Knowing your limits
March 22, 2006From my TA: He’s explaining some bit of the mind-body problem to a student in office hours for the intro class I’m teaching this semester. She’s finding it confusing, and explains by saying “I like to think inside the box.”
No Responses to “Knowing your limits”
Good for her. I’ve had the teaching problem sometimes that the “box” hasn’t even been drawn and students are already trying to think outside of it. Case (and perhaps a relevant one):
I was explaining the selectivity of sodium and potassium channels to a student, saying that a sodium channel almost only fluxes sodium atoms, not potassium atoms. The student said, “so then is the sodium channel conscious?” and I just sort of paused and then simply said, “No.”
By cm on Mar 22, 2006
Wait, you don’t think sodium’s conscious? Talk about coincidence — the sentience of sodium is exactly what the TA was trying to open her mind to!
By ron on Mar 24, 2006