Rhonda McDowell

Sandra: Your clever comment: "Unschooling should provide an atmosphere of inquiry and clear thinking, and if the parents can't even do that among other adults, how can they pass it on to their children?" made me smile. Thanks for the challenge to higher standards of critical thinking.

Elizabeth: Thanks for your interesting points about scientific inquiry, and the insightful suggestion that inspiration and discovery can come from discussions (like cleaning metals!) that are not "completely rational, linear and clear". Well put!

I'm new to this group (& to homeschooling!), but have thoroughly enjoyed following "threads" of the past week's discussions. Been itching to jump in with my two bits on Santa, vaccines, etc. Sorry, I don't have much to add re: Coke! Had no idea anyone might consider Coke to be corrosive to the stomach, but wouldn't be surprised if a doctor advised people with ulcers to stay off it! Our family's always avoided it due to 1) overload of sugar 2) caffeine 3) carbonation 4) artificial color 5) aluminum & plastic clogging up landfills, but mostly because ~ 6) we like water best :)

Rhonda



Message: 20
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 11:35:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Elizabeth Roberts <ladyeliza_r@...>
Subject: Re: cleaning metals in unusual ways

And what is unscientific about hearing an idea and
testing it out for yourself, or asking someone if they
have and what happened, let alone with piping up about
something in a similar vein of thought, re: Coke
cleans this metal and toothpaste can another?

Sorry your thread was hijacked, but conversations can
take on many tangents. That doesn't make it any less
informative or interesting for those interested in
following that tangent.

As it is, yes, we should be fostering our children's
curiosity and helping them to think it through
clearly. But not all of us have that ability
ourselves, so bouncing ideas off other adults before
we bring it up to our children or our children bring
it up with us is a fully rational thing to do.

"It was an expression of my frustration that people
will make public recommendations about things without
really looking at what they're saying." (Sandra)

Yeah. That can be frustrating. Not everyone thinks
before they speak, but just because it's not an idea
that grabs you doesn't mean that it's not valid. It
may be off the wall, and it may not even be right (and
the person might not be aware of that, but I doubt
their intention was not to throw out disinformation);
but it may also bring out something else that IS right
and IS valid - and something that inspires someone
else's curiosity and thinking to find out more about
it. The process isn't necessarily everything, nor is
the end.

How many inventions have come about because someone
was thinking one thing, wanting something to happen a
certain way, and something else happened instead?

Scientific thought isn't necessarily completely
rational linear and clear.

Elizabeth


--- SandraDodd@... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 7/25/04 10:26:35 AM,
> pyxiewytch@... writes:
>
> << I know from experience that toothpaste is great
> for polishing silver... >>
>
> Any toothpaste? What kind?
>
> Those are NOT questions I want answers to.
> Those are questions I think should've been answered
> before the statement was
> made.
>
> The purpose of this subject line was not to exchange
> suggestions about coca
> cola or other alternative metal cleaners. It was an
> objection to
> non-scientific thought. It was an expression of my
> frustration that people will make public
> recommendations about things without really looking
> at what they're saying.
>
> Unschooling should provide an atmosphere of inquiry
> and clear thinking, and
> if the parents can't even do that among other
> adults, how can they pass it on
> to their children? That was the intended topic.
>
> Sandra
>


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