Hi folks,
Can you all help me brainstorm about the basic links which ALL humans share.
I am thinking behavioral : evaluating a new location, comparing ourselves to other people (is that a universal behavior?)
Please, if you have a few minutes, post your thoughts.
- Todd
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What an interesting question!
ReplyDeleteI've thought a lot about what makes us different from other animals (assuming, of course, that we are and not just so self-centered that we think we're something unique.) That's not exactly what you asked, but I think it relates. One of the things I've come up with is the ability to not only remember the past, but imagine what might happen in the future. I mean something beyond just anticipating danger in an exposed area for example, but the ability to actually come up with possible scenarios for different situations.
Todd:
ReplyDeleteI've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and find that my brain goes off on many tangents. As an art teacher, I focused on something I see daily in my classroom - people learning from each other. I often see students struggling with new skills or concepts; sometimes they resolve these struggles through experimentation, and other times through observing what others are doing. Occasionally they have others (students/teacher) assist them so that they can move on to the next level. There is 'something' that happens when they make a mental connection, and everything 'clicks'. I can't really express it in words, but I know it when I see it, and I can feel the small victories as though they're my own. I'll try to distill it - struggle, persistence, exploration, more persistence, more struggle, more exploration, eventual solution/growth...both individually, and socially. I'm fairly certain that this is universal, and often unacknowledged. Your question, and my response (which I realized as I was writing it) may prompt me to find ways to document this "struggle -through- 'Eureka!'"phenomenon, though I'm not sure how I might go about it. I think I may collaborate with my students! :)-June
Todd, your question got me thinking about my older work and the more scientific aspects of common denominators. I have some references you might find useful on today's blog post: http://kategilbertmiller.blogspot.com/2009/02/common-denominator.html
ReplyDeleteSocially, I think a common denominator might be our desire to be unique. Which is pretty comical b/c we all wind up being sort of the same!