Subject: Re: Childwrite: (fwd) 2 stories Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 17:14:48 -0400 From: "Win Wenger, Ph.D." To: John McPherson CC: John McPherson , straveca@erols.com, RickAshby@aol.com, mjoyner@botree.com, tazz4@ix.netcom.com, mcole@napanet.net, anakin@dur.mindspring.com, kuene@cts.com, jheflin@mail.portup.com, GeoNelson@aol.com, Frank@gerryts.demon.co.uk, e7750010@tsai.es, tice@writeme.com, Swcgluck@aol.com John - I really like where you are headed with these ideas! Note for Matthew Turco: Would you want to pick up on John's idea of making several of these stories into popular songs? Maybe you and our Brooklyn friend head up a project? Increasingly it appears to me that if we extend at all beyond showing the child HOW, to indicating some of WHAT to think and perceive (the values issue), a substantial part of the overall complex of projects will need to incorporate the libertarian view, that being such a substantial part of our more immediate ranges of already-intelligent audience, resource people, and in some regards appropriate values. Yet before we go many next steps, I have to state my belief that their view is only half correct, for reasons explored at length in my book Incentives As A Preferred Instrument of Corporate and Public Policy. I would be willing for someone to publish that book on the web for free, if that's the best way to get its points at issue into broader discussion. I feel that could only help most of the goals the Libertarians are after, even if it is not strictly in agreement with their own credo. Ifv someone WOULD like to put it up at their site the way http://www.Anakin.com and http://www.amateur-spirit.net have put up at theirs my only somewhat shorter quickbook "You Are Brighter Than You Think," let me know and I will retrieve my somewhat fragmentary files and put them into an emailable form. (I will now pull this topic to one side, so as not to get in the way of the rest of our childwrite project discussions. E-mail me on this point directly at win@thebestweb.com w/o dragging everyone else in the project along. Thanks.) Pocahuntas was in the events associated with Jamestown. I want to see what others think of your idea of our doing some HOW writings modelling a process where, extending from Dew Song, some various people(s) arrive at some of those alternatives to the endless boxes. That piece of my writing, by the way, is still up in the 19th installment of Winsights over at http://www.botree.com, since the webmaster/editor there got heavily preoccupied and couldn't keep going for awhile. I understand that has been rectified so this "alternative visions of the future" installment probably will be replaced soon. If so, you can still find it by going to the little boxes at the top of whatever is then the current installment of winsights and clicking on box # 19. --If anyone wants to take a look at that and think about developing a story as you suggest, one which models HOW.... John - thanks again! --win At 01:42 AM 4/6/98 -0700, John McPherson wrote: >Win Wenger, Ph.D. wrote: >> >> The two history lessons are a very familiar story on several levels, >> but the stories could certainly stand retelling in some form. Right >> now they read too much like a tract to interest the audience that this >> is probably aimed for. A challenge would be to turn the accounts into >> experiences maybe of children in each colony, seeing these unfold >> through their eyes (and stomachs!). (Only I don't think there were >> many children available for the role in Jamestown until later.) Maybe >> an Indian child looking on with bemusement? > > Interesting ideas, and maybe one of us (moi? :-) will > do such a re-write. For what it's worth, below is a > second version of the story. I forget, which historical > event was associated with Pocahontas? That story has been > getting a lot of child-interest lately, and if a connection > can be established with that (perhaps tapping into the > available "limbic lift") ... > >> The Red Hen already IS published - I think its been both in McGuffey >> and elsewhere - but it's of course much closer to the kind of thing >> we're trying to do. Again, should we broaden our objectives to also >> republish previously published stories which meet our (yet to be >> determined) criteria? --win > > Possibly ... or at least mention them in a section listing > "Other Good Stories Worth Looking For", or provide links to > their locations if they're on the web somewhere. > >> It's clear that "Type 2" stories should be our priority, though we >> might be opportunistic and pick up some easy publishables in the Type >> 1s. > > Well, I vote for both. Variety is the spice of life ... > We might even come up with type "3" and "4" etc. stories > and have separate sections for each of these ... or maybe > mix them all in together. One combo 1 & 2 story might > be "half-written" by the author, gently guiding the reader > towards the material he/she finds of value (e.g., general > semantics, image-streaming methods, systems theory, etc.) > ... letting the reader write the "other half" of the story > (say alternating paragraphs). Heh, if it's a "smart" story > on a computer, it could prompt the kid for the names of the > characters he/she wants, and then insert those names into > the as-yet-unread text of the story (the part written by > "us"). > >> My "Dew Song" in that light is plainly a "what," > > It occurs to me that this story can be easily linked into > a solution ... rather than leaving the kid hanging with > a feeling of despair, you might mention how a few people > in the community saw what was happening, didn't feel great > about it, decided to come up with some alternatives (e.g., > the various descriptions of alternative housing, such as > the Huge Tree House, the Community hidden by hedges, the > Tensegrity House, the Grotto Houses, etc. which you mentioned > in one of your publications) ... have them build a few > examples, others see, enjoy, appreciate, and start to prefer > them to the "wooden boxes", and before you know it, the > community is now mostly built with these fresher, more > harmonious alternatives, and Aurora is back, revelling in > the new synthesis of the ManMade and Natural worlds, > somehow combining the best of both into an even better > place than either alone could be ... > >> my Philosopher's Stone has (by modelling) a little of HOW but again >> is mostly the lower-priority WHAT. > > I noticed something earlier about 'Stone' ... it reminds me > very much of a song that was popular in the '70's, sung by > a woman whose name I don't recall. It was something like > a kingdom of people (in the valley?) having a secret buried > treasure, and a second group (mountain people?) very much > wanted to get ahold of that treasure ... so they started a > war and slaughtered the people in the castle. The last > verse went something like: > > " 'mount your horse and draw your sword!', > and they killed the valley people, > so they won their just reward. > They gathered round the buried treasure, > saw the stone that stood at th' head, > tipped the stone and looked beneath it, > 'Peace on Earth' was all it said." > > Powerful song ... definitely had an impact on me as a > kid, which brings up the point: why not set some of these > stories to music and make songs out of them? I'd wager > one can tap into some extra limbic energy that way.