Re: [Phys-L] The Make-Believe World of Real-World Physics

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

But you can raise a family without proportional reasoning, two variable
reasoning, statistical reasoning, but you can't understand physics/science
without it.  According to Lawson, physics concepts are at the theoretical
level and he has data which shows this.

Just READ the research!!!!  A lot of jobs never require thinking beyond a
basic level, and only a small number require formal operational thinking.
Raising a family well, is a lot more involved, and many people in this
country have extreme difficulty due to lack of time to interact, and low
understandng of how to interact.  Early rearing has a lot to do with
instinctual reactions which kick in when mothers and babies bond.  Having
children is pure animal pleasure!

If child rearing were that simple, most children would be at high thinking
levels.  The evidence is that child rearing has a huge influence on the
thinking level.  This is why children of educated people tend to be higher
level thinkers.  So good child rearing is quite difficult, and even then
things go wrong which are beyond parental control.  As a teacher, parent,
and researcher who has read the literature on these things, I should know.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


> > I disagree that physics concepts are simple. They are not! 
>
> Not simple?  Compared to what?
>
> Your students are old enough to get a job and raise a family.
> Compared to living in the real world, classroom physics is trivial.