You've done a great job explaining this. Often when I try to explain to people why I have trouble sticking to a particular task (I can see 100 ways it could be better/combined with this other task/why it isn't worth my time, etc.) they interpret those reasons to mean "I'm smarter than you" and get upset. When we are talking sports, nobody has trouble with dividing people up as good linebackers vs. good quarterbacks (for instance), but for some reason when we start talking about how we learn and think suddenly everything becomes so touchy that it is difficult to have a productive conversation. The result is that "mainstream" school simply doesn't work for many students, and alternatives are often labeled "weird" or simply don't get the consideration the traditional schools do when it comes time to apply for a job/higher education etc.
I have no problem admitting that I can see interconnections and visualize how things could be better/bigger/fit together with something else and what tools would be needed etc., but am absolutely crap at getting anything done (I can always see another way to improve or change). I often envy people who think linearly and can work through a problem/stick to the original problem, but I'm never going to be that guy. And they are never going to be me (no matter how hard I try, I'm never going to be Michael Jordan on the court either).
Somehow in learning/teaching we need to have some system that recognizes that when it comes to the creation of knowledge in our world today it is a team effort, and just like a sports team, each person has different talents and abilities. We would all be so much better off with a system like that vs. one where everyone is forced into doing the same thing everyone else is doing.
Remarkbox