By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Re: Never Discussed
Hmmm... the list of things that currently are never discussed because they don't fit the current orthodoxy is very long, and I doubt that Schank and Downes would be keen to see them *all* discussed (Does no really mean no? etc.). So how do we distinguish between those non-discussed things which should be discussed, and those non-discussed things which should remain undiscussed? To make matters worse, there simply isn't time to discuss all the currently-undiscussed things. *Of course* those things currently chosen for discussion are chosen because they fit well within some orthodoxy which picks out certain things as appropriate topics for discussing in schools. Isn't the Schank/Downes perspective here just wishing that their alternative viewpoint become orthodoxy? Maybe it should, but that transition would have to be argued for in detail, not merely asserted as if obviously true from some supposedly neutral moral higher ground. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Centralizing Decentralization
George Siemens introduces the newly launched Lotus Connections with the comment, "the majority of individuals will start using these tools once the strength of the tools (decentralization, modularization) is replaced with a model less pure in spirit, and more in line with how many people prefer to work (i.e. centralization for reduced cognitive load)." Yes, but then they'll stop using these tools, because they don't really work very well, and they'll blame people for making overstated claims about them. It's not a question of some sort of ideological "purity," it's about building something that works. When you centralize these things, you break them. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. No More New Speak, Back to Old Speak
Leigh Blackall offers some old terms that may be viewed less suspiciously than the new terms. Like saying "social constructivism" instead of "Web2.0 and Socially networked software." Nice. Except that, to me at least, the two things are very different. And except that, if somebody is only willing to listen for four seconds, then I'm not going to have much to say to them. But then again, since I don't view reality as socially defined, I don't feel as much pressure to 'sell' or 'convince' people of something. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Spin Tracker
Discussion of a deal by Technorati to include Technorati links in the press releases issued by P.R. Newswire. "It will apparently allow companies to very swiftly measure the impact of any release because any links to them in the blogosphere will be cataloged automatically." More to the point, it is essentially the treating of P.R. Newswire as though it were a blog. Which means an essential tripling of superfluous adjectives in the blogosphere. P.S. hard not to notice the United Business Media logo that accompanies the story - you can be sure that the press releases will be commented on by a flock of affiliated bloggers. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Title
"Half of all children are below average in intelligence." Strictly speaking, this is false. And like this misleading observation, the author's point will resonate: 'There is no reason to believe that raising intelligence significantly and permanently is a current policy option, no matter how much money we are willing to spend." The paean is, of course, for an elitist school system - money should not be spent helping children who simply cannot do better. The folly of this article (and the other two that follow: part two, part three, is the presupposition that intelligence is genetic. And that it is therefore the basis for discrimination. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. How to Do Research At the MIT AI Lab
From this guide, and as good a way as any to start today's newsletter: "At the same time, science is a conversation. An awful lot of good people have done their best and they're written about it. They've accomplished a great deal and they've completely screwed up. They've had deep insights and they've been unbelievably blind. They've been heros and cowards. And all of this at the same time. Your work will be manageable and comprehensible if it is framed as a conversation with these others. It has to speak to their problems and their questions, even if it's to explain what's wrong with them". More...