tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4865764596112100655.post6427562780426625440..comments2023-08-29T08:48:55.919-04:00Comments on Carol Diehl's Art Vent: Born to run?Carol Diehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023589628710711343noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4865764596112100655.post-20473457127056055082008-12-05T08:33:00.000-05:002008-12-05T08:33:00.000-05:00Obviously, these tests are not for the benefit of ...Obviously, these tests are not for the benefit of the child. <BR/><BR/>Supporting your related point, I came across this just a couple days ago in "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind." Suzuki talks about four kinds of horses, best to worst, and concludes that in Zen the worst is "the most valuable one." He goes on:<BR/><BR/>"If you study calligraphy you will find that those who are not so clever usually become the best calligraphers. Those who are very clever with their hands often encounter great difficulty after they have reached a certain stage. This is also true in art and in Zen. It is true in life...Actually it is easier for those who have difficulty in sitting [Zen] to arouse the true way-seeking mind than for those who can sit easily."<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, there's always Mozart, who apparently almost never made a correction in his compositions, just copied them down as they came into his head. That would be fine, too.Christopher Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00322514362857272534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4865764596112100655.post-60715502367583166022008-12-02T08:38:00.000-05:002008-12-02T08:38:00.000-05:00This 'streaming' of infants has a way of turning i...This 'streaming' of infants has a way of turning into an insidious racism - once 'we' start cataloguing 'natural' dispositions, musculature, frames, reflexes, we pretty soon get around to other aptitudes or inclinations. In the 19th century they called it eugenics and thought it was the basis for breeding better humans (and also for tacit policies of euthenasia and compulsory sterilisation). <BR/><BR/>It's something I would be extremely wary about. Unless the argument for some arbitrary ability such as sprinting a given distance, can be shown to be of overwhelming importance to society as a whole.CAPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09861096695503969576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4865764596112100655.post-49067265964771404242008-12-01T18:04:00.000-05:002008-12-01T18:04:00.000-05:00I wouldn't be so hard on those smart kids; I was o...I wouldn't be so hard on those smart kids; I was one and even though it looks as if you are really doing something, you <B>really</B> are! The problem is not the facility, it is the expectation of perfection and excellence which becomes an onerous burden to a child and, in my case, resulted in arrogant defensiveness which isolated me from my peers. I adored the process—if only I could have been left alone to pursue it where it naturally lead, instead of always looking over my shoulder for the approval of those who mattered. <BR/><BR/>It's a great pity that parents are so aggressive and controlling in their children's affairs. I am one who firmly believes in the importance of a pre-literary childhood. A time when imagination rules. My first "adult" moment came when I was actually able to read the hieroglyphics on the page. After fantasizing for so long what the strange marks were and copying them assiduously with my own hand, I felt betrayed by the ordinariness of the whole thing. How depressing it was; hardly worth the effort. I wanted to crawl back through the wormhole and reclaim my own splendid ideas. I must have been about 4 or so. There is no need for children to be reading earlier than this. And Sesame Street is an abomination! [Sorry to have got onto such a rant—you don't have to post this.]LXVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18396149640519096992noreply@blogger.com