[ExI] scienceblind 2

[William Flynn Wallace]

Researcher hits a glass beaker with a metal pin, then asks what the 10 year
old thinks about it:

Kid - I think it's sound waves.
R - what do you mean by that?
Kid - I'm not sure.  They come from your ear.
R - How to you think sound travels from the beaker to your ear?
Kid - Your ear sends out sound waves and when the sound hits the waves it
comes back to your ear.

This is called extramissionist belief.  This is fairly rare among adults,
but what is common among children and adults is an extramissionist belief
about light:

When given a pencil and paper and asked to draw lines depicting light, Ss
draw lines from the eye to some object.  This explanation of seeing was
believed by Plato, Ptolemy and Leonardo, among others.

When asked what happens when viewing a light bulb, the Ss said that light
came from the bulb to the eye, but denied that anything comes to our eye
when viewing a nonluminescent object.

To quote the author:  "We don't see light as critical to vision."

I don't remember thinking anything like this.  Do you?  I never heard of
such a thing.

Much more to come about intuitive theories of the natural world.

bill w
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