Re: #6: WOMEN'S WAYS OF KNOWING (final excerpt!)

["Dewey Dykstra, Jr." <dykstrad@bsumail.idbsu.edu>]

Tim Burgess writes:

> > On Sun, 4 Jan 1998, Dewey Dykstra, Jr. wrote:
> > beyond the attitudes and belief systems which determine and justify the
> > practice of science teaching as-it-is.
> > I suspect there's not a lot of others commenting on this thread or any
> > other because of the season and the AAPT meeting.  I hope they all enjoy
>
> I am very much enjoying this exchange. Thoughtful and reasoned on both
> sides. Exchanges like this help...

Shucks, we's just speakin' our minds ;^), but thanks for the compliment anyway.

> I would like to bring back the parallel's drawn between sports and
> science.  Consultants I have spoken & dealt with that have run surveys for
> the sake of large fund raising projects (at the high school level
> especially) have indicated that there is much greater likelihood of
> having donations to assist in athletic facilities (using surveys
> they have honed) than science facilities.  This is true for a private
> school with more than half of the parents having M.D.'s and Ph.D.'s!
>
> (1)
> Why does sports, which serves an VERY small fraction of elites (relative
> to physics, engineering & science) generate such tremendous loyalty?
> (2)
> How is it that (given the overwhelming grade inflation in the athletic
> courses and the huge number of couch potatoes) the U.S. has so many
> world class athletes?

Sticking to my theme... as you point out in question 1 and I suggested in a
previous note we fall far behind sports in that we in science do not leave
our rejects in the state of being enthusiastic consumers of our
'professional product' in a sense.  Maybe they (sports) are not as
successful as we are in _alienating_ and belittling (unintentional though
it may be) those who don't 'make the cut'.  While we are generally couch
potatoes as a result of our early experiences with sports/physical
education (obviously there are other societal factors, but...) few feel
like they cannot play the games on weekends with their friends.  In the
case of science/physics, I don't think we leave that 95%, or even that
other 4+% who do might become scientists but not physicists, feeling like
they could or would want to 'do some physics' with their friends on
weekends.

Obviously access to nutrition, healthcare, and leisure to pursue
development are important factors, then an elitist system which searches
through most of the population, finds and supports those apparently with
potential seems to me to be all we need to have world class athletes.

Lest I be accused of believing that education determines society, let me
suggest that there is a dialectical relationship between all aspects of
society, hence a dialectical relationship between education and the rest of
the aspects of society.  One does not determine the other, but changes in
one influence changes in the other.  As educators we are in a position to
influence change in education.  The end result in both education and
society will be the result of the dialectic between education and the rest
of the aspects of society.

> It is quite exciting for me to have access to the exchanges of
> superstars like Mark & Dewey!  (There are many others out there as well!)

Tim, given your participation just now, I consider you an _equal_!  ;^)
Thanks for joining in.  Incidentally, I had started working on this sports
metaphor last May for some talks I gave in Mexico in the Summer, so I was
already prepared with thoughts about it when Mark brought it up.

Dewey


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr.                   Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics                    Dept:  (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418        Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University                  dykstrad@bsumail.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive                   Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570                       novice piper

"Physical concepts are the free creations of the human mind and
are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external
world."--A. Einstein in The Evolution of Physics with L. Infeld,
1938.
"Every [person's] world picture is and always remains a construct
of [their] mind and cannot be proved to have any other existence."
--E. Schrodinger in Mind and Matter, 1958.
"Don't mistake your watermelon for the universe."  --K. Amdahl in
There Are No Electrons, 1991.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++