[LINK] gps on kids...

[Marghanita da Cruz]

David Lochrin wrote:
> On Wednesday 14 January 2009 18:22, Birch Jim wrote:
>> There's a parallel with the Internet/media world of today.  
>> Massive instant information/stimulation available but we're 
>> loosing the ability for sustained mental activity.  Reading 
>> a novel is beyond a lot of people and spending a week 
>> or two on War and Peace is probably too daunting for 
>> nearly everyone.
> 
> I don't know about the parallel, but the capacity for sustained and critical thought certainly seems to be declining.  Part of the problem may be that so much "data" is available we've degraded our ability to digest it to yield "information" let alone wisdom - like the glutton, we find it hard to say 'no' to another attractively presented morsel.  And the entire advertising, PR, and propaganda industry is devoted to training people to respond ~without~ critical thought which may interfere with the message.  Even some tertiary education has become focussed on "button pushing" training for immediate vocational value rather than the more difficult & demanding business of teaching basic principles.
> 
> Nowhere is the problem more obvious than in the collection of slogans and semantic trickery which has infested political discourse in recent years.
> 

I struggled through  War and Peace at school.
A few years ago I came read a hard copy of
Hadji Murad. by. Leo Tolstoy.

Seems you can now read this online ...
Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude.
eBooks@ Adelaide 2004.
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tolstoy/leo/t65h/

I find it difficult to get into novels but this summers
reading is a new book in  the Dune series and I am gripped.
Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson.

I don't recall the earlier ones being so topical but this
one talks about jihads and deserts. Even mentions tourists
and refugees not respecting precious water.

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: (+61)0414 869202