yyz67
Fractal Fanatic
This is a spin-off from a discussion in the thread I wanted to mimic/recreate something I experienced. I love that @Rocketsurgeongeneral did an actual experiment and then asked some questions about what was observed (and if/how this could be mimicked in the Axe).
I'm not aware of how basic science is being taught these days (although I'm sure there are many great teachers), but I lament that in general few people have much 'general' knowledge about nature overall, some of which can be captured in a relatively small set of basic concepts (as a start). We live in a world (natural and man-made) that is always interacting with itself sometimes simply and sometimes complexly, even if it appears relatively static or always going in a particular direction (e.g. myth of perpetual progress and economic growth (for whom?)). This is woefully inadequate to understand how the world works and our impacts within it.
To my mind some simple concepts like: stasis/equilibrium, cycles/periodicity, linearity, geometric/exponential/logarithmic (growth/decay/saturation/relaxation), resonance/anti-resonance are all easily observed and demonstrable in nature and man-made things/systems. Bonus points for concepts of: iteration and recurrence, feedback (pos/neg), elastic (reversible, nondeforming) vs. inelastic (irreversible, deforming), instantaneity vs. delay/lag, regularity vs. chaos vs. randomness, memoryless/state-independent vs state-dependent processes, "evolution" of states, the general systems law of unintended consequences. This doesn't even cover the ability or willingness to do experiments and ask questions.
As a simple example, many people don't have understand why musical instruments make the sounds they do (some hints: resonance, pos feedback, elasticity, periodicity). Armed with simple concepts like this a kid might wonder: Does my butt have resonances - maybe it does cause I can hear it when I fart? Why can I do 'silent' farts or really loud ones that are super funny and then all my friends also try to make loud farts? Why can I hear a bee's wings but not a butterfly's wings? Why can't I hear what a dog hears? Why can't I hear a spider web vibration? How can I hear at all? If there's no sound in space are all those movies wrong? How can I make a stringed instrument? Why does my stringed instrument sound plinky/quiet rather than loud and smooth like a violin or piano? Why does hitting a random wooden object sound like a click, knock, or thump? Why are girl's voices higher? Do stars, planets, moons have cycles, vibrations or resonances? When I ask my mom something 100 times in a row why does she stop listening and then blow up? [Admittedly this might be a very white, modernized, western male perspective.]
Learning itself involves iteration and feedback (neg/pos), sometimes with resonances ("oh, that makes sense now and I see how this is related to that") and saturation ("teach, I can't take in any more information right now").
This also applies to the spread of information/misinformation. The process is the same for any information propagation, and we tend to believe or hear what we've already accepted or want to accept (resonance, pos feedback, amplification). Social media is so profitable and (unfortunately) divisive because it amplifies/reinforces views and attitudes that are self-synergistic ("echo chambers" with both signal and feedback cranked up) while also being antagonistic towards 'opposite' or threatening views. [I'm not taking any 'sides' but witnessing the general phenomenon from a scientific or systems view].
Anyway after this long tirade, inviting synergistic, alternative, and contrary views and thoughts...
I'm not aware of how basic science is being taught these days (although I'm sure there are many great teachers), but I lament that in general few people have much 'general' knowledge about nature overall, some of which can be captured in a relatively small set of basic concepts (as a start). We live in a world (natural and man-made) that is always interacting with itself sometimes simply and sometimes complexly, even if it appears relatively static or always going in a particular direction (e.g. myth of perpetual progress and economic growth (for whom?)). This is woefully inadequate to understand how the world works and our impacts within it.
To my mind some simple concepts like: stasis/equilibrium, cycles/periodicity, linearity, geometric/exponential/logarithmic (growth/decay/saturation/relaxation), resonance/anti-resonance are all easily observed and demonstrable in nature and man-made things/systems. Bonus points for concepts of: iteration and recurrence, feedback (pos/neg), elastic (reversible, nondeforming) vs. inelastic (irreversible, deforming), instantaneity vs. delay/lag, regularity vs. chaos vs. randomness, memoryless/state-independent vs state-dependent processes, "evolution" of states, the general systems law of unintended consequences. This doesn't even cover the ability or willingness to do experiments and ask questions.
As a simple example, many people don't have understand why musical instruments make the sounds they do (some hints: resonance, pos feedback, elasticity, periodicity). Armed with simple concepts like this a kid might wonder: Does my butt have resonances - maybe it does cause I can hear it when I fart? Why can I do 'silent' farts or really loud ones that are super funny and then all my friends also try to make loud farts? Why can I hear a bee's wings but not a butterfly's wings? Why can't I hear what a dog hears? Why can't I hear a spider web vibration? How can I hear at all? If there's no sound in space are all those movies wrong? How can I make a stringed instrument? Why does my stringed instrument sound plinky/quiet rather than loud and smooth like a violin or piano? Why does hitting a random wooden object sound like a click, knock, or thump? Why are girl's voices higher? Do stars, planets, moons have cycles, vibrations or resonances? When I ask my mom something 100 times in a row why does she stop listening and then blow up? [Admittedly this might be a very white, modernized, western male perspective.]
Learning itself involves iteration and feedback (neg/pos), sometimes with resonances ("oh, that makes sense now and I see how this is related to that") and saturation ("teach, I can't take in any more information right now").
This also applies to the spread of information/misinformation. The process is the same for any information propagation, and we tend to believe or hear what we've already accepted or want to accept (resonance, pos feedback, amplification). Social media is so profitable and (unfortunately) divisive because it amplifies/reinforces views and attitudes that are self-synergistic ("echo chambers" with both signal and feedback cranked up) while also being antagonistic towards 'opposite' or threatening views. [I'm not taking any 'sides' but witnessing the general phenomenon from a scientific or systems view].
Anyway after this long tirade, inviting synergistic, alternative, and contrary views and thoughts...