Two Heretical Posts from a Good Student Blog
Friday, 9 November 2007 Clay Burell 
Print This Post
JoonPyo, whether he realizes it or not, gives Sam Harris some competition with his “God Did It” post, in which he constructs a decent hypothesis on the historical and psychological origins of religion, and its survival in the world today. Nice style, nice argument, though no connectivism with other writers, which damns this fine post to the status of a tree falling in the forest, or the sound of one hand clapping (but one thing at a time – he’s finally putting some effort into his writing, and probably producing better stuff than he ever did for teacher assigned “writing” – a.k.a. “homework”). Here’s a snippet, though you’d enjoy the whole thing:
As we learned more about the world, and more scientific ideas replaced superstition, the need for multiple gods disappeared. We realized that weather couldn’t be influenced by praying, so we got rid of the rain god, and the sun god, and whatever other god there may have been.
Today, most religions are monotheistic. There’s just God himself. But why do we still need this god? Because we cannot answer the questions I posed at the beginning of this post. We don’t know where we came from, or why we’re here so we just explain it away as an act of God. God put us here. God did it.
While I have no issues with Joon’s religious skepticism, his skepticism toward the merit of Apple compared to Microsoft and PCs is something I do indeed take issue with. He attacks Apple for being incompatible with most Korean websites, when really, I’d argue the issue is that Korea is shamefully out of touch with international standards of web-compliance as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Why blame Apple and Firefox for the bad code used across the board by Korean web-designers? Like Korean conformity and xenophobia generally – and these are uncontested givens about today’s Korea – Korean digital practice is out of touch with the world. Since Joon is interested in a future in the tech industry, maybe he can drag Korea out of its isolationist cage and align it with the world’s best practices. Korea has a need for a digital rebel and visionary – maybe Joon will fill that need after high school?
Joon also shows a lamentably passive conception of the uses of the internet:
….unless you’re using IE, you’re stuck with a non-functional website. As a Korean, using a Mac severely limits my web surfing. I can’t buy things from an online mall. I can’t use online banking services. I can’t play online games. I can’t even check my e-mail if I’m using a Korean service provider. The list goes on.
All passive (okay, gaming is active, but you’re still not creating any content yourself): all Web 1.0. More ammo against the “digital native” superiority argument. The young form habits and comfort zones too. Joon argues for Active X as the solution to Apple and Firefox, but doesn’t address the fact that that solution comes at the expense of all the viruses, malware, spyware, and so forth that we Apple and Firefox users are blissfully unconcerned with.
If any of you evangelists for the old religion (churches, mosques, etc) or the new (Apple) want to visit Joon for some proselytizing, you’ve got the links 
- “That’s not Homework; That’s Writing”: Authentic Student Blogging (Presentation Snippet 2)
- Student Project Blog as “Business”?! Podcast with Two PLN Class Students
- Blogging Parent Letter: Choose Your Privacy Levels
- From “LeaderTalk” to “LearnerTalk”: Global Student Edublog Coming Soon, Seeks Your Input
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: blogging, languagearts, lesson, professional development, project-based learning, web2.0, writing Print This Post
No. 1 — November 10th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Clay, I like that you’re linking to student blogs. It reminds of an ex-student who came to me this year with an essay from her new teacher. She didn’t understand any of the corrections, and a conference with the teacher had already failed to clarify, so I tried to decipher, and hoped that my idea of good writing would be the same as this teacher’s.
This year, I haven’t wasted even a drop of ink on a student ‘paper.’ What you’re doing here is surely way better feedback.
This post also reminds me of the student bloggers I had last year, when I had a class blog where I’d highlight students posts. But again, I like how you’re doing that here, at Beyond-School, rather than on an insular ‘class’ blog. How does the parent permission factor in? Is this a privacy level?
Reply
No. 2 — November 10th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Since JoonPyo is as common a name in Korea as “John,” I don’t see how this is a privacy issue. Plus he’s a brilliant writer and scholar, so I’m really responding to him like I would any other serious thinker.
He’ll be an adult in 8 months. I figure I’ll treat him like one now.
I’ll beg forgiveness if anybody takes issue with taking a young writer seriously.
(But most parents in Korea WANT a strong online presence for their offsprings’ academic work. They see it as the affirmation it is.)
Reply
No. 3 — November 11th, 2007 at 9:00 am
Clay,
Until I re-read some of the literature your class is discussing (college was a LONG time ago!), I feel more comfortable responding to the students’ blog postings than attempting to contribute to their literary discussions.
What’s the best way to follow the group’s postings?
[and do you have a formal reading list, just in case I get ambitious?]
diane
Reply
No. 4 — November 12th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Korean websites use ActiveX to improve security, not to weaken it. Plus, I feel that Mac/Firefox users overrate the danger of viruses. The chances that you will get a virus are actually pretty slim (yes, I’m talking about Windows here). I’ve been using the Internet since 1995 and I could literally count the number of times I got a virus on my fingers. Perhaps, people should learn to be more prudent about what they do on their computers.
Reply
No. 5 — November 13th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Could be true. So how do you account for the across-the-board thumbs-down that Vista gets in comparison with Leopard (or even Tiger)?
For example (and there are many more): But it’s impossible to miss the refinement infused throughout Apple’s new operating system, whereas there are compromises in Vista that impinge upon the user experience without giving something back in return. Apple is focused on the user experience, while Microsoft appears to be focused on antipiracy, overengineered security protections, and digital rights management aimed at serving its prospective third-party partners.
There’s really no contest. Tiger is a better OS than Vista, and there are no long-term downsides to Leopard. Vista doesn’t measure up. From this review.
Reply
No. 6 — March 30th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Daniel Pink in “A Whole New Mind” gives an interesting theory on man’s search for meaning. As the world becomes more abundant and we all have more stuff we begin to realize that stuff isn’t making us happy. This void of meaning pushes us on for something bigger than ourselves.
I’ve found this experience to be personally true. After having worked in the glorious pits of the Chicago Board of Trade in the world of Options Trading I needed something else. Money just didn’t do it anymore.
Charlie A. Roy’s last blog post..Four Steps to More Time Continued…
Reply