Hans Rosling (@HansRosling)2/2/13 6:49 AM
Number one measure of progress of nations is Child Mortality! It depends on many: health service, education, rights, security & environment!
 Michel Bauwens (@mbauwens)2/2/13 6:54 AM Social versus natural complex systems | Synthesis synthesisips.net/blog/social- |
or example, the properties of molecules emerge from the combination of constituent atoms but, importantly, these properties cannot be traced back to thoseindividual atoms – the properties are due to the combination of the atoms and they are genuinely new
how to cc. thank.. accolade
Kauffman emphasised that such genuinely new, emergent principles will not offend the laws of the known universe. Rather we might view them as additional to natural law and they will be authentically novel. Kauffman presented this argument to get away from the clockwork view of the universe and human nature, which would lead us to think that physics was the only real discipline and everything else merely applied physics. If this view of emergent domains and novel principles is true then the social sciences should be viewed as a genuinely important study of a particular ontological domain in its own right. It’s not just applied physics.
An interesting and important question arises from this point. If humans are different, should we apply concepts from the complexity sciences to social systems? Some people have argued that concepts like self-organisation and co-evolution emerged from the natural sciences, so by using them in the social sciences we will be mapping metaphors from one domain to another. This is an important critique because metaphor mapping can be extremely dangerous e.g. it is not too great a stretch to say that orthodox economics maps Newtonian mechanics in to the social sciences. (For an excellent read on the role of imagination in economics, I would recommend Richard Bronk’s The Romantic Economist, the sub-title of which is in fact “Imagination in Economics”).
For an excellent read on the role of imagination in economics, I would recommend Richard Bronk’s The Romantic Economist, the sub-title of which is in fact “Imagination in Economics
Let me use an example to illustrate what I mean. Suppose I defined self-organisation as beingwhen spontaneous order emerges within a complex system. This definition can apply to atoms, ants and nation states. The definition is so abstract that it can apply very broadly and I believe we observe the same principle in multiple domains. So, yes, I think that the complexity sciences can be usefully used in the social sciences but we must tread carefully by being clear about the meaning of our terms.ConclusionSocial systems are different to natural systems because they have their own genuinely novel features, one of which is how we process information. This leads to social systems behaving in fundamentally different ways. I imagine most people would agree.
 Fred Bartels (@fredbartels)2/2/13 6:55 AM RT @willrich45 Jeb Bush on virtual schools. buff.ly/WH2cLy < Jeb, the Angelo Mozilo of the Charter Bubble. google.com/search?q=frank… |
Students in these programs can learn anywhere, at any time, with a customized course load that emphasizes what the student and his or her parents want their son or daughter to learn.
Digital learning is just one important element of the overall school choice movement being celebrated during National School Choice week – and rightfully so. There is no silver bullet. There is no one-size-fits-all option. There can and must be only a proliferation of ever-growing options so that students and parents can embrace whatever educational scenario is best for them.
ah.. but there is a silver bullet... it just costs academia a ton.. their pride.. misguided ego... fear... no?
silver bullet...
person/individual curiosity choice. everyday. perpetual beta.
that's what tech is bringing us.. not places to hold things.. it connects
Saul Kaplan (@skap5)2/3/13 10:30 AM
RT @dscofield: Does being vulnerable and trustworthy sound a bit paradoxical? mills-scofield.com/happenings/
 instaGrok (@InstaGrok)2/3/13 11:30 AM U. Phoenix makes $1B bet on adaptive learning platform. Research adaptive #learning here: ow.ly/hmSgi#edtech #edchat instaGrok (@InstaGrok)2/3/13 11:36 AM Great list. And may we humbly suggest @InstaGrok? RT @medkh9 12 Fabulous Academic Search Enginesgoo.gl/fb/Un6HA  Jabiz Raisdana (@intrepidteacher)2/3/13 8:56 AM Some great things are happening at @bryanjack guitar class:bit.ly/WFnxCh  umair haque (@umairh)2/3/13 11:43 AM If anything, we romanticize the future. And then it dumps us. RT @paula0x0x0x0x0x: @umairh stop romanticising the past.  Jared Polis (@jaredpolis)2/3/13 11:45 AM Copyright craziness: school district considers policy that would give them ownership of all student work m.washingtonpost.com/local/  Rich Kiker (@rkiker)2/3/13 11:46 AM No tuition or tests, just teachers: WVU launching free online courses for all in Februaryow.ly/hnqXp |
