Dennis Nelson (NELSOND@ny-smtp.army.mil)
Tue, 25 May 1999 08:26:45 -0400
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 08:26:45 -0400 From: Dennis Nelson <NELSOND@ny-smtp.army.mil> Subject: change in instructional design -Reply
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If today's knowledge is not old wine in a new bottle, what is the
difference between Cleopatra's library at Alexandria and other famous
collections of today? Levers are levers. Simple machines are simple
machines. Complex machines are little more than combinations of levers
and other simple tools and machines. Religion is religion. Beliefs are
beliefs. Bodies are bodies. Our legal systems are based on legal
systems milleniums of years old. Histories are compilations of limited
perspectives of the authors and those interviewed. Why are classics,
classics? Aren't, over history, today's leading physicians the witch
doctors of the past? What do we do or build today that is significantly
greater the wonders of the ancient world? Has any generation been
more or less caught up with itself or it's latest inventions or discoveries
than this generation? "Are you sure" and "duh" have pluses and
minuses, but both are just different bottles regarding opinions about what
was just said, done or realized. Wheels, pyramids and spaceships were
all possible, all eventful, and all occured in their own time. Healing a
personal hurt, a small cut or brain surgery were all possible, all eventful
and all occured in their own time. None or all will be equally blaize or
astounding millenium from now.
Where there is opportunity to excel is the degree to which we can
develop and maintain our individual and collectively self-discipline,
humility and love. I see little of the wheel, pyramid, spaceship evolution in
our personal development and relational areas: probably because our
focus is shortterm, physical and material. We can't see our lives or our
existence because we can't see past our artifacts or egos.
The change in our instructional design has to reflect our own inner,
passionate search for real, enduring, unchanging truth. It has to reflect
the fact that each of us must learn for ourselves what was learned by
our predecessors, that there are few shortcuts, and that attempts at
shortcuts subvert our progress to whatever we are to achieve in our
time. Thank you sincerely for your time: it is your and my only
nonreplenishable resource. We need to expend it with wisdom.
Dennis R. Nelson
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