I actually do have a nonfiction story from break that applies to class, especially after today's discussion.  The person sitting next to me on a flight home who attended another institution of higher learning was reading a book entitled: "The Bedside Baccalaureate: A Handy Daily Cerebral Primer to Fill in the Gaps, Refresh Your Knowledge & Impress Yourself & Other Intellectuals".  This sounds like nonfiction prose at its best, and it had to be engaging because this person did not lift their eyes from the book.  I don't know how I feel about a book such as this-"Daily Cerebral Primer" makes the human brain sound like a car that has to be serviced everyday.

After class today I was thinking about how I might apply Sagan's skepticism to my life. I consider myself a pretty skeptical person, especially of authority, but I was trying to think of instances when I might not be skeptical...When I go to the doctor's office and my doctor diagnoses a sickness I might have, I never question her diagnosis as long as I have been thorough in telling her my symptoms. But when I take my dog to the veterinarian I ALWAYS question the vet's diagnosis and course of treatment because I have been a vet tech and know that vets make mistakes and there are always several diagnoses and courses of treatment that a vet might make. The vet could also prescribe treatment just to make extra money.

You see, I used to think that all these superstition things, like UFOs, witches, and etc. were proved not true by science. Not to say that I didn't believe in them , but I knew that believing in them was just a matter of fantasy for me. But I was wrong. Some people may say that UFOs have been proven to be government conspiracies, but what about stories like that of the UFO sightings in Phoenix, Arizona?

Here is an episode of unsolved mysteries that I think these non-believers should watch!

www.youtube.com/watch

You see, I used to think that all these superstition things, like UFOs, witches, and etc. were proved not true by science. Not to say that I didn't believe in them , but I knew that believing in them was just a matter of fantasy for me. But I was wrong. Some people may say that UFOs have been proven to be government conspiracies, but what about stories like that of the UFO sightings in Phoenix, Arizona?

Here is an episode of unsolved mysteries that I think these non-believers should watch!

www.youtube.com/watch

Our second class discussion on Sagan's A Demon-Haunted World allowed me to further develop my thoughts on my situation, although I'm still not closer to a resolution. In class someone brought up the fact that there has been a shift in authority. For years religion has had the authority, but as we have began to question and seek "facts" about the world, we have given the authority to Science. Scientists are the people that have cultivated the potential that we all have to be skeptical about things. What bothers me the most about Carl Sagan's writing is that he seems condescending to those that believe in something without evidence (i.e. God). This goes back to the last paper that I wrote about changing someone's reality.

For 10 years now, I been asking all my students to post their papers on-line. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it's time for us to move "on beyond...."?

Inspired by Sir Ken Robinson's animated production of Changing Education Paradigms I've begun to gather, from the Serendip archives and elsewhere, some possibilities to prime the pump:

Seniors Blogging...
A Moment's Ornament (Summer 2011)
Seeing Stigma (Spring 2011)
Mooring Gaps: Marianne Moore's Bryn Mawr Poetry (Spring 2010)

From "Gender, Information, Science and Technology" (Spring 2011):

Last class we began to think about the relationship that science has to our personal lives. I began to think a lot about religion. Science has often been used to disprove the belief that God exists, as we have gained more knowledge about the world and our relationship to it. However, this idea of asking questions is fairly new compared to religion's history. I find myself caught between God and the facts that science presents. I always resent the arguments used to convince me that God doesn't exist because I feel like someone is trying to take away my belief which in the past used to be firm. Although I was never deeply religious (i.e. not an avid church-goer), I feel guilty that my belief is not as firm, and sometimes I feel like I've completely lost it.