Stephen Downes

Oy. I think that the lecturing career of Dan Hodgins - an "internationally known presenter" - is about to come to a screeching halt. This stems from a teacher who reported that "Red flags went up for me when, very early in his presentation, he showed a drawing of the brain and claimed that, 'Girls see the details of experiences... Boys see the whole but not the details.'" A detailed examination of Hodgins's claim found no evidence of the difference - nor of the brain region he describes, the 'Crockus' ("the detailed section of the brain, a part of the frontal lope"), nor of the supposed discoverer of the Crockus, Dr. Alfred Crockus, nor the Boston Medical University Hospital, where Crockus is supposed to have worked. The name, indeed, bears more resemblance to slang than to any living human (or human brain area). Crockus is about to come into existence, however, as a new award, the Dr. Alfred Crockus Award for the misuse of neuroscience. Hodgins has presented - as a keynote, no less - at a disturbingly large number of education conferences. More from Mind Hacks, Body Impolitic, Auntie Em's, Magnolia77sc, Ann Bartow, Alibi.