An Inquiry into Inquiry-Based Learning
The Exploratorium in San Francisco’s Presidio district attempts to teach through the presentation of dilemmas. One exhibit, for instance, is constructed from alternating copper coils, one of which is warm and the other chilled. The coils wind around a cylinder, with the warm coil starting on the right and the cool one on the left. A hand placed at each end senses only one of the temperatures, while holding the cylinder’s center combines the two sensations. The result is unexpected. The brain signals a burning pain, and the observer invariably recoils from the exhibit, only to discover his hands unharmed. The exhibit thus asks: you sense searing pain, but without cause. Why?
Rebreather Trip (Aug 20-22 in Morehead City, NC)
Long considered the province of the well-to-do and dare-to-do, the closed circuit rebreather (CCR) has become a more common sight both at sea and in cave country. Ten years ago, the CCR was the Aston Martin of scuba diving: expensive, exotic, and ostensibly dangerous. Its users were pioneers in a sport that has had no dearth of risk-takers. But with at least 11 commercial models available today, the CCR is more like a Corvette or a 7-series BMW. No longer considered a “death machine”, it is drawing interest from wider circles of recreational and technical open circuit divers. Nonetheless, CCR divers do not normally congregate in large groups, so most dive operators have not yet oriented their operations toward this audience.
It was therefore significant when 16 CCR divers assembled on August 20th at Olympus Dive Center in Morehead City, NC for three days of silent diving. Olympus had never hosted such an event. As with any group of soi disant pioneers, there was much talk of being ‘on the cusp’ and ‘getting in at the right time.’ One diver likened the CCR scene to gearheads, who have little interest in the automobile as a transportation alternative: they seek to maximize performance for its own sake. Likewise, the CCR is not for those who wish to simply go underwater. It is for the enthusiast who craves long, deep, quiet dives. These parameters often preclude fellowship with ‘the OC crowd’, hence the incorrect perception of ‘rebreather arrogance.’ This label is often incorrect. CCR divers pay enormous sums-most of them hit the water with more than $10,000 in equipment-to liberate themselves from the sucking and gurgling noises of open circuit scuba. The ‘aluminum-80 diver’ renders this investment worthless, hence the annoyance at his presence.
California, Weird
More than a few friends have cautioned me about moving to California: you will be offered drugs, you will spend $10 on a sandwich, a man will try to marry you. California’s ostensibly high tolerance for “experimentation” and otherwise callow ethics has become an idee fixe for these wags, and the origin of endless comedy. But California culture merely follows Europe by widening the moat around personal preference: if you desire it, and it does not interfere with others, then do it. Very different are the puritanical politics of the east coast and the endless debates about whether Capote novels should be allowed in the school library or not. To me, these questions are a matter of perspective, and that is why I feel as if I am moving to another country.
No perspective, however, can convince me that preference can alter nature’s organization. What other gender possibilities exist?!
