re: education - would you say that it's more true that a person can not *think* without the ability to write, or that they can not *communicate their thoughts* to others, without the organizational skills taught by writing?
This is a major concern for me as well, as the mom of a kid who has severe problems with writing. (Severe enough that he's in special education because, although he's bright as a whip and has reading skills of a kid 6 years older, he can't write well enough to pass standardized tests.)
I'm certain that my kid, at least, can think without writing -- since he shows clear ability to implement things he's learned -- but I wonder how much he loses from not necessarily being capable of organizing his thoughts.
There are plenty of ways of organizing thoughts without writing (after all, there must have been plenty of smart people in pre-literate societies to create things like cloth and beer and social structures that allowed civilization -- and to create writing itself). None of these methods (so far as I know) are taught in traditional Western schools. Maybe a little bit of nonlinear thinking in art classes, but that's about it.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-07 09:29 pm (UTC)This is a major concern for me as well, as the mom of a kid who has severe problems with writing. (Severe enough that he's in special education because, although he's bright as a whip and has reading skills of a kid 6 years older, he can't write well enough to pass standardized tests.)
I'm certain that my kid, at least, can think without writing -- since he shows clear ability to implement things he's learned -- but I wonder how much he loses from not necessarily being capable of organizing his thoughts.
There are plenty of ways of organizing thoughts without writing (after all, there must have been plenty of smart people in pre-literate societies to create things like cloth and beer and social structures that allowed civilization -- and to create writing itself). None of these methods (so far as I know) are taught in traditional Western schools. Maybe a little bit of nonlinear thinking in art classes, but that's about it.