“The Idea of Ideas” TTIX 2009 Keynote Address
I can’t bear to watch myself in any media… and I have a distinct memory of how rough the first few minutes of this address were. But in the end I think I got my point across. I’ll post more links and resources when I’m less exhausted, but the video is available, as is the full mini-essay I spoke from and the accompanying slides.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
amazing, amazing. I was completely transfixed and mesmerized. Much to ponder, read again, read anew and reflect upon…
June 6th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
You’re not wrong, there was a hiccup or two at the start, but when you got rolling after a few minutes…whoa! By the end, my friend, I almost had tears in my eyes; you know why (and I mean apart from the DFW quote.) We’ve talked around a lot of this stuff for a few years, but then you, as usual, get up there and tie it together so beautifully, and with humour and compassion too. It was an honour to be there. By the end you did have my UNDIVIDED attention.
June 7th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
A truly informative talk, and delivered mostly efficiently when the content is extremely entertaining in the mean time. Thank you so much. The quotes you used are great.
June 7th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I’ve only just read the essay–will look at the video asap–but this is major, major stuff, Chris. Wonderful. The Platonic ur-text here, for me anyway, is the Symposium, where Socrates finally does admit what he *does* know. And indeed, it is about love….
I am myself more persuaded by Gee’s book than you are here–but this raises a crucial question I’m thinking about right now and about which I will buttonhole you to hear your thoughts. Something about the experiential and the abstract in learning. More on that in Monterey if you’ve got time. Can’t wait to actually meet you after all these years!
It’s an honor to be in your cohort.
June 7th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I insinuated on ETW tonight that it is highly recommended watching for anyone who claims to be interested in either education or ideas and essential for those interested in both.
not that i agree with all of it
June 8th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
@dave I may not agree with all of it myself in a few days! That’s part of the healthy diversity that is so necessary, but so hard for me (at least) to engage with regularly… Thanks much for bringing it up on ETW.
@Gardner When I’d really given them some thought, Gee’s book was much more convincing. For me it’s less about agreeing or not, but about critically appraising and using them as a place to start our own investigations instead of *only* cherry picking parts we do (or only discarding the pieces we don’t) like. And quite honestly the dismissal of some important perspectives because of the distaste for the messenger is perhaps a bigger problem… for myself.
It means a lot to me that this made sense to you at all. You, and some things I’ve read/watched of yours, were on my mind when I was putting it together.
@scott @pumpkin thanks… it was a pretty different presentation for me… trying to model some of what I was talking about!
June 11th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
[...] who elegantly fuses the best of the classical and enlightenment characteristics of humanitas (my TTIX Keynote was, in part, an attempt to be Gardner-esque) with contemporary technology. Like Bryan, Gardner [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
[...] who elegantly fuses the best of the classical and enlightenment characteristics of humanitas (my TTIX Keynote was, in part, an attempt to be Gardner-esque) with contemporary technology. Like Bryan, Gardner [...]