Essay

ESSAY
Using computers as comparisons to the human mind, Lewis Thomas' "To Err is Human" stresses the importance of mistakes as a tool for action. He states that to err is what separates the humanmind and superhuman, electronic minds. While computers have the capacity to produce an infinite amount of precise calculations, glitches and errors will still be made, and the corrections made byhumans. He mentions that the knack of being wrong is "a uniquely human gift" and that it should be used as "a guide for action." Thomas stresses the significance of error as a motivation to illicit theappropriate response -correction in order to 
know.
Such is the idea that ties in with Howard Gardener's "The Difficulties Posed by Schools." Gardener makes the point that school fail to stress theimportance of understanding over the ability to "memorize and feed back definitions upon request." He adds that teachers do not challenge their students by asking questions "that will force their studentsto stretch in new ways which will risk failures."
Gardener maintains that genuine understanding is a low priority in scholastic education,  and becomes lost when teachers and students revel only inthe regurgitation of memorized facts and concepts. This poses somewhat of a competition between those "text-friendly" students who have that ability, with students whose intellectual strengths lie inother areas.
In connection to Thomas' notion of "error as important," Gardener upholds the same idea by stating that students and teachers together must be willing to "undertake risks forunderstanding" if success is to follow. This cannot be achieved if the only response desired are "ritualized, note, or conventionalized performances."
What a coincidence to be writing about the faults ofscholastic learning when, just the other day, I had discussed the same issue with my parents. I had come to the conclusion that, although blessed with high grades throughout my educational years, I did...