"Nature" (what does that even mean?)

I think that the humanities are vital to our understanding of “nature” since it is a complex concept that stretches across many disciplines of study.  If we were to merely look at this concept and phenomenon through things likes chemistry and ecology, then we would be failing to understand a significant portion of “nature”.  The word “nature” itself has two basic definitions, one is the physical world and the forces within in, but another is the traits and characteristics that define something.

This is a video about the video game, Skyrim, and in that game are these humanoid-tree creatures

 these things, that attack you if you go out into the wilderness and run into them.  

Now, this clip is relevant to this essay, because in it the player and the humanoid-tree have a conversation/confrontation that illustrates the different definitions of "nature".  Skip to 1:27 and watch until 2:00. Also, there is swearing, so if that's offensive, then....

 

            In his essay The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, Lynn White touches on this dichotomy in the first paragraph—he mentions Aldous Huxley’s discussion of “a favorite topic: Man’s unnatural treatment of nature and its sad results.”  Huxley appears to have a different idea of how humanity should be interacting with nature than others.  In this sentence, White uses the two different meanings of the word “nature” in conjunction with each other.  He goes on to his main point, which is that the mainstream Christian view of  a natural relationship with nature is actually quite harmful to the environment.  It is this second definition, “natural” that is the realm of the humanities.  What one believes to be “natural” is quite subjective, as White’s mention of Huxley’s view demonstrates. 

            An example of this confusion and ambiguity of interpretation can be found in the argument surrounding gay rights.  Someone may say that homosexual behavior is “unnatural” and therefore should be discouraged.  This implies that heterosexual behavior is “natural” and therefore intrinsically better than other sexual behaviors. But the same idea of what is “natural” can also be used to the opposite effect—someone may say that since all individuals are born with their sexual preference already in existence it is therefore “natural” for homosexuality to exist.  They may also point to examples of other animals besides humans who exhibit homosexual behavior, and say that homosexuality is not just an abnormal behavior created by the human race, it is common to all animals, therefore it is “natural” and should not be discouraged.  Both of these statements present slightly different definitions of what qualifies as “natural” with vastly different outcomes.

            This definition of “nature” has a strong philosophical quality to it, and is most often first found in religions, therefore it requires knowledge outside of the disciplines of science to understand it completely.  And we must understand it completely.  Throughout history, failures to understand have often resulted in catastrophes.  For example, if the Medieval Europeans had better understood their fear of witchcraft, prejudices against practitioners of Paganism or other non-Christian religions, and the motivations behind the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, then there would have been less mass hysteria and less people tortured and murdered for non-existent crimes. 

            So, a failure to understand the human perspective on something, “nature” in this case, is a failure to understand its true depth and significance.

I tried to link out to a website showing the failings of the Malleus Maleficarum, but there wasn't one source that had everything I wanted it to say without a bunch of expository stuff.  So do your own research because I have to go rake leaves.

Facebook Literacy

1) People post links instead of just explaining them.  You have to be able to read.  News stories are all about the same subject, like an epistolary story.  People have arguments prompted by the posts.  If you visit a page, chances are that you are interested in the subject.  It’s like a social performance of everyone agreeing and rallying around their beliefs.  They make new terms that are contextual, ex: “traditional” + “marriage” in the dictionary does not mean the same thing as “traditional marriage” as discussed on an LGBTQ page.

2) Profile pictures are giving brief descriptions of themselves – how they want to be seen, communicated quickly.

3) Online practices are generally more exaggerated of offline practices.  ex: people are waaaay meaner on the internet than they would be in person.  Trolls (no evidence). 

4) Publically shown private discussion on walls.  If it’s really private and you don’t want anyone to see you go to chat.  It’s awkward if an older relative comments on a conversation.  When it’s a birthday, everyone says “Happy Birthday” even if they don’t know them – it’d be rude for the birthday person not to “like” all the posts or to send out a generic “thank you”. 

5) Using ‘like” to end an awkward conversation that is going on too long.  If it was in person you’d say “oh, it’s 2 o’clock I have to get going!” but you wouldn’t type that out on Facebook.

Ethnography questions on Chicago Mexicans

1.      How is the ability to read and write distributed in a community?

Lower class is less literate, upper class/wealthy have increased literacy.  Education is expensive.  Older Mexicans have less schooling than their children.  Birth order matters as well – younger kids get to go to school at the expense of the elders.

2.      What is the relationship between the abilities to read and write?

Sometimes you can learn to write before learning to read – learning the symbols…but not the meaning (??)  Limited, contextual knowledge.  We assume that reading comes before writing – that’s how it is in our school systems. 

3.      How do these abilities vary with factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic class, and the like?

SEE ANSWER ONE

Girls tended to help out at home, boys go make money.  EX nine year old with dead mother and father in US went to work

4.      With what kinds of activities are reading and writing associated, and in what types of settings do these activities take place?

Church, writing letters to family members who aren’t in US.  That’s the biggest motivator for learning writing/reading.  Maybe a bit for work?

5.      What kinds of information are considered appropriate for transmission through written channels, and how, if at all, does this information differ from that which is passed through alternative channels such as speech?

Literacy is learned through speaking (somehow).  Learning is a speech thing.  The letters are described.  Our brains hurt.  Written things are personal communiques – not particularly complicated.  Maybe that’s how they can learn to do it?

6.      Who sends written messages to whom, when, and for what reasons?

Letters.  SEE OTHER ANSWERS

7.      Is the ability to read and write a prerequisite for achieving certain social statuses, and, if so, how are these statuses elevated by other members of the community?

People who can write are used to write letters for others.  Social responsibility/status.  They are sought out for their services. 

8.      How do individuals acquire written codes and the ability to decode them--from whom, at what age, and under what circumstances, and for what reasons?

At all ages.  If you don’t have formal schooling, you’re going to need lots of motivation in order to learn to read and write.  It’s harder to accomplish as you get older.  EX Cigarette box man.

9.      What are the accepted methods of instruction and of learning both in and out of school?

In school – reading is first, then writing.  Outside of school others can teach you.  You’re going to have to get creative if you can’t find resources.

10.  What kind of cognitive functions are involved?

Symbolic thinking (understanding what a symbol is EX “A”).  Problem solving. 

11.  In summary, what positions do reading and writing hold in the entire communicative economy and what is the range of their social and cultural meanings?

Those who are literate get more attention from the community, their skills are in demand.  Those who can read & write English are more integrated into the US society.  Literacy bolsters the economy.  EX Avocado town.  Literacy expands your social “market” – you can reach new audiences and communicate better.  Also, higher paying jobs require literacy which elevates socioeconomic status. Literacy equals more opportunities in the US.

            live the whole year in Mex

            Chicagoans sending $ to Mex

            ½ & 1/2 

Response to Chapter 14: Tenets of Sociocultural theory in Writing Intstruction Research

Chapter 14

is one nasty reading.  Very dense.

Scaffold (tool for understanding) given to us by Professor Silva (thanks!)

Sociocultural Theory Writing Prompt

What is sociocognitive apprenticeship?What is an apprenticeship?What does cognitive mean?What would be a cognitive apprenticeship?What would be a social apprenticeship?What would be a sociocognitive apprenticeship?

Interpret this quote: “Rather than viewing knowledge as existing inside the heads of individual participants or in the external world, sociocultural theory views meaning as being negotiated at the intersection of individuals, culture, and activity” (p. 208).

“Tools include a variety of mental, linguistic, and physical devices used to enhance writers’ performance, including notational systems, writing symbols, instruments, diagrams, graphic organizers, text structures, mnemonics, writing implements, procedures, rules of thumb, grammar and spell checkers, and any tool used in the transformation and construction process....These tools support cognitive performance by helping writers to organize mental reasoning by offloading aspects of thought or functions onto the tool, and by making elements of the activity more visible, accessible, and attainable….” (p. 211). In what ways does this writing formula, which is learned in high school, support cognitive performance: All paragraphs should follow this structure--Main Idea, Evidence, Analysis, Link (MEAL).  In other words, in what ways does it organize thinking, offload aspects of thinking, and make writing and thinking more visible?
“Compatible with Vygotsky’s thinking, procedural facilitators offer semiotic tools that enable teachers to make visible the character of the particular text forms, the strategies and procedures that underlie the text’s construction and revision, and the discourse structures and language practices that permit writers to realize their writing goals” (p. 213) 

What is a community of practice? What are its characteristics?

Sociocognitive apprenticeship - working alongside an expert, expert leads by example, like a teacher reading a book to her class or a teenager learning to drive by watching parents
Cognitive/semiotic tools - asking questions, defining words, making connections with prior knowledge, examples

What would happen if the whole world became literate?

I'm not sure if it would be too terribly different from the world we're in now.  Literacy rates across the globe are the highest they've ever been, so I would just expect more of the same.
We'd probably be getting an influx of thought from old native cultures who have formerly not joined the global community, because of language and social barriers.