On learning to learn

In a previous blog post we proposed as a definition of learning: “The improvement of one's whole person so that capacity for effective action is increased” If this definition is accepted, then learning to learn means becoming more effective in learning, according to that definition. By the way, similar definitions can be used for teams, organizations, countries or societies; but let's not introduce that complexity now...

On learning and who should judge it

Schools are about a thing called "learning", and school reform movements try to increase this thing. But learning itself is never defined; it is suposed to be understood what Learning is, though actually it is as difficult to define as Time or Quality. Just try

First of all, learning as "increasing one's knowledge" doesn't do, because it leads us to define knowledge: equally difficult. I like Chilean philosopher Rafael Echeverria's definition:  learning is "Increasing one's capacity for effective action". [1]

Genealogía de los átomos en tu cuerpo

Erase una vez un átomo de carbono* que nació en una estrella, está en tu cuerpo y existirá por siempre...

Exploration vs exploitation: natural, human and artificial

Desmond Morris in his famous book "The naked ape", that studies the Human Animal as a zoologist would study the species, has a chapter on "exploration", a word related to the Latin term Neophilia: love of the new. He mentions that neophilia and Neophobia -fear of the new- must be balanced on humans for proper functioning. Neophilia and the exploratory urge is a distinguishing capacity of our species, and it has enabled our zoologically unprecedented adaptability to changing environmental circumstances, whereas other species perished because they were unable to adapt. However, neophilia must be balanced by some neophobia, the conservative instinct that enables us to take advantage of all that neophilia has discovered. We would have long perished if as a species we would only have developed neophilia or neophobia.

Particular individuals -or cultures, or sects- may exhibit excess of either neophilia or neophobia, but on average on Planet Earth over the ages there has been a healthy balance between both.

Las palmeras en la página del blog

Mi madre y sus tres hermanas heredaron de mi abuelo un Cocal y cuatro plantíos de henequén en Yucatán. Ibamos todos los años a revisar el estado de nuestras propiedades, cada hermana en una diferente época del año. El henequén luego desapareció como el principal negocio del estado, y el Cocal lo vendimos. Me gustaba especialmente ir al Cocal, a orillas del mar de Campeche; las palmeras llenas de cocos frescos que comíamos y bebíamos en la playa y por supuesto el delicioso pescado fresco, frito a las brasas.

Why global problems don't get solved

Poverty, hunger, inequality, injustice... these are ooold international, very complex problems and there are myriad governments, institutions and organizations interested in their solution... and others interested in keeping the status-quo. And these are only the problems so well known that they have a short label attached to them. There are at least other 50,000 global problems, according to the Union of International Associations, although naturally the count depends on what you define as a problem and how you classify problems.

The Belgian-based UIA has produced over the years a monumental database of "world problems and human potential" (see also the Wikipedia entry) that includes a problems database, international associations dealing with problems, strategies for solution and several other sections.  

Contact! Meeting an extra-terrestial civilization in Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco novel.

Contact! Meeting another civilization in Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco novel.

Stanislaw Lem has been for a long time my favorite science fiction author. Besides being a great writer, he is also a philosopher, sociologist , physicist and moralist so one always comes away from his books having learned something interesting.

"Fiasco" is one of his best novels. It is about the challenges of establishing contact with unknown civilizations elsewhere in the galaxy. The book has lessons for us in case beings from other planets ever visit Earth. ...