blog.shimer

Shimer sample

Faculty member Albert Fernandez joins us in this entry:

    Most of what is said in Shimer classes is, of course, said live and for the most part lost to posterity.  It's not easy to have an idea of what Shimer discussion is like unless you enroll or visit a class. But we also have cyber-exchanges, mostly by e-mail.  As a sample, below is such an exchange between one of my students, David Brault, in an upper-level course called Philosophy and Theology ("Hum 3"), and myself.

    The immediate context is class discussion of concepts that are sometimes claimed by philosophers or religious thinkers to be innate and to refer to transcendent realities--the concepts of God and of the Good are prime examples.  The more modern idea, mostly attributed to John Locke but originally articulated by Plato, is that all ideas are derived from experience and culture.

David writes:

Check this out: these two sites trace the history of the word "good" back to its original status as a word describing something actually physical, and then applied metaphorically to get the moral senses of the word.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080626165353/www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE155.html

 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=good&searchmode=none

"THE GOOD" is actually a metaphor related to the idea of being physically complete, taken over to mean complete in other senses too--

The prehistory of the word God has little relevance to the idea of a cosmic god:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=god&searchmode=none

The prehistory of the word "justice," just to round things off:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080701024909/www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE601.html

What is just is what is.... lawful. What is lawful is what... your culture's laws are. How would this all be explained form-wise [in terms of Platonic form]?  If you believe in Forms wouldn't there be an understanding of what these concepts are from the dawn of time, as they would not be metaphorically constructed concepts?

David  Brault

And my response:

    In answer to the question at the end of your message, I am channeling Plato, who says through me that, yes, the form of justice was present in human minds before there was any law, and indeed made it possible to conceive of law, even if that happened long before anybody had a concept of justice. Justice is a form older than the concept of justice or the concept of law, and is indeed the condition of possibility for thoughts of either law or justice.

  Thank you, Plato.  Speaking from a more modern perspective, what linguists call “language acquisition capability” is the condition of possibility for words or thoughts in English, French, etc. 

Classes without teachers. (No, seriously.)

I mean, isn't that one of the points of class? That someone who knows more than you can guide you along the path to greater knowledge?

No such thing here.

At Shimer it's been my experience that not only do facilitators get disagreed with and argue down, but we also carry on class when they're not here. Sick, or out of town? Class marches on. Twice now in my Social Sciences 3 class our facilitator has been absent, and both times it's carried on anyway. The first time this happened, we discussed Marx in a lively debate that left me happy with our understanding and using dialogue, because not only had everyone showed up regardless of the presence of a facilitator, but we had also had a great discussion that clarified a lot of the text and brought up many interesting interpretations.

Sometimes we'll get substitutes if other faculty are free, but for the most part we do fine, especially if the group dynamics are good, like in my Soc 3 class. I might not have agreed with everything Marx said, but I got a good deal out of the discussion, and the nonpresence of the facilitator only strengthened our confidence in our discussion abilities.

My Class Went On A Field Trip Today!

As we gathered in the classroom this morning for Natural Sciences 3, Bev walked in and asked, "Do you want to go to the lake?"

Of course we did! It's a beautiful, if damp, autumn day! Who wants to be sitting in a classroom?

So we went to the lake. 

Yes, there was a purpose for the trip. We're talking about light, and so we went to watch the waves in the hopes that they would help us understand light waves. On the walk there (which took more than twenty minutes, but that's okay) we talked about the reading. We asked lots of questions, a few of which were answered. It was good preparation for the main event of the day. 

Look! It's the lake!

We went out there (but not all the way) and sat down to watch the waves. It was really helpful. We even got into wavelengths! And by watching the lake, we were able to explain curious phenomena we'd seen in previous classes.

And here's part of the class! That's Bev off to the right, and Marielle there in the center. Christin was right in front of me, and you can sort of see Jon Timm in front of her. 

Walking back from the lake, we finished up explaining things. It was a really fun day, and a really productive trip. Now we just have to convince Jim Ulrich to take my Nat Sci 2 class on a field trip... 

The Fall Macaws

A funny thing on the way to the Art Institute last Saturday: while waiting for the train at the 35^th/Archer platform, I heard a strange, raucous squawking, which was somewhat familiar and yet unidentifiable in the context. Looking around to a tree across from the tracks, I discovered a pair of round yellow eyes attached to a neon green head peering at me from within the field of green leaves. A green and grey macaw was perched in the tree, staring at me as it casually munched seeds from the leaves. It’s perhaps silly to try recounting the different feelings that flooded my mind at this odd discovery. Of course I felt a sense of joy at the beauty of this creature, and a sense of laughter at curious method of perambulation macaws use. The question of just why this critter was in this tree also inspired me with wonder, but a wonder coupled with panic. Behind this panic was a certain sadness and empathy, knowing the season and knowing that this bird probably hadn't the metabolism or resources to survive the coming winter. And compounding all of this was the discovery that this fellow was not alone, but had a partner; two macaws bandying about a tree on the south side of Chicago in fall. For ten minutes I watched them, until they flew off, two dashes of tropical green and grey across an urban canvas.

Having been on my way to the Art Institute (and dutifully reviewing my Taylor “Learning To Look” for Humanities 1), I couldn’t help thinking of this experience in artistic terms, particularly in the sense of how some artists will dazzle us by tricking our mental expectations with our perceptual experiences. Taylor cites Henri Bergson as “asserting that to see is only an excuse to remember.”  While I won’t pretend to understand the fullness of Bergson’s meaning, especially through the filter of Taylor’s interpretation, it does suggest something at the root of certain cognitive dilemmas. Our minds map out models of the world around us to use for future reference and to ease the burden perception places on our neuro-circuitry. Nothing in the schema my brain had developed of the 35^th/Archer stop could account for the presence of macaws; in fact most everything in mind suggested the two were largely incommensurable. Yet here they were, their existence defying my mental expectations. Camus tells us “At any streetcorner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.” To this I would add beauty, and behind that beauty the mere wisp of a hint of something beyond the atomistic accident of my encounter. Konstantin Levin said of a life (and I here say of a moment), “In infinite time, in the infinity of matter, in infinite space, a bubble-organism separates itself, this bubble holds out for a while and then bursts…” Last Saturday this bubble was tropical birds at the CTA.

Only a few days later, I passed through the same station. The previous Saturday’s mid-autumn sunshine was replaced by a Wednesday’s dismal late-fall drizzle, and the green leaves of the tree had already turned crimson. There was no sign of the fall macaws; they had moved on to whatever destination, leaving only a scanty memory of another improbable event in an impossible universe.

Halloween is fast approaching!

Halloween is fast approaching! As per the usual, I am making my own costume. 

Homemade paste is everywhere. And I have Cthulhu's mummified head sitting on my kitchen table. 

Somehow, this makes me feel like I should be ruler of the world. I mean, Chthulhu. His head. On my table. I win. Right? 

Halloween is fast approaching, and I'm totally looking forward to it. 

Magical Mister Mistoffelees!

Know what's awesome about sharing a campus with IIT and getting to be included in all sorts of fun IIT-sponsored student things? 

Getting discount tickets to Broadway musicals! WOO!

Yep! Dorothy and I went with a bunch of people from 33rd Street Productions to see CATS last night. I'd never seen a Broadway musical. Now I have. 

And how was it? Well, aside from the awesome performance (Not sure there was a plot, but it was so entertaining!), I was there with an awesome group of people. Awesome people make all the difference. Silliness abounded, and it was, all around, a really awesome night. 

Also, I've found a new ear-worm. If you catch Dorothy and I singing "Oh! Well I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mister Mistoffelees!" you know why. 

When Asked "How are you?" I Give An Honest Answer

And what would that answer be?

Stress, stress, stress, worry, worry, stress, BOOM! (The boom is the fun part!)

Ask anyone who's asked me "How are you?" in the past... oh, week? That's the answer I've been giving. It's quite fun to see the expressions on their faces when I answer, complete with exaggerated gestures on the "BOOM!" 

Everything has been crazy lately, from school (science overload... @_@) to keeping myself fed (I'm out of bread. And milk. And peanut butter. And fruit. Again.) to extracurriculars (Seeing Cats Friday night, playing D&D for the first time ever, being one of two Chief Editors for IIT's Literary Magazine, Liit, volunteering to take a dog to an event at Macy's for four hours on Saturday, and NaNoWriMo is soon! Hooray!) to worrying about people who are having a hard time of things I can't fix. 

I keep catching myself thinking that something better explode soon to make all the crazy worth it. Then I remember that explosions in real life are bad, and watch things go boom in Doctor Who clips on youtube instead. 

Brigid said very accurately the other night that I'm so stressed that I have to be happy, otherwise I'd shut down. Or something along those lines. 

But, things will get better. See, I've a paper due tomorrow at midnight. I haven't started it yet. This is bad. I will get it finished, and it will be a decent paper, if not a good one. And after that, I can finally sleep... sort of. 

I'm not sure how I'm still functioning, but I bet it has something to do with all the awesome people I see every day when I wander on over to campus and up to the Shimer floor. I'm quite fond of all those people. They're great. 

And yes, I promise, the boom really is the fun part. 

Quiet grey days

We interviewed an Admission Director candidate the other day, and he asked what we Shimerians do for fun. I had difficulty answering. Everything? Even the things I treat like responsibilities like working at Global Grounds (the campus coffeeshop) and doing my reading (Emma Goldman FTW) are usually enjoyable. I knew there were other things I like, but I felt stumped. I have hobbies! But what on earth are they?

Today I remembered. I love the quiet days, listening to The Weepies and Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan and The Decemberists. It's cold outside, which makes it just cozy inside. Sara's adventuring with Dorothy, so I have the place to myself. I spent the morning in longjohns teasing my cat, Hermione, and doing all sorts of little tasks I always put off until tomorrow. I made Cornish pasties so I'll have lunches for a couple days. I put my own twist on the pasties, of course, with fillings like turmeric chicken and garlic knockwurst and savory chunks of venison.

The day's not done yet, and thanks to Dean's Break I have nothing and everything to do. Stacking my books on just-put-together bookshelves (& pausing to read just a few), tidying the bathroom, watching Persuasion (again). I want to knit some, and play my violin. I've got plans to feed a friend later, peanut sauce and shrimp over my favorite bean-thread vermicelli. And I have to get started writing abstracts for my Soc 3 paper. Austen, Austen, and more Austen!

Well, I'm off. Theme from a Summer Place is playing, and it seems like the perfect tune to dance around my living room to as I tidy up just a bit more.

Where All My Time Went...

I really love doing theater things with the 33rd Street people. I especially love doing One Acts, because they're fun, but only eat up about two or three weeks of your free time. And this time around, I got cast in one with Dorothy! She's fun to act with, and I'm glad I got her to come to auditions!

But, yeah. This video was the first night. It wasn't our best performance, but that's fine. We only had two weeks to pull it together, after all. I'll try to not talk so fast tonight, and wear something not so dark. I'm too contrasty with Dorothy and Kunle. 

More news about theater antics will be coming soon, too! See, they're doing a musical with no plot, and I've got the part of the mute!