” adds the young man.
There is also the contextual nature of learning and information. We learn in situations not apart from them. Knowledge and learning is presented through events or series of events combine with prompts and reflection. A good organization can capture these learning events an pass them on. The way an organization or groups of people within an organization react to new information and the scenarios they create to improve and pass on learning are a good indication of systems put into place, sensitivity to new ideas or lack thereof.
This, anyway, is part of my takeaway from "Chasing the Rabbit" by Steven Spear, a look at high capacity organizations. Reflecting on institutions/organizations that I have worked with, are there trends in the way new ideas, my ideas and others, have been responded to or observed?
“The family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation” Don DeLillo, “White Noise.”
As "The Importance of Being Right" by Curis Brown points out, many people that established their "truths" before the Internet have had to change their approach. People use to be able to make claims about topics and not have to worry about being able to check up on the veracity of statements before the Internet. Now, claims made around the kitchen table, a bar, or in more academic settings can be more easily verified (or not). People that made claims that were either consciously or unconsciously incorrect now face the prospect of being called out after a quick search.
There is also the old saw about the person who is correct by being incorrect. So, for example, a person picks 56 for his lottery number because he feels that 7 x 7 is magical and he wins because 56 comes up; never mind that 7 x 7 is 49.
By the same token sometimes not finding information even if it is out there is liberating. There is the story of two Northwestern graduates that started their own food website, Spoon University, as reported in the Spring 2014 M-- Medill magazine. The story reported how the two started Spoon University after not finding anything that would help two students prepare their own healthy food when they moved off campus.
"The idea germinated the summer before Adler and Barth's junior year, when they were preparing to move off campus and had to figure out how to feed themselves outside of the dining halls while staying on a budget and making the most of the small kitchens. Barth, how was a picky eater growing up in Deerfield, IL had no cooking experience whatsoever and recalls. "There was nothing to turn to, to help us do that."
If you do a serach on Amazon you will find many books for people living on their own to prepare nutrious, economic, and quick meals. But, since the two women did not find any, they started their own vehicle for this information and succeeded. Sometimes it is better not to know everything.
This does not minimize the importance of being reliable when discussing issues within an academic context. There have been many studies that question the credibility of peer review/academic publishing, such as "The Corruption of Peer Review is Harming Scientific Credibility." The article points out how authors can often choose their own reviewers for their studies and studies with dubious and impossible to replicate findings have been the result.
There is also the issue of fabricated information, as with this article How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data?
With research/information management, there is always caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.
There is also the contextual nature of learning and information. We learn in situations not apart from them. Knowledge and learning is presented through events or series of events combine with prompts and reflection. A good organization can capture these learning events an pass them on. The way an organization or groups of people within an organization react to new information and the scenarios they create to improve and pass on learning are a good indication of systems put into place, sensitivity to new ideas or lack thereof.
This, anyway, is part of my takeaway from "Chasing the Rabbit" by Steven Spear, a look at high capacity organizations. Reflecting on institutions/organizations that I have worked with, are there trends in the way new ideas, my ideas and others, have been responded to or observed?
“The family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation” Don DeLillo, “White Noise.”
As "The Importance of Being Right" by Curis Brown points out, many people that established their "truths" before the Internet have had to change their approach. People use to be able to make claims about topics and not have to worry about being able to check up on the veracity of statements before the Internet. Now, claims made around the kitchen table, a bar, or in more academic settings can be more easily verified (or not). People that made claims that were either consciously or unconsciously incorrect now face the prospect of being called out after a quick search.
There is also the old saw about the person who is correct by being incorrect. So, for example, a person picks 56 for his lottery number because he feels that 7 x 7 is magical and he wins because 56 comes up; never mind that 7 x 7 is 49.
By the same token sometimes not finding information even if it is out there is liberating. There is the story of two Northwestern graduates that started their own food website, Spoon University, as reported in the Spring 2014 M-- Medill magazine. The story reported how the two started Spoon University after not finding anything that would help two students prepare their own healthy food when they moved off campus.
"The idea germinated the summer before Adler and Barth's junior year, when they were preparing to move off campus and had to figure out how to feed themselves outside of the dining halls while staying on a budget and making the most of the small kitchens. Barth, how was a picky eater growing up in Deerfield, IL had no cooking experience whatsoever and recalls. "There was nothing to turn to, to help us do that."
If you do a serach on Amazon you will find many books for people living on their own to prepare nutrious, economic, and quick meals. But, since the two women did not find any, they started their own vehicle for this information and succeeded. Sometimes it is better not to know everything.
This does not minimize the importance of being reliable when discussing issues within an academic context. There have been many studies that question the credibility of peer review/academic publishing, such as "The Corruption of Peer Review is Harming Scientific Credibility." The article points out how authors can often choose their own reviewers for their studies and studies with dubious and impossible to replicate findings have been the result.
There is also the issue of fabricated information, as with this article How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data?
With research/information management, there is always caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.
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