Re:mystery, magic, and myth (long)
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/7/2003 5:23:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
To me, it brings up the uses of religion/spirituality (I'm a Unitarian
Universalist, and those things are not different for me, although I know they are
for some) and science. Both are ways that people try to make sense of the world
for themselves. And as cold and precise as scientists rep is, the joy as they
learn more about their topic of interest is often as wonderful as someone's
experience of enlightenment or finding God, or whatever.
Again, I know you felt bad, but what I see is that your daughter was still in
the awe of this discovery. She loved it just for her experience of awe. You
loved it too, and like a scientist, your love drove you to want to find out all
about it. I suspect that your figuring out the Why of it didn't make you love
it any less, which is why you excitedly shared it with your daughter. I'm
sorry for both of you that it worked out the way it did, because you were both
sad.
For me, it's like a new relationship. When you first fall in love with
someone, it's ...well.. awesome. They seem perfect, and you're amazed that anyone
this perfect is just wandering about, and that somehow they love YOU! Then you
discover chinks in the perfection. Over lots of time, you're aware that the
chinks are actually enormous gaps...but that you actually like that more! (It's
hard to ever feel really comfortable with a God/Goddess) The first time your
Beloved, watching tv, burps loudly and you giggle and feel a flash of
endearment, you're hooked and you KNOW this person. That initial awe rush is
wonderful...but the Knowing is why you stay.
My partner and I have spent the last year working on a curriculum for the
Religious Education program at our church (and will now be field-tested across
the country by some other churches) about Science and Religion. The topic was
actually the result of my asking the kids at church (from little ones to
teenagers) and getting a resounding "Science!"
Well, I realized that in one of the parts of the "sources" of UUism is that
we respect the teachings of science. Well, that's a pretty radical position of
a religion, so, apparently, the kids were right on. We had two different kinds
of "lessons." (That's in quotes because as we did this, we realized that most
of the stuff was new to the Adult volunteers as well as the kids, and they
were all learning together rather than have wisdom imparted.) One type was
learning about UU scientists in history. (Lots of cool ones, and you may be using
the inventions of two of them RIGHT NOW!!!!)
The other type was about exactly what you are talking about: Awe and
discovery. One of the things they did was about geodes. They each got a complete geode
and examined it, then they broke them open to find the crystals. Then they
learned a bit about how they're made. Knowing how they're made doesn't make them
less amazing... and doesn't need to take them away from the awe.
I suspect your daughter would have gotten to a point where she wondered about
the Why. Probably depends how old she is, because little ones tend to
appreciate the magic of not knowing longer.
Thank you for sharing this... Obviously I've REALLY gotten into this stuff :)
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected] writes:
> Here's what happened: The girls were watching an episode of Zoom onAh, this is such a cool post, even though I know you felt awful at the time.
> Nickelodeon (a pre-teen show where they show games, experiments, and
> projects). They came to find me, all excited, to show me this: stand
> facing a wall so that one outstretched hand can just touch the wall by
> the tips of your fingers. Touch the wall. Now bend that same arm quite
> hard and rub your elbow with the other hand. Now try to touch the wall
> again with the original arm. Your arm won't reach.
>
> So the girls and I thought this was amazing and wierd and we ran all
> over the house doing it over and over. We called the grandparents and
> all our friends to have them do it. It was fun and strange. I was
> wondering why this happened and thought a lot about it. As usual, I was
> talking about the hows and whys to the girls. I finally decided that it
> must happen because when the arm is bent, the muscle contracts and
> doesn't completely stretch out right away, thus making the arm appear
> magically shorter. Makes sense to me. The whole elbow rubbing thing is
> just for drama, like a magicians waving wand.
>
> Then Aislinn burst into tears and was furious with me for ruining the
> fun. Since I had figured it out, the magic of it was gone. And I felt
> SO bad.
>
>
To me, it brings up the uses of religion/spirituality (I'm a Unitarian
Universalist, and those things are not different for me, although I know they are
for some) and science. Both are ways that people try to make sense of the world
for themselves. And as cold and precise as scientists rep is, the joy as they
learn more about their topic of interest is often as wonderful as someone's
experience of enlightenment or finding God, or whatever.
Again, I know you felt bad, but what I see is that your daughter was still in
the awe of this discovery. She loved it just for her experience of awe. You
loved it too, and like a scientist, your love drove you to want to find out all
about it. I suspect that your figuring out the Why of it didn't make you love
it any less, which is why you excitedly shared it with your daughter. I'm
sorry for both of you that it worked out the way it did, because you were both
sad.
For me, it's like a new relationship. When you first fall in love with
someone, it's ...well.. awesome. They seem perfect, and you're amazed that anyone
this perfect is just wandering about, and that somehow they love YOU! Then you
discover chinks in the perfection. Over lots of time, you're aware that the
chinks are actually enormous gaps...but that you actually like that more! (It's
hard to ever feel really comfortable with a God/Goddess) The first time your
Beloved, watching tv, burps loudly and you giggle and feel a flash of
endearment, you're hooked and you KNOW this person. That initial awe rush is
wonderful...but the Knowing is why you stay.
My partner and I have spent the last year working on a curriculum for the
Religious Education program at our church (and will now be field-tested across
the country by some other churches) about Science and Religion. The topic was
actually the result of my asking the kids at church (from little ones to
teenagers) and getting a resounding "Science!"
Well, I realized that in one of the parts of the "sources" of UUism is that
we respect the teachings of science. Well, that's a pretty radical position of
a religion, so, apparently, the kids were right on. We had two different kinds
of "lessons." (That's in quotes because as we did this, we realized that most
of the stuff was new to the Adult volunteers as well as the kids, and they
were all learning together rather than have wisdom imparted.) One type was
learning about UU scientists in history. (Lots of cool ones, and you may be using
the inventions of two of them RIGHT NOW!!!!)
The other type was about exactly what you are talking about: Awe and
discovery. One of the things they did was about geodes. They each got a complete geode
and examined it, then they broke them open to find the crystals. Then they
learned a bit about how they're made. Knowing how they're made doesn't make them
less amazing... and doesn't need to take them away from the awe.
I suspect your daughter would have gotten to a point where she wondered about
the Why. Probably depends how old she is, because little ones tend to
appreciate the magic of not knowing longer.
Thank you for sharing this... Obviously I've REALLY gotten into this stuff :)
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Nancy Wooton
on 7/7/03 4:12 AM, KathrynJB@... at KathrynJB@... wrote:
don't, a cool, free resource is the Experiment of the Week yahoo list.
Here's a different arm trick from the list (I never clean out my Outlook
files <g>):
Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This Week's Experiment - #316 Arm Raising
What a nice week this has been. I still did not get the truck cleaned out,
but I did get a lot of other things accomplished. I helped Lisa in the
garden, worked on training our dog, did lots of paperwork, and watched lots
of movies. For the next two weeks I will be doing shows in the area around
Ft. Myers and Naples, Florida. We still have some openings in this area,
so
if you know of a school or homeschool group that would like a show, let me
know. You can e-mail me or call James Ashley at (904) 388-6381.
This week's experiment is something that we used do for fun when I was a
kid.
(No jokes about dinosaurs or the Dark Ages, please.) It was back in the
days before Gameboys and the internet. Back in the days when there were
only 4 TV channels and you had to get up and turn the dial on the TV to
change the channel. Even so, we still had lots of fun. This is a party
trick that always amazes people, but it is based on science. To try it,
you
will need:
a doorway
OK, it is really very simple. Stand in the doorway. Start with your arms
hanging down by your sides. Lift them outwards until the backs of your
hands are touching the doorframe on each side of you. Now press outwards
with your arms, as hard as you can. Keep pressing while you count to 60,
or
as long as you can without it hurting. Then take one step forward and
relax
your arms. Your arms will seem to rise upwards all by themselves.
What is going on? Two things are working together to make this happen.
The first is muscle tension. If you tense a muscle until it gets tired, it
will keep some of that tension even after your brain stops sending it a
signal to push. You can try that by making a fist and squeezing it as
tight
as you can for about a minute. Then if you slowly open your hand, you can
feel the muscle tension that is still trying to keep your hand closed.
This muscle tension by itself is not enough to explain what happens to your
arms. The other part of the experiment involves suggestion. An important
part of this trick is telling the person that is trying it what will happen.
Because they are expecting it to happen and they are prepared for it, as
soon as they feel the muscle tension lifting their arms, they unconsciously
help.
Try testing the experiment with several people that do not know what to
expect. They may still get some arm raising from the muscle tension, but
you will probably find that you get a much stronger response from someone
that has been told what to expect.
We have done experiments on suggestion before. (Remember when we saw that
just thinking about your nose itching could make it itch? If you did not
get that experiment, try to go for 5 minutes without scratching your nose.)
This experiment is another example of how the mind and the body work
together, sometimes in ways that we do not realize. For example, just
saying the words "ice cream" over and over can cause my body to go to the
freezer for a snack, all on its own.
Have a fantastic week.
****************************************
This weekly e-mail list is free from charge. You are welcome to forward it
to friends, print it in your newsletter, repost it on the Internet, etc., as
long as you do not charge for them and my name and e-mail address are
included.
Please forward this e-mail to anyone that you think might enjoy it.
To join the list, send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
An on-line archive is located at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/krampf/messages
> Knowing how they're made doesn't make themI imagine many people on this list already know about it, but for those who
> less amazing... and doesn't need to take them away from the awe.
>
> I suspect your daughter would have gotten to a point where she wondered about
> the Why. Probably depends how old she is, because little ones tend to
> appreciate the magic of not knowing longer.
don't, a cool, free resource is the Experiment of the Week yahoo list.
Here's a different arm trick from the list (I never clean out my Outlook
files <g>):
Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This Week's Experiment - #316 Arm Raising
What a nice week this has been. I still did not get the truck cleaned out,
but I did get a lot of other things accomplished. I helped Lisa in the
garden, worked on training our dog, did lots of paperwork, and watched lots
of movies. For the next two weeks I will be doing shows in the area around
Ft. Myers and Naples, Florida. We still have some openings in this area,
so
if you know of a school or homeschool group that would like a show, let me
know. You can e-mail me or call James Ashley at (904) 388-6381.
This week's experiment is something that we used do for fun when I was a
kid.
(No jokes about dinosaurs or the Dark Ages, please.) It was back in the
days before Gameboys and the internet. Back in the days when there were
only 4 TV channels and you had to get up and turn the dial on the TV to
change the channel. Even so, we still had lots of fun. This is a party
trick that always amazes people, but it is based on science. To try it,
you
will need:
a doorway
OK, it is really very simple. Stand in the doorway. Start with your arms
hanging down by your sides. Lift them outwards until the backs of your
hands are touching the doorframe on each side of you. Now press outwards
with your arms, as hard as you can. Keep pressing while you count to 60,
or
as long as you can without it hurting. Then take one step forward and
relax
your arms. Your arms will seem to rise upwards all by themselves.
What is going on? Two things are working together to make this happen.
The first is muscle tension. If you tense a muscle until it gets tired, it
will keep some of that tension even after your brain stops sending it a
signal to push. You can try that by making a fist and squeezing it as
tight
as you can for about a minute. Then if you slowly open your hand, you can
feel the muscle tension that is still trying to keep your hand closed.
This muscle tension by itself is not enough to explain what happens to your
arms. The other part of the experiment involves suggestion. An important
part of this trick is telling the person that is trying it what will happen.
Because they are expecting it to happen and they are prepared for it, as
soon as they feel the muscle tension lifting their arms, they unconsciously
help.
Try testing the experiment with several people that do not know what to
expect. They may still get some arm raising from the muscle tension, but
you will probably find that you get a much stronger response from someone
that has been told what to expect.
We have done experiments on suggestion before. (Remember when we saw that
just thinking about your nose itching could make it itch? If you did not
get that experiment, try to go for 5 minutes without scratching your nose.)
This experiment is another example of how the mind and the body work
together, sometimes in ways that we do not realize. For example, just
saying the words "ice cream" over and over can cause my body to go to the
freezer for a snack, all on its own.
Have a fantastic week.
****************************************
This weekly e-mail list is free from charge. You are welcome to forward it
to friends, print it in your newsletter, repost it on the Internet, etc., as
long as you do not charge for them and my name and e-mail address are
included.
Please forward this e-mail to anyone that you think might enjoy it.
To join the list, send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
An on-line archive is located at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/krampf/messages