Feb 26 2011: I agree with the implication being made here in some comments that the labels of user, consumer, developer, even citizen are related to context (citizen in the political environment, consumer in the economic system, etc.). I think though, if I'm not mistaken, that Mel is pointing to, and concerned about, some kind of lopsided priority underlying his question that suggests that to the education system at least, there is no time for considerations of our role as citizens, but there is as consumers... I kind of agree with him on this score. Therefore my strict answers to his specific questions would be yes, and yes. That is yes, there is a difference between being a citizen and being a consumer, and yes, it does matter.
I also agree with what I believe to be Mel's concern. I believe that whatever roles we may play as users, consumers, clients, producers, etc. - and whatever role that the education system may play in fostering those roles through various disciplines - our role as citizens inhabits a more fundamental layer in our social interactions when we live in a civil society. Because of that, I believe that the educational system has a corresponding fundamental role in the development of citizens (in addition to other aspects of a student's personhood).
Feb 26 2011: Almost 30 years ago I was showing Trudy, a person in her 20s with severe cerebral palsy, how to use an adapted PC hooked up to the pre-web Internet. As someone in a wheelchair who experienced little physical control and understandable speech all of her life, Trudy's social experience had always been colored by the disability lens through which others perceived and responded to her. Although she was slow in using her adapted keyboard to communicate, she had developed quite a few 'macros' that would type out phrases and sentences based on shortcuts.
Using that system we could 'see' that someone a thousand miles away was checking their online mailbox and she 'fingered' them by typing out 'hello' to him. I've never forgotten the scream of joy that she let out when he responded, asking how she was. I watched in goose-bumped fascination as I watched her make a friend who, for the first time in her life, didn't know she was disabled.
That moment changed the course of my life as I marveled at the real human-empowering benefits of technology and have since worked, in my own small way, to bend the relationship that human's have towards their tools and technologies in this direction,... and away from having people serve it, as often tends to happen.
Thanks Maria for the question ... and the pleasant swing down memory lane. :-)
Feb 26 2011: 'Time Enough for Love' by Robert Heinlein is another book I would add to my previous suggestion (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).
Born in the early 20th century the protagonist, Lazarus Long, has just managed to live long enough to benefit from the invention of the rejuvenation machine which extends his life (or, as his various stories reveal, lives) to the point where we find him 2000 years later full of the tales, experiences and wisdom of a man who has seen it all. Through its telling Heinlein explores human nature, 'future history', culture, adventure, and other things. Included among his various novellas of experiences are two 'intermissions' filled with the 'Sayings from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long'. Some of my favorites:
Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it!
Delusions are often functional. A mother’s opinions about her children’s beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.
Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere
A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gamete’s. This may be the purpose of the universe.
People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy half a slug who must tighten his belt.
...and my personal favourite:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!
Feb 26 2011: Buckminster Fuller, Leonardo da Vinci, & Mahatma Gandhi
Buckminster Fuller and Leonardo da Vinci for their comprehensive perspectives, synergistic design approaches to complex problems, and balance between art & science before reductionism and the over-partitioning of life into extreme specialties reduced our collective ability to understand and communicate with each other about life and our world.
Mahatma Gandhi, especially during the current exciting but dangerous transformation taking place in the middle east and elsewhere. His combination of perspective, compassion, strategic vision, leadership, and wisdom would be invaluable in helping us to navigate these treacherous waters.
Feb 25 2011: Farrukh, I'm enjoying the responses to your question. Each answer gives me cause for reflection and enriches my own perspective on this important timeless question. Well done :-)
If I were to take your question literally, I'd probably respond objectively with what I observe: Once I factor out subjectivity and inconsistencies among answers, what's left for me is a single empirical fact that separates life from non-life: To grow... In every sense of that word.
However I assume that you're open to a broader, more subjective, interpretation of your question which leads me to speculate that perhaps the purpose of life might ultimately be to use our best capabilities to define for ourselves our own answer to that very question, and then to try our best to live with our answer recognizing, of course, that as we continue this journey, that our own answer will continue to evolve.
I love James Taylor's answer: 'The Secret to Life is Enjoying the Passage of Time', and for the longest time my own response to this question was to 'Live, Love, Laugh, and Learn' (a phrase which I had engraved and still carry around).
For awhile, Robert Heinlein's fictional character Lazarus Long inspired me with his quote that 'a human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet...Specialization is for insects'. This led me to the conclusion that the Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance Man approach to ultimate adaptability best reflected the purpose of our/my journey through life.
My current life compass, and personal one sentence contribution to your query?
The purpose of (my) life in one sentence is to 'Live life to the fullest, and to help others to do the same'
Feb 16 2011: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig helped to place for me Quality and Caring (2 sides of the same coin) at the core of my life. Over the years since first reading that book when it was initially published I have occasionally noticed how what seems to be the default way I look at and interpret things turns out, on reflection, to have been rooted in my reading of, and responses to, that modern masterpiece.
Feb 16 2011: I have learned that if I want a glimpse of the future now, a good strategy is to look at the cutting edge of where persons with disabilities are today. Because of my work in the disability field I was fortunate to be working with voice recognition, speech synthesis, human empowering robotic arms and home automation technologies as far back as the 80s. The first application of a transistor was a better hearing aid. Alexander Bell's work with the Deaf led to the development of the telephone. Dean Kamen's Segway drew directly from his work in developing his iBot, a wheelchair that could climb stairs (among other things).The list goes on and on and the march of history includes the little know history of innovation based on human empowerment.
This initially surprising observation actually makes sense. We have always innovated tools and technologies that empowered us as individuals. As we age and/or become disabled we reach out to develop not just tools and technologies but also environments, both physical and social, that continue to empower us. From smart human-like prosthetics to brain/computer interfaces the cutting edge of the disability field, like that of the military and space exploration, continues to generate spin-off innovations of broader appeal than initially aimed for.
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A comment on Conversation: Is there a difference between being a citizen and being a consumer? Does it matter?
I also agree with what I believe to be Mel's concern. I believe that whatever roles we may play as users, consumers, clients, producers, etc. - and whatever role that the education system may play in fostering those roles through various disciplines - our role as citizens inhabits a more fundamental layer in our social interactions when we live in a civil society. Because of that, I believe that the educational system has a corresponding fundamental role in the development of citizens (in addition to other aspects of a student's personhood).
A comment on Conversation: What was the most amazing social experience you had and why?
Using that system we could 'see' that someone a thousand miles away was checking their online mailbox and she 'fingered' them by typing out 'hello' to him. I've never forgotten the scream of joy that she let out when he responded, asking how she was. I watched in goose-bumped fascination as I watched her make a friend who, for the first time in her life, didn't know she was disabled.
That moment changed the course of my life as I marveled at the real human-empowering benefits of technology and have since worked, in my own small way, to bend the relationship that human's have towards their tools and technologies in this direction,... and away from having people serve it, as often tends to happen.
Thanks Maria for the question ... and the pleasant swing down memory lane. :-)
b.
A comment on Conversation: What's the overlooked gem, the book I haven't read that I must?
Born in the early 20th century the protagonist, Lazarus Long, has just managed to live long enough to benefit from the invention of the rejuvenation machine which extends his life (or, as his various stories reveal, lives) to the point where we find him 2000 years later full of the tales, experiences and wisdom of a man who has seen it all. Through its telling Heinlein explores human nature, 'future history', culture, adventure, and other things. Included among his various novellas of experiences are two 'intermissions' filled with the 'Sayings from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long'. Some of my favorites:
Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it!
Delusions are often functional. A mother’s opinions about her children’s beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.
Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere
A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gamete’s. This may be the purpose of the universe.
People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy half a slug who must tighten his belt.
...and my personal favourite:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!
A comment on Conversation: Which three people given the chance would you bring from the past to impact our earth?
Buckminster Fuller and Leonardo da Vinci for their comprehensive perspectives, synergistic design approaches to complex problems, and balance between art & science before reductionism and the over-partitioning of life into extreme specialties reduced our collective ability to understand and communicate with each other about life and our world.
Mahatma Gandhi, especially during the current exciting but dangerous transformation taking place in the middle east and elsewhere. His combination of perspective, compassion, strategic vision, leadership, and wisdom would be invaluable in helping us to navigate these treacherous waters.
A reply on Conversation: How would you describe the purpose of life in one sentence?
A reply on Conversation: How would you describe the purpose of life in one sentence?
A reply on Conversation: How would you describe the purpose of life in one sentence?
Thanks!
b.
A comment on Conversation: How would you describe the purpose of life in one sentence?
If I were to take your question literally, I'd probably respond objectively with what I observe: Once I factor out subjectivity and inconsistencies among answers, what's left for me is a single empirical fact that separates life from non-life: To grow... In every sense of that word.
However I assume that you're open to a broader, more subjective, interpretation of your question which leads me to speculate that perhaps the purpose of life might ultimately be to use our best capabilities to define for ourselves our own answer to that very question, and then to try our best to live with our answer recognizing, of course, that as we continue this journey, that our own answer will continue to evolve.
I love James Taylor's answer: 'The Secret to Life is Enjoying the Passage of Time', and for the longest time my own response to this question was to 'Live, Love, Laugh, and Learn' (a phrase which I had engraved and still carry around).
For awhile, Robert Heinlein's fictional character Lazarus Long inspired me with his quote that 'a human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet...Specialization is for insects'. This led me to the conclusion that the Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance Man approach to ultimate adaptability best reflected the purpose of our/my journey through life.
My current life compass, and personal one sentence contribution to your query?
The purpose of (my) life in one sentence is to 'Live life to the fullest, and to help others to do the same'
Cheers
b.
A comment on Conversation: What's the overlooked gem, the book I haven't read that I must?
A comment on Conversation: William Gibson said "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet." What futures have you seen that are here, but unrecognized?
This initially surprising observation actually makes sense. We have always innovated tools and technologies that empowered us as individuals. As we age and/or become disabled we reach out to develop not just tools and technologies but also environments, both physical and social, that continue to empower us. From smart human-like prosthetics to brain/computer interfaces the cutting edge of the disability field, like that of the military and space exploration, continues to generate spin-off innovations of broader appeal than initially aimed for.