Text 1140, 118 rader
Skriven 2004-10-25 23:23:14 av Adam Flinton (1:379/45)
   Kommentar till text 1105 av Ellen K. (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Article on WIPO & the public good
=============================================
From: Adam Flinton <adam@NOSPAM_softfab.com>

Ellen K. wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 00:21:01 +0100, Adam Flinton
> <adam@NOSPAM_softfab.com> wrote in message <417c36b6@w3.nls.net>:
>
>
>>Ellen K. wrote:
>>
>>>You previously mentioned learning to read and write, not the fact that a
>>>particular language exists or not.
>>>
>>
>>Yup. The spoken language & the written language are tied. You found out
>>what "O" sounded like & looked like by copying others around you.
>>
>>
>>>I actually remember what it seemed like to me... I used to look at books
>>>and the writing looked like little bugs, and then after I learned the
>>>alphabet I could just read, "learning to read" was never an actual step
>>>in the process.
>>
>>I'd be curious to also see reports from your parents & teachers on this
>>process.
>>
>
> Actually I was quite an object of curiosity.   I would be taken out of
> class to be given weird tests etc.  My first grade teacher used to leave
> the classroom telling the other children I would read to them while she
> was gone.   May as well have stamped FREAK on my forehead in big red
> letters.   I remember the other kids were particularly impressed that I
> could read the word "acknowledgment" which appeared on the copyright
> page of their primer.
>

Hoorah

>
>>>As for how I learned the alphabet, my parents bought
>>>this easel thing that had a blackboard on the bottom and on the top a
>>>roll of paper with various things on it, the first of which was the
>>>alphabet in both capital and small letters.   That was my favorite
>>>"toy".  And I had a phonograph record with the alphabet song, so I could
>>>listen to the song and look at the letters at the same time.  And once I
>>>could read, writing happened very soon after, although my fine motor
>>>coordination took longer to develop, i.e. you could definitely tell a
>>>little kid wrote it.   But I was reading at 3 and writing well before
>>>kindergarten.
>>>
>>
>>I have no recollection of when I could read or when the passage from
>>illitercy to literacy occured.
>>
>>
>>>Who said I skipped school?
>>
>>It was sarcasm/irony intended to draw that reaction. Were you educated
>>"at public expense"? Do you think "public education" is "a public good"?
>>
>
> I attended public school.   My parents paid taxes that supported the
> public schools.  But do you really think what I learned there is making
> my living today?
>

For one thing it taught you how to read words such as acknowledgement.

You might have also picked up some maths along the way too & maths is very
usefull for running a business for example.




>
>>>I specifically mentioned classes I paid to
>>>attend.
>>
>>Were all your classes paid for? I went to private schools from 7 but I
>>value the free education I received before then (including being forced
>>to learn afrikaans).
>>
>
> I don't know why I'm bothering to answer all your questions, but I
> specifically stated that I learned to do what I do for a living from
> books I purchased and from classes I paid to attend, and then by doing.
>
>>>Did my programming classes teach me how to think?   No.
>>
>>Oh no, this is done far earlier (with a reaction  in the university
>>student days). The old Jesuit thing.
>>
>>By 13 you should be studying "great works of human imagination" or as
>>you might call it, "expired-term intellectual property".
>>
>
> Not in US public schools.  The only classes all the way through public
> school that actually taught me anything were math.

Something which could be said to help you make a living?

Today?

> Oh, and foreign
> languages.  So-called university was pretty much more of the same.  But
> no serious study of literature or history.   History was particularly
> dismal, all we ever did was memorize stuff.
>

Yup. Creating copies (even mental copies) is how history is passed down.

Especially of products of the intellect. How many original writings of (say)
the greek mathematicians (esp re geometry) are in existence today?


Adam

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