Subject: Re: Childwrite: (fwd) 2 stories Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1998 01:42:36 -0700 From: John McPherson To: "Win Wenger, Ph.D." 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 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. > Do you think your "kid's capital" and libertarian acquaintances could > bear with us in that priority and perhaps even help us pursue it? It's possible. Could you draft up a quick proposal along these lines, in your words? I'll forward it to them. One major emphasis of libertarianism is, of course, the advocacy and encouragement of self-responsibility, hence of self-development and the growth of personal competence and knowledge. I see the two emphases as being entirely complementary. > Several of them seemed pretty bright. --win One of my mailing lists is for libertarian professors, worldwide :-). Rick Ashby wrote: > The image I discovered for magic yesterday was of an ornate golden > sceptor. The bottom was a smooth round shaft. It had a swirl at the > top. much like a spiral stair case with four jewels embedded in it. > OK, there's an interpretation I hadn't thought of until I wrote that > description. An ascending stair case or upward spiral, much how I > envion the process of personal growth. Two thoughts: from your description I got a flash of imagery: this treasure gets found, the child marvels at it and is swept into a magical journey ... the head of the sceptor grows in size until it's like a miniature mountain and the "staircase" becomes clear and distinct, and the child floats over to the now-huge sceptor-staircase, glances up into the golden-luminous mists above, and begins to climb up the golden mountain ... second thought: Korzybski explicitly draws a "spiral growth" analogy for the development of human knowledge in his theory of TimeBinding, in connection with the progress of scientific knowledge. Certainly personal growth of ability and knowledge also has this spiral aspect (certain things come up again and again in our experience, and each time we're a little better able to handle them, know a little more about them, etc. It's not a mere rote repetition, but a repetition where each new cycle is built on the experiences of the previous). Also, a tool to help stablize a person, a symbol of power, That too! Here's a potential handle on the notion that "knowledge is power" ... and certainly both increased knowledge and personal power/ability can give a child a greater sense of stability and self-confidence. I hope there are no Freudians out there. Hey, Freudians need "love" too! (... don't try to read anything into that ... ;-) ==== second version of the story of the first Thanksgiving ==== =============================================================== >From: "Gerald" Here is one I wrote 2 1/2 years ago. Copyright c 1996 by Gerald Frazier September 16, 1620, a group of separatists from the church of England, 101 men, women and children left Plymouth, England in the Mayflower. Crossing the Atlantic was no fun; but they looked forward to their new virgin land; and they did have time, during the long voyage, to think about what system of government they would form. Being idealistic Christian people of action, they prayed that they could find a place where they could put their visions of brotherly love to a practical use. Yes. They would all work the land. According to their abilities. And they would all share in the harvest according to their needs. This would be a Christian workers paradise. November 21, 1620 the Mayflower dropped anchor off the coast of New England. The 41 adult males aboard drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact, the 1st Constitution written in America. November 22, 1620 they landed at Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims immediately went to work to make their dream of communal living a reality. Communal house raising was popular. Communal quilting bees were all the rage. Communal corn huskings were sorta fun. But communal farming, well that was everyone's responsibility, so it was no-one's responsibility. The history books have been changed to say that the poor harvest that first year, 1621, was due to a drought. But Governor William Bradford wasn't so sure. By the second dismal harvest in 1622, Governor Bradford was positive that he must act to save the young colony from certain starvation. He bravely and single-handedly, but not without critics, threw out their 2 year old system of communal farming and introduced the concept of private ownership of the means of production, specifically their farm land. Gov. Bradford drew a subdivision map and each settler was assigned a small plot of land and told this is yours to farm. This year you will have to grow enough food to feed yourself, or starve. You cannot expect your neighbors to fed you. Well guess what happened next year, 1623: The settlers, left to their own devises, not only fed themselves, but had produced such an abundance, that they shared it with everybody, including the Indians; and what do you know; it was the first real Thanksgiving. Therefore, when you celebrate Thanksgiving, remember you are celebrating the success and abundance of Christian Libertarian Capitalism. .......Regards, Gerald ==================================================================