November 04, 2005
crocus in the hosta
It seems that social connection and social networks are very important for the creation, support and enrichment of thought and ideas. Sadly the Christian Fundamentalists seem to have the social connection part down pat, with their church suppers, prayer breakfasts and phone trees . Maybe that's one of the reasons they wield such a powerful influence in our culture, and their numbers are growing. They are certainly creating and proffering THEIR ideas effectively. The rest of us better get busy.
An essay and an interview, both of which I stumbled upon within the past few days, have illuminated the importance of social connection (and it's demise) in the creative process.
Michael Nielson, a theoretical physicist from the University of Queensland wrote a short essay entitled "Extreme Thinking", in which he offers young scientists the advice he wishes he had had as a beginner. I hope you will read the entire piece and pass it along, (which I did, and am doing -- twelve points for a mildly improved attention span). Here's a summary of his three principles, for those of you who are pressed for either time or attention.
"The first is that effective learning requires purpose and meaning. This purpose and meaning can, in many instances, be obtained by concentrated self-development focused on developing combinations of abilities that enable us to make a unique contribution.
The second is that effective learning requires a long-term vision. In all organizations the short-term incentives neglect critical aspects of our development. By developing and constantly reinventing a compelling long-term vision we are able to ensure that we develop and learn in the most effective ways possible, even when those ways are in contradiction to the established short-term incentives.
The third principle is that one of the most effective ways of changing deeply ingrained habits and establishing new behaviour is to create a social environment that will promote the behaviour we’re trying to learn."
Do not underestimate the social thing -- Nielsen describes the collapse of cooperative learning situations he's tried to create, simply because of his inabliity to manage the social issues involved. Thomas Kuhn, scientific philosopher and historian, has written a great deal about the importance of social environment in the acceptance of new scientific discoveries.
Some of you may remember that my friend just won the Nobel Prize for chemistry . An official at MIT has said that he couldn't have done his research today, because it was too basic to be funded, and did not have an immediate practical application. His passion certainly played a part in his research. In a newpaper interview, he said that his interest in chemistry began with a chemistry set given to him by his older brother. At the beginning, he was fascinated by explosions, but has refined his passions somewhat over the years. "I like to cook, I like to do woodworking, I like to manipulate molecules." He's a good example of Nielson's principles. He's a pretty social guy too.
Then, early this morning on the BBC I heard an interview with Robert Putnam, Harvard political scientist and author of "Bowling Alone", his study of the demise of social networks in the United States Amazon says:
"Few people outside certain scholarly circles had heard the name Robert D. Putnam before 1995. But then this self-described "obscure academic" hit a nerve with a journal article called "Bowling Alone." Suddenly he found himself invited to Camp David, his picture in People magazine, and his thesis at the center of a raging debate. In a nutshell, he argued that civil society was breaking down as Americans became more disconnected from their families, neighbors, communities, and the republic itself. The organizations that gave life to democracy were fraying. Bowling became his driving metaphor. Years ago, he wrote, thousands of people belonged to bowling leagues. Today, however, they're more likely to bowl alone:
Television, two-career families, suburban sprawl, generational changes in values--these and other changes in American society have meant that fewer and fewer of us find that the League of Women Voters, or the United Way, or the Shriners, or the monthly bridge club, or even a Sunday picnic with friends fits the way we have come to live. Our growing social-capital deficit threatens educational performance, safe neighborhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health and happiness."
Putnam came down especially hard on TV viewing (exception: public interest programs) as a negative influence on social interchange, saying that we'd rather watch "Friends" than be friends. I actually remember when everyone on the block gathered in front of the one neighborhood television to watch Milton Berle on Tuesday night, Ed Sullivan on Sunday, and the McCarthy Hearings.
As to my personal social network, I do have a small number of study, professional and social groups to which I belong, and in which I actively participate, in addition to those to which I belong and don't, like the League of Women Voters, NOW and the ACLU. Let me not forget my on-line Avian Flu Activities.
I also delude myself into thinking that there is a cozy little cluster of folks to whom I pontificate on this blog, encouraging me to write regularly, think a little bit, take pictures, and pay attention. Given the number of comments I have received in the past few weeks, that is probably a complete fabrication, but it certainly helps me with consistency in my pursuit of ..... what is it I'm doing here anyway?
Photo note: A single November crocus, isolated in a bed of dying hosta -- out of place, blooming well before its time, all by itself. Metaphoraphotographic material, if I ever saw it.