Blogs

This page is my own random thought page dedicated to...you guessed it, random thoughts!

I realized that after starting this internship I have caught myself thinking in new perspectives about an array of subjects.

This blog is for all of my (and other's) random thoughts!

Art

• Adventure to the stars: telling tales of science and art, Jessica Foley, Circa, Spring 2009

History

• A continuation of Paul Grobstein's theory of science as story telling and story revising: a discussion of its relevance ot history, Toni Weller, Journal of Research Practice, 2006

We've been distinguishing (or trying to break the distinction) between "science" and "English" minds, assuming that these are the two main categories when it comes to learning and thinking.  Religion has the potential to be lumped into the "English" mind category because it is seen as the opposite of what is traditionally considered "scientific," or logical.  Religion has stereotypcally been considered the antithesis of science, placing beliefs in gods that cannot be readily seen or measured, put under a microscope or processed in a mass spectrometer.  As a religious person the deeper I look, the more I begin to associate religion with the "science" mind.

The concept of "getting it less wrong" is prevalent throughout Serendip, and apparently has been of interest outside this forum's world as well (thank you, jpfeiffer, for the website!).

My name is Kathryn Gould and I am a rising senior majoring in English and minoring in Biology. While prepping for my upcoming thesis and doing work for the Summer Science Institute, I am also working on a few creative side projects, one of which includes writing, drawing, and designing a web comic with a friend. As someone who thoroughly enjoys both science and English, I am troubled to find evidence that there exists any kind of dichotomy between the two subjects. There is no "science mind" and "non-science mind," in my opinion. It's all just a matter of finding the best way to approach the information, to make it interesting, in order to find a comprehensive, unique understanding of the material.

 
kgould's Summer 2010 Index

"... Disabilities are less the property of persons than they are moments in a cultural focus. Everyone in any culture is subject to being labeled and disabled... A disability may be a better display board for the weaknesses of a cultural system than it is an account of real persons... This paper is not about disabled persons. It is about the powers of culture to disable..."     /sci_cult/culturedisability.html

"Culture As Disability"

    Pigeons respond better when confronted with the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD) than humans? Many would probably wonder how on earth this could be true. Are humans not supremely more intelligent than pigeons? I must admit that after watching television shows such as Deal or No Deal and witnessing the ridiculous measures contestants take (most notably rubbing the boxes as if that will bring them luck in the game) I can see how pigeons would have a leg up over humans in this experiment.

Having taken a class where Serendip was used extensively, I see many parallels between it and this course.  My Serendip experience began in a Literature course (much different than this Neurobiology course--or is it?) and consisted of many of the same features as Professor Grobstein's class: extensive discussion on the Serendip forum, online class notes with contributions by students who had commented in said forum, and web papers commented on by the professor himself.