5ish Quotes – No. 2

Posted by admin on April 23, 2008; This entry is filed under Uncategorized.
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Here are some quotes that made me think this week. If only these brilliant minds had more exposure to the minds that ail us.

  • Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity. Marshal McLuhan
  • A nega-watt is a watt of electricity that does not have to be generated because an energy-saving measure has obviated the need for it. Replace a 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 14-watt compact fluorescent bulb and you produce 61 nega-watts. Amory Lovins
  • We will soon discover whether this bold evolutionary experiment of combining a large forebrain with opposable thumbs was really a good idea. Over the next decade, our species takes its university finals. Get revising. Amory Lovins
  • Biofuels are a human rights violation. Instead of utilizing land to make food to feed people, we are using land to make gas to feed SUV s. Hann Chiu – November 20, 2007; as read on TED, commenting on John Doerr’s talk.
  • In spite of the recent hike in the price of oil, the stuff is still cheap enough to burn. Paul C.W. Davies in book What Is Your Dangerous Idea?
  • People want mobility, yet a hideaway “off the grid,” and to have the heart muscles of a hunter-gatherer, attained in a gym, though practically living in cyberspace, but still touch the earthly verities through yoga.” Edward Hoagland, in his Essay “Endgame”, Harper’s; June, 2007
  • Would Conrad and Melville have enjoyed the work on a container ship? Hoagland, again

Container Ship
by Melted Snowball, Flickr

  • At a deeper level, when we challenge schools to incorporate place-based learning in the natural world, we will help students realize that school isn’t supposed to be a polite form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world. Richard Louv, In article “Leave No Child Inside“

“….polite form of incarceration…” Ha!

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  • Hi Sarah: If you liked Amory's quote about opposable thumbs, you might want to check out his ideas at rmi.org. He is one of the deepest thinkers today on issues dealing with sustainability and the human prospect.
    I agree that classrooms are often the scenes of daily power struggles b/tw students and teachers. I believe that when teaching (learning) becomes engaging and meaningful, then both teacher and students start to realize that they are on the same team.
  • These are great quotes. I came back today to cite one of them (the opposable thumbs one) At a deeper level, when we challenge schools to incorporate place-based learning in the natural world, we will help students realize that school isn’t supposed to be a polite form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world. Richard Louv, In article “Leave No Child Inside“

    This one really touches me, because I see far too many people (media, politicians, even teachers) criticizing kids for failing to learn what schools "teach." Refusing to sit down, shut up and take the bubble test can be construed as healthy rebellion. Or a cry for help. I fear though, that the obedience power struggle distracts students and teachers from the real issues, no matter who "wins" in the classroom. We're in a fight for our very existence but do most of us realize it? When we are aware, does the situation seem hopeless? We have to educate, not depress!
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