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Andy is, as usual, interesting and articulate. Not sure I'm in total agreement with him on his current hypothesis, however.

From what I've seen of life, education can take place in alot of different ways and many different "mental models" have developed for it in different settings. I have a powerful mental model of how education should take place that was developed, for the most part, from my years in Computer System Development. Altghough it has many limitations and is certainly not applicable to all situations, I think it is highly applicable to Bonsai.

My mental model for education comes from an environment in which alot of fellow professionals of greatly differing levels of talent and experience are learning how to exploit a new and rapidly developing technology that is really new to everybody involved in the venture. As quickly as a degree of understanding of one facit of the technology is understood and applied effectively, exciting new avenues of development and applilication are revealed. Also, greatly differing approaches are constantly competing for acceptance and even the top experts in the field are in disagreement as to the correct way to do many things.

It is hard to argue with the assertion that this model has worked, despite its apparent "messiness" extraordinarilly well in this realm of human activity and has achieved astonishing progress over the past 40 or so years.

To me, there are obvious parallels between this and the state of Bonsai Cultivation today. And, I see lots of parallels between the arguments I was constantly involved in back in my many years in developing computer systems, the workshops I attended and presented, the constant turmoil from which it seemed a miracle that working systems actually emerged, and what I see in the world of bonsai.

I came to really like the concept of a "Learning Community" in which groups of colleagues of greatly varying levels of talent and experience could learn together, treating each other pretty much as peers. I don't think this is the model Andy is working with. It has its flaws, but I think it is a much more powerful model than Andy realizes.

Regards, Fred

1-Dec-2003	#7
FredL Banned 08JUN2005 Join Date: Dec-2001 Location: Benton County Country: USA USDA Zone: 6 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 1,099	Andy is, as usual, interesting and articulate. Not sure I'm in total agreement with him on his current hypothesis, however. From what I've seen of life, education can take place in alot of different ways and many different "mental models" have developed for it in different settings. I have a powerful mental model of how education should take place that was developed, for the most part, from my years in Computer System Development. Altghough it has many limitations and is certainly not applicable to all situations, I think it is highly applicable to Bonsai. My mental model for education comes from an environment in which alot of fellow professionals of greatly differing levels of talent and experience are learning how to exploit a new and rapidly developing technology that is really new to everybody involved in the venture. As quickly as a degree of understanding of one facit of the technology is understood and applied effectively, exciting new avenues of development and applilication are revealed. Also, greatly differing approaches are constantly competing for acceptance and even the top experts in the field are in disagreement as to the correct way to do many things. It is hard to argue with the assertion that this model has worked, despite its apparent "messiness" extraordinarilly well in this realm of human activity and has achieved astonishing progress over the past 40 or so years. To me, there are obvious parallels between this and the state of Bonsai Cultivation today. And, I see lots of parallels between the arguments I was constantly involved in back in my many years in developing computer systems, the workshops I attended and presented, the constant turmoil from which it seemed a miracle that working systems actually emerged, and what I see in the world of bonsai. I came to really like the concept of a "Learning Community" in which groups of colleagues of greatly varying levels of talent and experience could learn together, treating each other pretty much as peers. I don't think this is the model Andy is working with. It has its flaws, but I think it is a much more powerful model than Andy realizes. Regards, Fred