learning

Words to the Blind

Being firmly entrenched in
the age of denial,
even if we could see,
it is not in our best interest.
If i was to paint a forest in summer leaf
with a snow covered forest floor,
would it not would be unsettling-
to anyone who
took the time to look?

May 9th- 2010
There were no song birds
singing this morning
when dawn broke
below zero
with snow.
If a volcano
was to spew
white ash
it might look like this.


For the most part,
our day-to-day existence requires that
we make assumptions about the world around us
and reject what is "wrong."
However, there's a nasty human trait that adds the ego
to reinforce willful blindness when
it comes to what we believe.

Galileo and Darwin and
"Constable's snow"
come to mind.

When I say , "I like to be wrong",
why is the statement taken with such suspicion and disbelief ?
because it's not "normal"?
because it's not normal to want to learn?
without readily abandoning
an opinion or a belief
how can we learn?

Thanks to several generations of education that
has been focused on
encouraging the student rather than
an accountability to learning,
we have an "entitlement" generation who are
unable to differentiate
their knowledge from their feelings.
To critique their work is to walk on egg shells.
Hurt feelings may be met with irate parents
and even their lawyers
( i wish i was making this up)

They want to be famous- to be "celebrated" without
troubling themselves with
learning or working to achieve
anything of note.

A university student complained "why do I have to be judged?"

If everyone in class is given an "A" just for signing up,
will best students be ok with that?
Studies have proven otherwise.
Of course she meant is that she didn't want to be "criticized" or "corrected".
Of course she did want to be judged-
but only to be celebrated.
Why the disconnect?

Remember "war is peace"? Orwell 1984?
"Big Brother" has so successfully taken control that
the young and trendy are convinced that it's their idea.
"Dumbing down" is helpful if you want to control a population.
Democracy depends on the ability to express oneself -not just permission.
Unfortunately the dumbing down has been too successful .
The "experts" who the shortsighted politicians rely on
have no idea how their policies will unfold.
(re. experts: When will they try a "wet-vac" with a tapered steel tube on the end to clean up the oil spill?)
So, the politicians resort to polling...
and doing what their dumbed down "folks" want
simply to stay in power.
Following is now
passing for leadership.


Being a painter,
How could i even imagine that
someone from the entitlement generation
would spend some time in a room full of paintings (without their personal sound system)
in case there was something of value?

If it doesn't move, flash and make noise they don't seem to be able to see it


Further,
How could we imagine them
exploring the silence
and finding their inner voice?
exploring their curiosity?
exploring the natural environment?
following the connections as they shift
with their intuition ?

Surfing the web-
on the surface may seem like
a form of exploration but
the surfers will all hit the same top
rated sites and again
succumb to the popular.

So, where does their sense of belonging come from?
what kind of "tribe" might they belong to?

Unfortunately, most of what passes for self-expression
in this consumer society
is choosing which "brands" to align oneself with.

So, if they were to recognize themselves
reflected in such an outward expression
as a painting on a wall, chances are they
would be recognizing "their brand"?

wasn't branding initially used to differentiate
livestock?


Despite some braying to the contrary
most people are content with following
the leader...
and where do we find our leaders-
our role models
but the tv and the movies
"who wants to be a millionaire?"

who else might they apprentice with?


how do you describe colours to someone
who has never seen?