I really enjoyed reading our article on underlying theory in concept maps (so Dr. Strickland and the rest of the class can now relax!). Concept maps are so familiar to me that I was really surprised to learn that they were only developed recently, in 1972. However, I was also familiar with the fact that seasons are caused by the angle of the earth's axis rather than its proximity to the sun, so it surprised me to learn that 21 Harvard grads were not. (In all fairness, a survey of 23 hardly presents a statistically significant result, plus research and selection methods were not mentioned, but still...)
Anyway, the part that I really appreciated was the discussion of the human brain not as a "...single 'vessel' to be filled, but rather a complex set of interrelated memory systems." This hearkens back to our class discussions about the internet as an extension of the human brain, and to one of my earlier blogs about how none of this is really new. However surreal the internet may seem, it is really just a different medium for the patterns our society is based on. Our brains have been using interrelated memory systems for quite some time (presumably!), so it's only logical to apply that to the way we use, store, and access information outside of them, hence web 2.0.
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I agree that the internet is an extension of the human brain. I know I personally tend to think in a web, I'll have one memory or idea and that will lead to another thought or memory. Just like the internet, esp. search engines, type in one word or phrase and that will lead to a whole catalogue of links pertaining (and sometimes awkwardly not at all pertaining) to that initial phrase. It's funny to see how our own human nature is mirrored in how technology works.
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