article by John Huth in todays NY Times

[PeterB]

FYI

Theres a nice article by John Huth in the Op-Ed/ Week in Review section of today's Sunday New York Times, titled "Losing Our Way in the World".

It's tied to John's investigation into the world of primitive navigation that led to his book " The Lost Art of Finding Our Way" ( that's also featured on this message board) , but more of a personal reflection on John's own quest to become attuned to "navigation through environmental cues" as opposed to book learning and formal training.

My favorite part: when twenty three Harvard alumni and graduating seniors were asked why it is hotter in the summer than than in the winter, all but two answered incorrectly that the earth was closer to the sun in summer than in winter (it is not) . Where a neolithic farmer would likely answer the question correctly (drawing from his own experience that the arc of the sun across the sky is lower in winter and higher in summer) , the modern student would more likely grasp for "disembodied" facts or information from the classroom , media, or formal training rather than observations extracted from their daily experience.

[djlewis]

And on the front page, at least for a while.

Probably the first and last time for a long while we will see an image of a kayak there.

Nice work, John!

[leong]

John,

Very nice article. It reminds me of a book that I recently read, Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb. The author takes an extreme position on the relation of theory and practice. He argues that practice informs theory and not the other way round (of course, it is the other way around quite often). However, I think your article and book illustrate cases where practice does inform theory.

Also, I find it hard to believe that educated people wouldn’t realize that the seasons are the result of the earth’s tilted axis!

-Leon

[Gcosloy]

Still read the paper version of the NewYork Times which has a wonderful illustration for John's article. I have to say John-congratulations-publication of an opinion piece in the Times is no mean feat-well done. The article has prompted my curiosity to now read your book.