How do we Learn the Things we Value Most?

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How do we Learn the Things we Value Most?
I too have been reading some of Dave Pollard's recent work with interest (and it's long overdue for acompilation post) and I find myself not only nodding in agreement with Brian Alger's assessment but also wanting to say that this is the motivation that informs my own approach and style: "these models, ways of thinking, methods and processes are so completely devoid of any reference to authentic living that we delude ourselves in an ever increasing spiral of abstraction... we forget to talk about ourselves... where are the lives of real people in all of this intellectual scaffolding we hold on to?" The presumption always seems to be, if we somehow create a system, it will all be better. More...