Euclid, pioneer of two-dimensional geometry may have rolled in his grave when Madeline L'Engle answered: a wrinkle.
Forget that "strait-line" business. In A Wrinkle in Time L'Engle explains that the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B is to find a wrinkle in the time and space separating them. Suddenly you're right next to something that used to be millions of miles away, because the fabric of space and time is all folded up on itself.
Maybe this seems like cheating. But remember, this is the universe we're talking about. It's big and it's a wild ride, and we don't know the half of it.
Maybe it's possible to exploit the existence of unseen dimensions to make wrinkles in space-time. I don't know. Probably you don't either. But I bring up this concept the idea is helping me understand things we're learning in Digital Civilization. I'm learning to see wrinkles in the fabric of our society; they are very real, and they are exciting.
What I mean is that the fastest way to accomplish a major task in the age we live in is to find a place where the people you know and the resources you have get much closer to the leaders of our world than they reasonably should, making a social wrinkle.
Being a student at a university like BYU makes it easier to come across some wrinkles. Consider the recent opportunity of BYU law students to contribute a brief to one of the biggest religion cases to ever come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, BYU professors are experts in fields ranging from accounting to (of course) digital openness. Share an idea with them and it it just might come up in conversation next time they're invited to advise members of Congress, or White House officials.
Also, just living in a +Google, linkedin, email-connected world means we can create wrinkles. I think that's the fundamental idea behind the "social discovery" principle of modern education. Professor Burton outlined that idea here and here. Read about students who got feedback on their ideas from living, breathing experts in the field. (That's got to look cool on a Works Cited page.)
Conclusion: the hoops that you used to have to jump though to get taken seriously are irrelevant if you are digitally literate. Embrace the wrinkles.
Here's my full disclosure paragraph: I haven't read A Wrinkle in Time. Somewhere I just picked up L'Engle's idea of wrinkles and thought it was sweet-tastic. Also, I haven't contacted any living, breathing experts yet about my research. More than it being about nervousness to take a step of faith like that, I think the reason is that I've been caught up in the general principles of our digital civ class so much that I haven't made an effort to push in one direction or another with specific research. But don't worry, professors of mine: I'll dive into the pie soon. Right now I'm just still licking all the whipped cream off the top.
Maybe it's possible to exploit the existence of unseen dimensions to make wrinkles in space-time. I don't know. Probably you don't either. But I bring up this concept the idea is helping me understand things we're learning in Digital Civilization. I'm learning to see wrinkles in the fabric of our society; they are very real, and they are exciting.
What I mean is that the fastest way to accomplish a major task in the age we live in is to find a place where the people you know and the resources you have get much closer to the leaders of our world than they reasonably should, making a social wrinkle.
Being a student at a university like BYU makes it easier to come across some wrinkles. Consider the recent opportunity of BYU law students to contribute a brief to one of the biggest religion cases to ever come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, BYU professors are experts in fields ranging from accounting to (of course) digital openness. Share an idea with them and it it just might come up in conversation next time they're invited to advise members of Congress, or White House officials.
Also, just living in a +Google, linkedin, email-connected world means we can create wrinkles. I think that's the fundamental idea behind the "social discovery" principle of modern education. Professor Burton outlined that idea here and here. Read about students who got feedback on their ideas from living, breathing experts in the field. (That's got to look cool on a Works Cited page.)
Conclusion: the hoops that you used to have to jump though to get taken seriously are irrelevant if you are digitally literate. Embrace the wrinkles.
Here's my full disclosure paragraph: I haven't read A Wrinkle in Time. Somewhere I just picked up L'Engle's idea of wrinkles and thought it was sweet-tastic. Also, I haven't contacted any living, breathing experts yet about my research. More than it being about nervousness to take a step of faith like that, I think the reason is that I've been caught up in the general principles of our digital civ class so much that I haven't made an effort to push in one direction or another with specific research. But don't worry, professors of mine: I'll dive into the pie soon. Right now I'm just still licking all the whipped cream off the top.
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