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Dr. Segal: THANK YOU! I loved the article that you sent me, and I sent it along to some of my colleagues at school (the Head of School, the Assistant Head of Academic Operations, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, the Middle School science teacher, my fifth grade partner, my third grade former partners (who teach the moon), and the school rabbis) and we now have QUITE the conversation going. My main challenge at this point is a limitation of knowledge; I really can’t speak in an intelligible way about what I’m learning, but can only point them to the Cobb Institute, your class, the article, etc. with the open of at least opening up a conversation. The Director of Curriculum and Instruction is a tough nut to crack. A scientist by training, she referred to physical, mathematical, chemical, and bioligical “laws” in her response to me, and I simply shared with her the idea of misplaced concreteness. I can at least hope that by introducing some alternative ways of thinking it might spark some intrigue! All are in agreement that wonder and awe are of paramount importance, and I again shared the idea that when science has done its job wonder remains. I appreciate this class so much.

Bill, the generosity and rigor of your responses to me are so appreciated. I am falling down the rabbit hole and into an existential crisis! I love your description of God and God’s role in my own becoming. I think missing for me right now is the theology side of all this, and I am eager to learn more about how I can access that. As someone who is neither a scientist nor a philosopher nor a theologian, the reading we are doing is difficult to comprehend. I do often plug it into ChatGPT for what I hope is a helpful translation/interpretation, but obviously I have no way of knowing whether it is, and even if it is, ChatGPT is a deficient alternative to a competent and compassionate teacher! I appreciated Rolla’s observation that Whitehead is largely inaccessible to the general public with regard to being understood and processed (no pun intended), and I have felt this acutely as I’ve tried to keep up in the courses with participants who have many years more experience than me (and degrees in fields that make the content more easily understood). I want so much not only to be able to grasp the philosophy, but to integrate it fully and reflect its beauty in my own lived experience. I also want to be able to share it with others, which I suppose I can do by example even if I can’t talk about it intelligently. In any case, thank you for taking the time to so thoughtfully address my questions. I am grateful and I learned a lot from you.

Mark, thank you so much for your response. To be clear, I am a strong proponent of wonder in my classroom and try to spend as much time asking questions (and modeling that!) with my students as possible. I’d say we lean into questions more than answers to the extent that’s reasonable. Fortunately, we have moved away from learning standards that are focused on content rather than skills, and questioning, analyzing, interpreting, critiquing, etc. are all skills towards which the students are building mastery. I have great success using some of the tools from the Right Question Institute. Hopefully my participation in the certificate program is some evidence of my commitment to reforming my practices by opening up my own understanding of the world!

I think what would be helpful would be to gather some ideas from our cohort about how to incorporate some process philosophy into my curriculum in ways that are age appropriate. I will likely post that in the Course 5 thread to make sure it gets seen! I appreciate your encouragement and support!

And another follow up question (this is keeping me up at night): if an actual occasion fails to achieve its subjective aim and concrescence is completed and the superject reflects that failure and then becomes the objective data to be pretended by the next actual occasion, is that actual occasion now going to amplify that failure? It its subjective aim an attempt at correction (i.e. does the original subjective aim remain until it’s achieved by subsequent actual occasions) or must each subjective aim be novel?

A follow up question: is an act of concrescence considered complete ONLY once a subject aim has been realized?

Te’a, I really appreciated your share during the post-exercise conversation about your experience of “it is cold outside” vs. “I am cold,” and how inhabiting the experience as a subject (as opposed to an observer) was empowering and endowed you with an agency that was otherwise lacking. I’ve been thinking a lot about that. When I am on recess duty during the winter, I’m always amazed at how many of the kids (usually boys!) are running around without jackets…and in shorts!…while I’m bundled up in my down parka with every imaginable warming accessory layered on top. We are living in two totally separate realities, and behaving accordingly. I don’t think I would have thought about “cold” as a uniquely subjective experience if you hadn’t chimed in, so thank you for that!!

Thank you so much for sharing this poem! I love David Whyte, but this poem has shown up at the perfect time for a friend who has declared her “aloneness” in the world. I am looking forward to sharing it with her. I think it will move her…and hopefully bring her some comfort!

Thank you so much for your attention to my query, Dr. Segall. I agree with you, and my final project (which I have to tweak due to some friction with the school administration) will focus on awe and wonder. I think that’s the perfect place to start. During his first lecture, Dr. Davis said: “Nothing in the metaphysical quest can be omitted; everything on the table of experience is part of the data we need to incorporate…it would serve us to have a metaphysics that allows experience to come in exceptional kind of forms and not simply just mundane, waking sort of forms.” I loved this so much I wrote it down because it is a sound argument that experiential education that “ensouls” the world is what kids need…if not to become process-oriented scientists, than to become joyful and curious and connected beings.