Saturday, December 30, 2006

how much variance does evolution theory explain?

University of Chicago: Wu suggested: "The slowdown in genetic evolution in the more advanced organs makes sense," he said, "only when one takes a systems perspective."
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/061226.wu-keralanext.html
I'm surprised at the use of this finding as an argument for evolution theory.
Is evolution theory 'the big theory of everything' it claims to be or does it play a more modest role?

Or is Wu right and can evolution slow down when an organism reaches a high level of organisation?

if verbalist

If verbalist: you might want to stick around. Verbalists make good friends for thinkers. They would not write Shakespeare without an e. Verbalists know which words are the right words. I bought a book that helps find the right word when you have an idea in mind, but not the name of the idea. A thinker might consider a friendship with a verbalist.
But verbalists are at risk to confuse words with ideas.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Shakespear and grammar

Biological psychology and cognitive psychology are separated by several levels of explanation. This means that there are many steps between what happens when there is a change in chemicals in the brain and when a person thinks. This does not mean that there is no direct effect from the one on the other. This blog on britannica suggests there is an effect from reading Shakespeare on the brainwave patterns. The same effect that happens when reading a change in grammar.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Aggression

In England there are successful experiments involving the playground. The playground is divided into zones (zoneparc). Aggression involves many aspects, such as unemployment, relationships, communication between parents and boys, television as a role model, community...We should list these, list good practices and let scientists evaluate the measures. I also think assessment of how each child learns may have a profound positive preventive effect. We really need to continue to reform schools into more adaptive places, where children learn basics, e.g. time-management ("be quiet for ten minutes") and sublimation of emotions ("I'm angry, I'm going to make a drawing about it").

I'm curious

The site I post here is a dutch site with a fun to do calculating game. I'm curious if you can play it when you are not dutch. Officially, it is a game with numbers.http://www.braintrainer.nl/braintrainer.swf
So it should be possible. It pretends to improve arithmetic skills.

amazing playground, boys and mums

Want to be lost and found? Or do you want to playfully teach children to solve problems without them realising? Get amazed. The idea that playgrounds could use more structure to steer the behaviour of children and their interaction is one that I welcome, having seen the results of a test in the Netherlands on aggressive behaviour some years ago. The idea that aggression is best prevented by practicing restraint got support in this experiment instead of the idea of diminishing it through unleashing it. Another good idea would be to promote reading on raising boys. It would be a good idea to make very easy to read books on how to raise young boys for parents. Maybe a video to show at schools with tips for parents. http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisingboys/emotion.html
is a site where you can read more about raising emotionally strong boys. I like that this site even has a section "talking about war and violence". Typically it is a subject that worries boys and that mothers (hum hum) tend to avoid.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

I erred (2)

I erred once again. I said there was light in the houses of writers, but I meant in their heads (brains) if that is the house of the mind. Does it matter whether we call mind 'soul' or 'intelligence' or 'spirit' or 'consciousness'? Does it matter more when we are verbalist?

*new* item at Chez Odile is the metachat where Creatives and Thinkers meet.

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