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A Question of Access

 

Part 2: Chapter 11

Towards a science of knowledge systems

August 16, 2002

 

 

Purpose of the chapter

 

The author’s unpublished paper on converting knowledge ecology to knowledge economy will be rewritten to reflect the themes in the Question of Access.

 

The point will be made that the learned helplessness with respect to learning basic arithmetic is an impediment to knowledge sharing in social systems.  

 

The First Chapters develop the hypothesis that a type of learned most students in the pre-college education acquire learned helplessness.  This learned helplessness is specific to mathematics and science, but the effects of the learned helplessness are distributed throughout the mental image of self. 

 

The hypothesis is very controversial; of course the author recognizes this.  However, the first five Chapters of the book “Question of Access” will forcefully develop the research literatures and evidence that the authors feels is justified.

 

A type of “gentle enlightenment” is required so that a individual human who has mathematics anxiety will be able to come to a positive resolution about self worth.   The enlightenment is of the form:

 

“I understand now why I cam to fear even the simplest of arithmetic.”

 

The goal of the book is to set the intellectual stage for this personal enlightenment.

 

These notes are formative towards Prueitt’s new book on learning theory.

We expect that the book will be developed over the next four months.

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