Message-ID: <9901059155.AA915548556@hudsmtphq.hud.gov> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 09:52:38 -0500 From: mailto:michael_o._patterson@HUD.GOV Subject: Re: Robinson Crusoe- A Challenge to Subscribers To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
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mailto:<ceramics@AfricaOnline.Co.Ci> AT INTERNET on 12/29/98 12:17:04 PM
To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU AT INTERNET@CCMAILDOM cc: (bcc: Michael O. Patterson/HSNG/HAR/HUD) Subject: Robinson Crusoe- A Challenge to Subscribers
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Question: If you were stranded on a desert island, one having all kinds of natural resources, what kind of education do you think would be most helpful in the development that will help you sustain your life? ---direct experience of comparable situation.
Let's assume you are a kind of Robinson Crusoe, with a few other people to keep you company. Having been shipwrecked, what kind of books would you need? ---see previous list,posted.
How would you build your shelter, your elementary tools and machines? ----The way everyone else used to. You don't need a lot on a desert island; in Minnesota, you need an "earth lodge", assuming you are fixed, or a tipi, with horses or dogs, if you are mobile. The Field Museum in Chicago has a Pawnee Earth Lodge, and sells postcards of it. basically, it is a log structure, with branches and then fine branches then earth spread on it. It is very warm in the winter.
What kinds of products would you develop, and how? ---It starts with utilitarian ones, then moves to beautiful art. Look first at what you have a lot of, then find a way to "meter" it.
What kind of educational backgrounds would you think best for you and your friends to begin your development? ----follow your fascinations. Start investing your spare time in this sort of thing. Volunteer in a museum, and learn from the other craftspeople. In my area, I would volunteer at Storrowton Village, or Sturbridge Village, and learn 19th c. woodworking and metalworking, and then move to leather and other crafts. There is a near explosion in Stone Age skills courses in this country, too, far more than I ever thought I'd see.
Assume you will be on the island for many years to come.
I would love to hear from anyone who would like to try answering this, even Robinson Crusoe copycats. Will someone please give it a shot? Please don't be shy now.
Reid Harvey Abidjan, la Cote d'Ivoire
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