Subject: Social Studies follow up

Posted by Jeff Potash on 4/28/2006
In Reply To:Irish Potato Famine Model Posted by Ana María Rosón on 3/24/2006

Message:

Ana --


Many thanks for describing your exciting project with us. I was reminded,
in reading your note, of an experiment in stock/flow concept mapping that
John Heinbokel and I conducted with a group of students in a
sustainability class. We divided our class of students in half and asked
each group to map one of two very different philosophical models of
sustainability: one presented by "Tragedy of the Commons" author, Garret
Hardin (warning about the dangers of unsustainability in the near future),
the other, by Julian Simon, who steadfastly rejected the notion of any
limits on human sustainability . While the initial reaction of the
students was universally to embrace one theory and derisively dismiss the
other without any consideration, the class presentation of the two
"models" yielded what was, for most, a rather unexpected discovery. Each
of the two map/models were identical with the exception of a single
element: and that was the capacity of human ingenuity to overcome any
obstacle placed in its path. Simon maintained that more people generated
greater capacity in this regard (an argument for which human history
offers considerable validation), while Hardin did not. Other than this,
their mental models were virtually the same.


The lesson was not intended to change people's minds, but rather to open
them to the possibilities for enhancing our collective abilities to talk
with and understand one another's philosophical stances. And, of course,
to focus on asking the "better questions"...


Best of luck with your work. We look forward to learning more about (and
from!) your work as it progresses.




Jeff