What would Socrates Say?

The world is changing such rapidly that our greatest fear could be our own ignorance. The author Peter W. Cookson Jr. in his article, “What Would Socrates Say?” implies technology is evolving very quickly and we need to adapt to it. Fear can catch to us if we don’t realize and figure what type of information we have on the net and if we don’t know how to make use of it or understand it. Cookson asserted, “my fear is that instead of knowing nothing except the fact of our own ignorance, we will know everything except the fact of our own ignorance” (par.1). He fears we don’t understand this new era. It’s technology, its knowledge and communication, and realize the things we have to learn. Approaching new technologies is something to work on and learn if we want to stick with this fast growing wave. The author says, “Socrates believed that we learn best by asking essential questions and testing tentative answers” (Cookson par. 3). In other words, as new technologies approach, we need to understand them by asking questions. We cannot let new information escape from us before understanding it. Cookson states that Google is giving us loads of data and information but what worries is our ignorance to it. Not understanding it or not knowing how to use it can become a real problem because internet culture is intensively growing. It is believed we can make a better world through a creating knowledge process and applying it to human needs.

They Say WWSS

Peter Cookson jr. in his article “what would Socrates say” portrays the picture that technology in this new age is great in a number of ways. It allows to us see the world in its entirety and enables us to change it. He then goes on to say that the 21^st century mind will need to successfully manage the complexity and diversity of our world. In this he means that the world around us changing quickly, so we need to be able to adapt with it. We need to become more fluid and innovative. The electronic age is rapidly descending on us and even more so on the youth or younger generations. He states that Google’s mission is to organize information and make it universally accessible and useful. People are doing everything on their computers and laptops, going to school, keeping their social lives and keeping in touch with friends, family and so on. It has become second nature to adapt to technology, so much that people don’t even notice.

What would Socrates Say?

My section is “The 21^st Century Mind”. This section is explaining how the most successful and affective way a persons mind should work in the 21^st century. Peter W. Cookson Jr. describes the section best by saying, “Technical fixes to our outdated educational system are likely to be inadequate. We need to adapt to a rapidly changing world”(par 8). Describing that trying to hold onto the old ways of schools or education would be a poor decision. Today’s technology is way more advanced than before and this can be used in a positive manner. The 21^st century is able to recognize and effectively solve Americas even the worlds greater issues using Cookson’s thought process of Critical Reflection, Empirical Reasoning, and Collective Intelligence. Critical Reflection is listening to the media and being able to distinguish the truth from lies. Take in the important and throw away the rest. Empirical Reasoning is realizing if you believe the supernatural not to rely on it to change our world. “We can overcome our ignorance not with wishful thinking” (par 13). A person is able to educate themselves and be an independent person but Collective Intelligence is saying we accomplish our best when we work as a team. We recognize a problem and resolve it as a team.

Summary: What Would Socrates Say?

The author is afraid that we are going to become unaware of what intelligence is. He's afraid that if we don't understand what ignorance is then we can't understand what intelligence is. By asking questions and gathering information and data we gain insight and wisdom over a period of time in a variety of different categories. We learn best by asking important questions and testing different answers by what we think is fact.

The author says that because of Goggle, people have loads of information at their finger tips, but they don't know how to use it. The author asserts, "Socrates believed that we learned best by asking essential questions and testing tentative answers against reason and fact in a continual and virtuous circle of honest debate." He feels that Google doesn't allow the process of gathering information, organizing data, turning data into knowledge and applying knowledge to real questions and problems. In following this process you gain wisdom.

Adam "WWSS"

Upon reading "What Would Socrates Say?" Peter W. Cookson Jr. is diving into the topic of the internet and computers and how they affect and change us in so many ways. His argument is about schools and how they need to change to figure in with the new technology. This is the same argument that we have been studying but now it is about the school system.

Cookson believes that the school system needs to change drastically to adapt to the way young adults now learn. That is, through computer based curriculum's. "Just as the the industrial age developed a particular for of organizational life, the electronic age is developing models of organizational life that are more atomic in their structure than they are brick and mortar"
(Cookson 7). He puts forth a model called "LearningSphere" that he thinks is the new way of teaching and learning in the 21st century. This idea is up for debate, and the change over would be a drastic transition.
-Adam D.

Jessica's "WWSD" post.

After reading our section of the article, which points out that we are learning in the new age, being with technology and how it is done with a few comparisons to the old way, in books and more discussions and such. Author Peter Cookson, makes the statement "A new electronic learning environment is replacing the linear text-bound culture of conventional learning. This will be the proving ground of the 21st century mind." In saying this with the times changing so does our eduction and the ways we are not only taught but how we are all learning. This thought is making me wonder if those past learning methods are going to be a thing of the past or if they are going to come out with new ones. As our group talked about the portion of the article that we where assigned to, one thing was totally clear to all of us and that we need to keep education accessible to everyone. Learning from the Internet from such places as Wikipedia or even Google may open the doors to learning and info in ways people never imagined. Cookson also mentions in his article his concept on this new age technological way of learning in which he calls the Learning Sphere. He describes this way of learning as " A free and open-source Web based portal and platform would enable learners to access organized inquiry, demanding course study, and communication capabilities that would join people all over the world in mutual discovery." Which proves again the point that our group picked up on. Although in all this new technological way of learning open many doors and gives students endless info to learn we also need to keep our self open to this way of learning. With all the technology stuff, computers and the Internet still so new, so many people are still hooked on the book per say and shut down in front of the computer or those of us that are surfing through the nets super highway of information break out in to hives at the thought of picking up a book, one important thing to remember is to truly learn we need to be open to not just the printed words being on a screen or in a book, but also through discussions, games, role playing and the countless other ways we all learn.

Dustin's "What Would Socrates Say" Interpretation

In our section, the author describes his views that should be taken towards being 21st century minded. Also he states the key elements that should be approached in this process. In his article, “What Would Socrates Say?” the author Peter W. Cookson Jr. states, “The 21st century mind will need to successfully manage the complexity and diversity of our world by becoming more fluid, more flexible, more focused on reality, and radically more innovative” (Pg. 2). What the Cookson is saying here is that society needs to adapt to the changing times in the world, technologically. Cookson goes on to state three key ideas that he believes are crucial to become 21st minded. “Critical Reflection” (Pg. 2) is basically having an open mind and seeing different problems and solutions through others eyes and not just your own. “Empirical Thinking” (Pg. 2) is a responsibility that each one of us should have to solve the world’s problems collaboratively, instead of expecting a supernatural event to help us through situations. People need to step forward, assess the situations and together fix the problems at hand. Coming together and sharing generations of different intelligence is viewed as crucial by the author when he adds his last claim of “Collective Intelligence” (Pg3.) Cookson’s three points tie into his main idea in my section by stating that, “We will need an education system that doesn’t focus on memorization, but rather on promoting those metacognitive skills that enable us to monitor our own learning and make changes in our approach if we perceive that our learning is not going well” (Pg.3). Metacognition is the thinking about our own thought process. Cookson feels strongly that Metacognition skills are important to assess our own learning and to make changes to it if something isn’t working.