The following is a response by a thoughtful friend of mine who has read
Disciplined Minds and is also concerned about the firing of Jeff Schmidt.
Minor adjustments from me. I thought some on the list might enjoy it.
Dewey
A Fishy Story
by Roberto Bahruth, Ph.D.
Once upon a time, in the land of difficult to believe, there lived
a society
of fish, one group of which thought they were the smartest fish around.
They reasoned that this must be so because, after all, they were the leaders
of their society, occupying positions of power and influence, many with
certificates from schools which had recognized and rewarded them for
learning to swim in large schools and to move in unison, as if directed by
some invisible conductor. Most of their children were successful swimmers
as well, although, like their parents, they could only swim among
themselves, near the surface and were unable to swim down to the deeper
waters. In the meantime, the most powerful fish were drinking filtered
water as they polluted the environment of all. This, of course, was too
deep for most to see.
Fish of other types were not as successful and many had not learned
to swim
at all, although some of them had figured out other ways of going into the
water, sometimes even holding their breath and visiting the deeper reaches
of the lake by diving down on their own. They explored areas the supposedly
smarter fish weren't even aware of, and they found that there were many
other types of fish deep beneath the surface. They marveled at the rich
variety they found in contrast to the monotony of the surface swimmers who
were all basically the same.
It seems that all of the fish were required to go to a special
school where
they would learn how to swim when they were very young. The irony in all of
this is that they were all fish in the first place. The problem began when
the smart fish, who were the decision makers, decided that their way of
swimming was the only acceptable way for all to swim. Furthermore, since
all fish are not built the same, it wasn't long before it became evident to
those who could swim deeper, that the shallow success of the smart fish was
the result of a style of swimming which best suited only their anatomies.
The smart fish soon noticed the difficulties that other fish were having so
they began to design a program which would break swimming down into smaller,
more manageable skills which could then be spoon fed to the "not so smart"
fish. They set benchmarks and designed tests which really had nothing to
do with swimming at all. After all, how could flapping a fin in a certain
way, over and over, while never involving the rest of the body, be
considered swimming?
Since the skills were incremental, it was too dangerous to allow
the problem
swimmers to get near the water right away. Of course they looked very
awkward out of the water, not to mention the difficulty with their
breathing. Since many died before they even got a chance to get wet, it was
suggested that the schooling should start earlier before they became
habituated into the unsuitable habits of their otherness. None of the
intelligent fish seemed to question the singular style of shallow swimming
which the schools insisted upon. After all, it worked for them, so it must
be effective. In addition, shallow swimming didn't allow them to see
through their faulty logic. It didn't prepare them for divergent swimming,
or to use past failures as evidence to predict future problems.
Many of the swimming teachers agreed with this logic since they were
certified surface swimmers from some of the best swimming universities,
usually with very respectable G.P.A.s which they had earned by virtue of
their dispositions to swim near the surface, to move in unison, and to never
question the logic of the program. After all, on a few occasions they had
witnessed what happens to the rare individuals who questioned those in
positions of authority, or who chose to swim away from the group or to
explore the depths. The teachers also knew they would be held accountable
by the authorities to ensure that all fish would learn how to swim by the
third grade. Rather than having the authorities held responsible for the
decisions they made about benchmarks, fragmenting skills, testing, and
staying out of the water, the obedient teachers would eventually be accused
of not doing a good job. They seemed unaware of the trap they were swimming
into. Many enjoyed the simplicity of accelerated swimming programs which
encouraged and rewarded shallow swimming.
Deep swimmers who had a sense of history were well aware of past
failures
predicated upon the same faulty logic which continued to drive the system.
They didn't need tests to know that a few years from now the same groups
would be surface swimming well, while others would remain, flapping
awkwardly, or drowning. They could predict all of this by zip codes! Both
the surface swimmers and the failures would share one thing in common
though: a shallow understanding of reality and an inability to swim against
the current.
Those few teachers who had evolved professionally to expand their
swimming
repertoires to a wide variety of swimming, both surface and deep, and who
respected the natural talents and differing anatomies of their students were
able to experience the deep joy of swimming with and among their students,
no matter who they were or where they came from. They understood one basic
truth: all fish can swim unless interfered with in ways informed by
misunderstandings of swimming and an indifference to the nature of different
fish.
But for most the schooling remained unquestioned. Those who could
barely
flap around awkwardly and even worse, many who eventually drowned were
identified, through scientific instruments, as inferior fish, undeserving of
the rewards of full participation in society. The smart fish justified
their privilege through their success at shallow navigation and synchronized
swimming, but some who eventually quit going to swimming school at all knew
something fishy was going on. Sadly most just thought that they were not
capable of "really" swimming well.
Robert E. Bahruth, Ph.D.
Boise State University
Elementary Education and Specialized Studies
1910 University Drive
E 413
Boise, ID 83725
208 426-3680
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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)426-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)426-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418 Fax: (208)426-4330
Boise State University dykstrad@email.boisestate.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper: GHB, Uilleann
"As a result of modern research in physics, the ambition and hope,
still cherished by most authorities of the last century, that physical
science could offer a photographic picture and true image of reality
had to be abandoned." --M. Jammer in Concepts of Force, 1957.
"If what we regard as real depends on our theory, how can we make
reality the basis of our philosophy? ...But we cannot distinguish
what is real about the universe without a theory...it makes no sense
to ask if it corresponds to reality, because we do not know what
reality is independent of a theory."--S. Hawking in Black Holes
and Baby Universes, 1993.
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