Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 17:42:12 -0500
From: "Robert G. Grimes" <grimes@fcol.com>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: More on information
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Ton Maas wrote:
> Snip
> There is a nice collateral to this, which is related to one of the key
> notions in my own book (olny in Dutch, alas) on natural learning: the
> concept of calibration as a means of correction in learning. Whenever a
> skill is taught & learned, the conversation between teacher and student has
> a way of becoming metaphorical in nature. A violin teacher will tell his
> student that he/she has to "give it a bit more air" or to "let the note
> slip upward". To an outside observer this communication often seems quite
> nonsensical, but to the participants in the learning process it actually
> refers to (or triggers) a shared experience. Whereas in "feedback" type
> learning (most schooling falls in this category) communication can be quite
> literal and precise (in fact, this type of learning depends on explicit
> lists of instructions which only need to be executed correctly to achieve
> the intended goal), "calibration" style learning involves skill or
> "know-how" rather than knowledge. It follows from this that everything
> about sewing that can be stored, only makes sense to individual
> practitioners as long as the living tradition survives. Of course this
> varies with the "level" (or compexity) of the skill, but I have been told
> (for example) that the art of navigating the big sailing freighters from
> the seventeenth century is forever lost and cannot be retrieved from
> written accounts and/or instructions or manuals from that time.
>
Ton,
You may have read previously my examples using the terminology of "verbal I.Q."
compared with "performance I.Q." It is a parallel with what you have said and, I
believe, is a result of teaching primarily through oral, abstracted input of very
high levels. As a result, the student may acquire an astounding amount of
"symbology" which the student regards as "information;" however, the
identification of the higher abstractions with the lower abstractions (primarily
the extensional world) has been neglected because that portion of teaching is
slower, more expensive and time consuming, i.e., think of "apprenticeship" here.
As a result, I had my own personal experience related to technicians under my
direction who were to repair broken electronic equipment. They had the same Naval
Electronic Education as I (in fact, they had more but I had previous experience
prior to the Navy - I was eighteen years old) yet they had been unable to prove
their proficiency, even though "rated" as proficient. Thus, we would go through a
routine, such as: Bob, "What is wrong with the equipment?" Tech, "I believe
there is an open cathode bypass capacitor in the audio amplifier." Bob, "Why do
you believe this?" Tech, "Because the output voltages are attenuated rather than
amplified and that is a symptom of an open cathode bypass capacitor." Bob,
"Where is the cathode bypass capacitor that is deficient?" Tech, "I don't know,
but I've been looking at the schematic to locate it. Here is where I was
looking." Bob, "Yes, you are in the right area, now show me in the chassis."
Tech, "I can't." Bob, "What does a bypass capacitor look like?" Tech, "I don't
know." Bob, "Anything else wrong?" Tech, "Yes, there is 'motorboating' heard in
the output." Bob, "What causes that? Tech, "It is low frequency oscillation,
probably from the power supply." Bob, "Show me the power supply on the
schematic." Tech, "Right here, and here are the leads to the amplifier, etc."
Bob, "Now show me in the chassis." Tech, "I can't as that is what I've been
trying to determine. I know it is near this large power transformer." Bob, "That
is an audio transformer, not a power transformer." Tech, "Oh, ....Here?" Bob,
"Yes, you got it that time. Have you checked the power supply regulation with a
scope?" Tech, "No." Bob, "Someone has worked on this previously, you can see the
long leads that were not in the original wiring." Etc., Etc. .... When
finished, I amazed the technician by not fixing the set but by reaching below in
the cabinet and *removing a spare module, unplugging the old, deficient one, and
plugging in the replacement*. Voila, they were on the air again....
The point in all of this was the technician "knew what he was talking about
verbally." He didn't know "what the words represented." Anyone hearing him away
from the problem would think he was right up on the repair techniques, etc. I had
dozens of these guys standing "meter watches," i.e., when the meter "went that
way," they called me. Yet, they were fully accredited because they had passed the
written test including the mathematics (he had his slide rule out when I
arrived). They had only a minimal amount of laboratory training.
Today, with the plethora of television, radio, printed media, newspapers,
magazines, etc., the problem is worse than ever and the sad part is that many of
the participants do not know what is happening. I've used the question, "Do you
know how to change a flat?" If you ask this among a large group and follow it up
you will find that almost everyone there can tell you "how to fix a flat" in
words. First, you get the "jack." "Where is the jack?" "Uh, Oh!" What kind of
jack is it, racheting, screw scissors or what and where do you put it to lift the
car. "Uh, Oh!" How many of you have ever had a flat tire in the last three
years?" "Uh, Oh!" Etc., Etc.....
Recently I heard an author on the radio who had written a book on Nikola Tesla
explain Tesla's "secret, revolutionary, inventions!" As he talked, I suddenly
realized that he had *never been in an electronic laboratory*, much less fooled
with electricity!" His book amounted to all sorts of revelations, including the
"discovery" that Tesla had invented "wireless power" for the home and it would
have been "too cheap to meter." If Tesla had been "allowed" to continue by
certain capitalists, we would all have free power in our homes and the world would
be an amazing fairy land of free stuff from free power. He then commenced to talk
about "the ether." Shades of MichelsonMorley, *the ether*, can you imagine.!
Well, I think that I've made my point. Unfortunately, we hear folks in all fields
talking about almost anything on television, etc., and they really sound
believable. It is all rather frightening. Now we have them on the
InterNet.......
You have a wonderful way of saying these things, Ton, and suddenly it all relates
to my own experiences...
Cordially,
Bob
-- Bob Grimeshttp://members.aol.com/bob5266/ http://www.hotwired.com/members/profile/bobinjax/ http://www.phonefree.com/Scripts/cgiParse.exe?sID=28788 Jacksonville, Florida Bob5266@aol.com grimes@fcol.com
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore....."
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Ton Maas wrote:
SnipThere is a nice collateral to this, which is related to one of the keyTon,
notions in my own book (olny in Dutch, alas) on natural learning: the
concept of calibration as a means of correction in learning. Whenever a
skill is taught & learned, the conversation between teacher and student has
a way of becoming metaphorical in nature. A violin teacher will tell his
student that he/she has to "give it a bit more air" or to "let the note
slip upward". To an outside observer this communication often seems quite
nonsensical, but to the participants in the learning process it actually
refers to (or triggers) a shared experience. Whereas in "feedback" type
learning (most schooling falls in this category) communication can be quite
literal and precise (in fact, this type of learning depends on explicit
lists of instructions which only need to be executed correctly to achieve
the intended goal), "calibration" style learning involves skill or
"know-how" rather than knowledge. It follows from this that everything
about sewing that can be stored, only makes sense to individual
practitioners as long as the living tradition survives. Of course this
varies with the "level" (or compexity) of the skill, but I have been told
(for example) that the art of navigating the big sailing freighters from
the seventeenth century is forever lost and cannot be retrieved from
written accounts and/or instructions or manuals from that time.
You may have read previously my examples using the terminology of "verbal I.Q." compared with "performance I.Q." It is a parallel with what you have said and, I believe, is a result of teaching primarily through oral, abstracted input of very high levels. As a result, the student may acquire an astounding amount of "symbology" which the student regards as "information;" however, the identification of the higher abstractions with the lower abstractions (primarily the extensional world) has been neglected because that portion of teaching is slower, more expensive and time consuming, i.e., think of "apprenticeship" here.
As a result, I had my own personal experience related to technicians under my direction who were to repair broken electronic equipment. They had the same Naval Electronic Education as I (in fact, they had more but I had previous experience prior to the Navy - I was eighteen years old) yet they had been unable to prove their proficiency, even though "rated" as proficient. Thus, we would go through a routine, such as: Bob, "What is wrong with the equipment?" Tech, "I believe there is an open cathode bypass capacitor in the audio amplifier." Bob, "Why do you believe this?" Tech, "Because the output voltages are attenuated rather than amplified and that is a symptom of an open cathode bypass capacitor." Bob, "Where is the cathode bypass capacitor that is deficient?" Tech, "I don't know, but I've been looking at the schematic to locate it. Here is where I was looking." Bob, "Yes, you are in the right area, now show me in the chassis." Tech, "I can't." Bob, "What does a bypass capacitor look like?" Tech, "I don't know." Bob, "Anything else wrong?" Tech, "Yes, there is 'motorboating' heard in the output." Bob, "What causes that? Tech, "It is low frequency oscillation, probably from the power supply." Bob, "Show me the power supply on the schematic." Tech, "Right here, and here are the leads to the amplifier, etc." Bob, "Now show me in the chassis." Tech, "I can't as that is what I've been trying to determine. I know it is near this large power transformer." Bob, "That is an audio transformer, not a power transformer." Tech, "Oh, ....Here?" Bob, "Yes, you got it that time. Have you checked the power supply regulation with a scope?" Tech, "No." Bob, "Someone has worked on this previously, you can see the long leads that were not in the original wiring." Etc., Etc. .... When finished, I amazed the technician by not fixing the set but by reaching below in the cabinet and *removing a spare module, unplugging the old, deficient one, and plugging in the replacement*. Voila, they were on the air again....
The point in all of this was the technician "knew what he was talking about verbally." He didn't know "what the words represented." Anyone hearing him away from the problem would think he was right up on the repair techniques, etc. I had dozens of these guys standing "meter watches," i.e., when the meter "went that way," they called me. Yet, they were fully accredited because they had passed the written test including the mathematics (he had his slide rule out when I arrived). They had only a minimal amount of laboratory training.
Today, with the plethora of television, radio, printed media, newspapers, magazines, etc., the problem is worse than ever and the sad part is that many of the participants do not know what is happening. I've used the question, "Do you know how to change a flat?" If you ask this among a large group and follow it up you will find that almost everyone there can tell you "how to fix a flat" in words. First, you get the "jack." "Where is the jack?" "Uh, Oh!" What kind of jack is it, racheting, screw scissors or what and where do you put it to lift the car. "Uh, Oh!" How many of you have ever had a flat tire in the last three years?" "Uh, Oh!" Etc., Etc.....
Recently I heard an author on the radio who had written a book on Nikola Tesla explain Tesla's "secret, revolutionary, inventions!" As he talked, I suddenly realized that he had *never been in an electronic laboratory*, much less fooled with electricity!" His book amounted to all sorts of revelations, including the "discovery" that Tesla had invented "wireless power" for the home and it would have been "too cheap to meter." If Tesla had been "allowed" to continue by certain capitalists, we would all have free power in our homes and the world would be an amazing fairy land of free stuff from free power. He then commenced to talk about "the ether." Shades of MichelsonMorley, *the ether*, can you imagine.!
Well, I think that I've made my point. Unfortunately, we hear folks in all fields talking about almost anything on television, etc., and they really sound believable. It is all rather frightening. Now we have them on the InterNet.......
You have a wonderful way of saying these things, Ton, and suddenly it all relates to my own experiences...
Cordially,
Bob
--
Bob Grimeshttp://members.aol.com/bob5266/
http://www.hotwired.com/members/profile/bobinjax/
http://www.phonefree.com/Scripts/cgiParse.exe?sID=28788
Jacksonville, Florida
Bob5266@aol.com grimes@fcol.comQuoth the Raven, "Nevermore....."
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