Opinion Piece: Teaching; How Society Gets Taught History by Books and Media and Politics by Maurice Frank

Older generations writing up history such that everything used to be better and slagging “young people today” has been around cyclically for thousands of years, and is a regular failing of emotionally divided societies. But But I can see no other case in history, of generations having their whole era, including in what is believed possibly can happen, and their status in history, rubbished with the media’s approval and active taking part, as the present generations living after WW2, at the hands of oldies who also believe every epic problem imaginable was fought, won, and solved forever, entirely by them, entirely in the 1940s. Read more…

Thoughts on the Structure of Language

In the writings of Gottfried Leibniz can be found many elements relating to the possibility of a universal language. Specifically he was working on a constructed language as a concept which would gradually come to replace that of rationalized Latin as the natural basis for a projected universal language. Leibniz conceived of a ‘characteristica universalis’, an “algebra” capable of expressing all conceptual thought. This kind of algebra would include rules for symbolic manipulation, which he called a calculus ratiocinator. Read more…

Educational History: The Hedge Schools of Ireland

The Hedge Schools came about as a direct result of the suppression of schooling in Ireland. This history speaks of the innate need of humans to share and learn, and how central a part of social fabric it is. This history also speaks of the dark side of dominating powers to withhold knowledge and the means of mutually improvement from whole populations to deliberately undermine people and their chances to live rich full lives. Read more…

Graphic Information Design: The Function of Visible Speech

Visible speech or writing is one of humankind’s greatest inventions. Found in clay tablets from ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia and slightly later tablets from neighboring Iran (ancient Elam) – a partially deciphered script known as proto-Elamite details lists of raw materials and products, such as barley and beer, lists of laborers, and their tasks, lists of fields and their owners, the income and outgoings of temples etc. All calculations concerning production levels, delivery dates, locations, payments and debts. Read more…