Reply to : stories.connections.moments.

I have been following my colleague Pamela Snell's blog Collectively Creating for Change for the past few months. Recently, she wrote


We use stories to decode the world around us, making understanding through moments of connection with others. We share stories with our friends, family and environment; building community, and provoking emotion. We each have our own interpretation and retelling of the same stories, this helps shape our sense of self and belonging. But in a world inundated with stories of little substance, we lack the ability to reflect upon and understand each other.  . . .
 
This relates to another thoughtful post of hers: The power of media or the poser of globalization? Here she describes the sudden appearance of laptops in an Ethiopian village as part of a MIT project: One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The concept is that without instruction, children can learn by themselves. I say: what's the fun in that? Where is the opportunity for the stories and moments of connection that Pamela observes are of value?  It seems to me that these connections are missing.

I am not surprised by the curiosity shown by these children, nor by their ingenuity in figuring out how to use these electronic tools. However, they are not monkeys. And as Pamela points out - why English as it's not their mother tongue? It seems to me almost inhumane to walk away from the one opportunity the researchers had to engage with the children, thereby losing the chance to participate in a process and witness the shared delights of discovery. To me, that would be the story that would be most interesting as it would encourage the interaction and engagement of researchers/scientists/technophiles to move away from their electronic world where there is no physical interaction. By being there with the children each could learn from the other.

Pamela goes on to alert us to the hazards of this reality:

We are left in a desolate environment, sifting through each others tweets in a desperate attempt to form a moment of connection.

And I would add, when we are offered opportunities to connect, we miss them as we look into our boxes of technologies. Are we fearful of curiosity and explorations?

I agree with Pamela as I too applaud the organization's aim to provide educational opportunities for children in rural developing countries. But I myself, far prefer the stories and connections that emerge through sharing discovery and learning from one another.