9:57 p.m. - 2003-10-15
Clouds
I received a couple of new links in my newsletters today for journals/publications that I'll probably add to my daily reads. The first is causing quite a controversy in the scientific community. Most of their research publications are very expensive, whether on-line or on paper. It is deemed that is part of the way to recover the costs of the research itself. However, most credible research is paid for out of the public purse or through private foundations set up to promote a particular science. A new group of scientists have decided to make their research more accessible to the general public - for free. Their focus is biology and the web-address is: Biology. The first issue appears to be focussed on genetics. When I was an at-home mom, research publications were my favorite recreational reading. At that time journals like Scientific American, Discover, and a lot of the medical journals still had newsstand prices that made their very meaty publications readily accessible to those of us who were fascinated by their studies. They even encouraged reader input. I recall the puzzle section of Scientific American even finding their readers coming up with questions and solutions that the mathematicians hadn't been able to solve. If one watches the movies "Good Will Hunting" or "Finding Forrester", they illuminate the fact that not everyone who has exceptional skills finds their way into positions that allow the full use of their talents. I think that is much more common than is admitted in our society. Poverty, mis or under education, lack of access to the supports and facilities that foster research or a negative community environment can all be barriers to society reaping the best that its citizens have to offer. We cut ourself off from these truly gifted people because of our own unwillingness to include "lost" segments of our population in our lives. Try working with some of the people who are homeless or on welfare sometime, to get a sense of that. Think of JK Rowling as a most recent example.
The other link is to a great travel site full of a broad range of articles. I know, I'm still obsessing about that aren't I? The link is Travel. One way or another, I need to be doing this if only vicariously.
I received an interesting e-mail from one of my friends today. It contained a drawing that was actually two pictures. Psychologists used it to determine if someone could "see" something, when they had no knowledge of it's existence. In this case, the test subjects were young children and the picture could be seen as either nine dolphins or as a nude couple embracing. The children could not see the couple. I was ruminating on this concept a bit a few months ago with respect to literature and movies, when there was a lot of debate going on about the "meaning" of certain passages in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings stories and it is arising now as I read the "Return of the King" out loud in anticipation of the imminent release of the movie version. Perceptions. Remember the last movie was the recipient of commentators' projections of their beliefs about the imminent invasion of Iraq - they felt the movie was a vehicle made to support their views.
It was good to find an objective study that explained it better than I could. Even so it doesn't sound so profound a discovery does it? Yet think about all the problems we have with everyday communication. Sometimes people don't understand what you are talking about, because they don't have enough reference points in their own life to attach your information to.
For me, for example, someone discussing an actual cricket or baseball match might as well be speaking a foreign language. Try explaining your daily internet use to someone who has never sat in front of a computer. Between cultures there is so much tacit information that neither group knows the other is basing their discussion on that it is a wonder that anything is comprehended. .
The dearth of understanding can have serious consequences. In the last election, for example, a group of volunteers made some very serious legal errors in their paperwork. It has been under investigation. The problem is in a lot of volunteer activities, the volunteers don't have enough knowledge about the tasks they are undertaking to even know they are missing critical responsibilities or to protect themselves from being left with the liabilities. In Canadian courts that is not considered an excuse, and significant fines have been passed out to groups as diverse as the Scouts and a rural ambulance service.
Sometimes most of what we each see in the world is a projection of our prior experiences and beliefs, further distorted by the gaps in understanding we all have about a lot of things. The drawing is a good reminder why we should give each other the benefit of the doubt when we are trying to communicate. And why we should always try to ensure that each word or concept we use has an agreed upon meaning. Am I making myself clear, dear diary?
"We should be careful to get of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on the hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again - and that is well; but she will also never sit down on a cold one anymore."
Mark Twain
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