Seeking Understanding

Jan Visser, Engineering Degree (1965), Delft University of Technology; PhD (1989), Florida State University. Jan is Theoretical Physicist and multiply awarded Cognitive Scientist. He is founding President & Senior Researcher at the Learning Development Institute and a former UNESCO Director. Jan publishes prolifically across disciplines in multiple languages.Muriel Visser, PhD (2004), Florida State University, International Development Specialist. Muriel is an independent consultant, specialized in humanitarian and development aid evaluations. She works for international agencies around the world and is an associate researcher with the Learning Development Institute.

• ForewordWalter R. ErdelenAcknowledgementsList of Figures and TablesNotes on ContributorsIntroduction: The Making of This Book and Its Roots in Creative CollaborationJan Visser and Muriel VisserIntermezzi: Thoughts Inspired by the Thoughts of OthersJan Visser1 The Quest to Know: Seeking Understanding and WisdomJan VisserIntermezzo 1: The Missing PieceJan Visser2 Context Is Everything and Everything Has MeaningRobert GreenbergIntermezzo 2: Life Starts Long before Its BeginningJan Visser3 From Preconception to Preschool: The Foundation of the Scientific MindEmily Vargas-BarónIntermezzo 3: Touching the Encountered WorldJan Visser4 Saga of a Small Science CenterArvind GuptaIntermezzo 4: The Worthwhile Struggle to Overcome InertiaJan Visser5 Expanding the Dialogue: Challenging the Mental Models of Schooling through Indigenous InventionPaul E. HeckmanIntermezzo 5: When the Sky Is Not the Limit, It Could Be the BeginningJan Visser6 The Inspiring UniverseGeorge Miley, Carolina Ödman and Pedro RussoIntermezzo 6: Never Ever without PassionJan Visser7 Playing the Role of Facilitator: Questioning the Curious MindJos van den BroekIntermezzo 7: On DialogueJan Visser8 How You Talk Is How You Think; How You Think Is How You UnderstandPaul WebbIntermezzo 8: Facing Life’s Biggest QuestionsJan Visser9 Seeking to Know and Understand the SelfPremana W. PremadiIntermezzo 9: A Sense of BeautyJan Visser10 Beauty in Science, Science in Beauty: The Scientific Aesthetic as an Evolving HeuristicMatthew CollessIntermezzo 10: Making the Unfamiliar FamiliarJan Visser11 Science Popularizer Is the Most Important Job That Does Not Yet Exist: Why Modern Societies Need More Science PopularizersLê Nguyên HoangIntermezzo 11: It’s Not Just a Right; It’s an Obligation to the FutureJan Visser12 Fostering Inquiry, Reasoning and Critical ThinkingJ. Michael SpectorIntermezzo 12: How Long Can We Still Wait and Who Takes Responsibility?Jan Visser13 The Shifting Mind of EconomicsMartinus Petrus de WitIntermezzo 13: Looking Back with a View to Looking ForwardJan Visser14 Invent the FutureFederico MayorIntermezzo 14: Culture of Differences vs. Difference of CulturesJan Visser15 Seeking to Find out Why Things Happen: Variations on a Theme of Diallo Sampa’s GrandfatherRalf SyringIntermezzo 15: Reverence for Life, Whatever Its ManifestationsJan Visser16 Nontraditional Pathways to the Development of a Scientific Mind: Examples from the Domain of PsychopathologyStephen P. HinshawIntermezzo 16: Homo LudensJan Visser17 Education in a Complex World: Nurturing Chaordic Agency through Game DesignCarlo Fabricatore and Ximena LópezIntermezzo 17: Where Science EndsJan Visser18 HIV, Medical Science and the Call to Greater HumannessJames LeesIndex