06 JUL 2011 by ideonexus

 Babies are Little Mars Rovers

Walk upstairs, open the door gently, and look in the crib. What do you see? Most of us see a picture of innocence and helplessness, a clean slate. But, in fact, what we see in the crib is the greatest mind that has ever existed, the most powerful learning machine in the universe. The tiny fingers and mouth are exploration devices that probe the alien world around them with more precision than any Mars rover. The crumpled ears take a buzz of incomprehensible noise and flawlessly turn it into m...
Folksonomies: metaphors babies learning
Folksonomies: metaphors babies learning
  1  notes

They are incredibly powerful learning machines.

30 NOV -0001 by ideonexus

 Benjamin Franklin's Reasons for Reforming the Alphabet

Franklin's own impulse in creating the alphabet was quite different. He was a man who looked closely and with curiosity at the world around him, seeking ways to improve it wherever he saw the opportunity. His alphabet was conceived in the same spirit as his less smoky, more fuel-efficient house-heating stove, or his more easily cleaned and repaired street lamp. The alphabet, for Franklin, was not unlike a household tool, something to repair, rewire, and update. Improving the writing system wo...
Folksonomies: phonetics
Folksonomies: phonetics
  1  notes
Franklin was not interested in forging a national identity for America, but was more focused on cleaning up the inefficiencies in our spelling. He came from humble beginnings to greatness through his habit of voracious reading, and he wanted to share the gift of literacy with others. Simplifying spelling was a means to that end.