Another Time Another Place

By David Tinling

In the near future, the American government controls public education with an arbitrary, top down system. A progressive West Coast innovator is forced to go underground when the government orders him to stop training teachers. This novel explores his adventures as he attempts to restore individualized and brain-based educational programs to the classroom. His struggles move from the Oregon Coast to the Hebrides as his methods are deemed subversive, and he enlists the cooperation of a Scottish billionaire in realizing his goals. The open conflict wakes the nation up, but does it lead to any meaningful changes? Readers may be moved in that direction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514433072

David Tinling

David Tinling is a mind-body physician who graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine and was on the faculty of the University of Rochester Medical School. He lives in Vermont, where he writes fiction and poetry and makes conceptual art.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

S imon Clark was up out of his office chair and moving slowly back and forth in front of his desk, studying the items on first one wall and then its opposite, while pausing and looking out his window at the Scottish landscape when he pivoted and turned. He persisted, without speaking, without varying his routine for several minutes, deeply involved in thought, doing what he usually did to solve a problem, moving and thinking, as if in the action, the greater cardiac output bathing his brain, he would be more clever, more resolute, and wiser in his plans.

Simon was a large man, over six feet tall, broad in his trunk and with some extra padding around the middle, seeming to accumulate more as he approached sixty. He had been a good athlete when younger, versatile in his sports, from swimming to tennis and crew. He moved with a certain authority, as if his body knew what to do, even if his mind was still unsure.

Unsure he was, having just read the latest Survey of Education results from around the world. It appeared that over the last decade many of the advanced nations in the world were declining in test results and performance for all their students, whether the very young or the late adolescent. Simon was troubled, very troubled. He was on the board of trustees of a university. He had a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He had always loved to study, learn, research and teach. He had applied his skills to hard work in a range of areas, including medical equipment, pharmacology, information processing and now, whisky distilling. He was very, very rich

Simon had his own beliefs about why the educational efforts of well-intentioned educators seemed to be failing. He thought that the whole experience had become disembodied as year by year the digital apparatuses for supporting cognition had become more and more sophisticated. Some very smart people didn't own books. From the early fetal recordings through nursery media, into formal schooling, the digital world, the network of bits and bytes, seemed more real, more serious than the actual physical world of delivery rooms, cradles, strollers, chairs and tables, papers and pencils and blackboards and chalk. The young sat and looked and tapped and the unreal world responded and enveloped them in words and music day and night. These children were becoming obese, developing Diabetes and Coronary Artery Disease and other maladies once associated with aging. There were young men, not yet thirty, falling over dead from coronary occlusion.

Unreal world......spinning spinning the other way......whirling off.....way off.....upside down......all around.....moving moving.....but no connection.....London Bridge is falling down falling down.....Sir......Madam.....where are the bridges.....we need them now......oh god do we need bridges.....bridges to each other.....to our parts.....to our families.....to narratives that connect.....once was a time of nothing much except us......coming and going.....working loving dying......then came language art writing civilization schools books.....poets wrote what had been sung in chorus.....we learned Latin French German......we listened.....we drew.....we sent cards and letters.....we covered blackboards with chalky letters and numbers.....we were smart.....smarter than the ancients......smarter than the Dark Ages.....enlightened romantic modern.....moving moving growing growing evolving evolving......how sweet and dear that history was.

Simon had put his money where his interests were, funding health groups, schools and educational programs. Reading the recent reports, he felt that nothing he said or did was making a difference. Even when he spoke up at meetings or while giving a talk, he sensed that he wasn't connecting, wasn't getting through. People knew him, liked him, nodded and smiled when he had something to say, but never really got it, never really joined in with him. The money he gave seemed to get sucked up and spent on more studies or digital advances, which often amplified the very problems he was exploring.

He thought as he moved about his office that he had to change course, go in a new direction, but he wasn't quite sure what that meant, other than continuing as he was would be more unhelpful, maybe even harmful.

Let's pretend electronically.....Oh a game.....yes yes a game.....give me a pad or keys.....there we go go go.....so much fun.....lost here.....just into this.....into this,,,,,into this.....what could be better..... a coke.....some chips.....maybe a dip.....and keep at it.....what's my score.....what's yours.....who's winning.....I hate to lose.....see spot run.....watch him play......watch him jump.....Mary had a little.....very little.....who needs anything anymore.....it is a virtual world of plenty.....infinite plentitude..... always there for you and me.....just show up and there you are.....none of that crap of everyday life.....no jerks idiots parents siblings spouses kids foreigners.....none of that.....so cool.....so right.....so nice.....so very perfect

He had something in mind, something he had been considering of late. There was an American doctor, a mind-body physician, who seemed a kindred spirit, training youngsters to meditate, exercise, make art and use digital tools to enhance their own creativity. He was a maverick, controversial, outspoken and very critical of the established practices of American education and medicine. Simon had read one of his books and had seen him on television. Today, as he walked his walk, going over and over all he had done, he thought it might be time to call Dr. Dowser.

It's a lonely road.....this three score seven.....in and out of it by yourself.....oh solitude.....we meditate.....celebrate.....but connect......you and I.....others.....this group.....this team.....this community.....families everywhere.....by the time you know what you want.....you know who you need.....who is a problem....you pick and choose.....kindred spirits.....the power of two or three..........or more......... amplifier.....supports enhances co-creates.....back in your lonely skull.....billions of neurons flashing.....you in there....but not alone....you bring them in....imagine the possibilities.....transcend the dumb stuff of everyday commerce.....flying now.....you can see forever.....if only you close your eyes.....and bring them all along

CHAPTER 2

E ight hours away in an open western building on the Oregon coast Dr. Dowser sat comfortably in a reclining chair, his right arm propped on the arm of the chair, his right hand holding a small pendulum that was swinging to and fro as he seemed to be talking to it as there was nobody else around. He was a lean man, approaching fifty, dressed comfortably in slacks and a sweater, attending closely to the pendulum.

Am I clear? The pendulum swung forward and back and he knew the yes was true, indeed, it just felt that way, in fact he had developed such a strong kinesthetic sense from his pendulum dowsing that he hardly needed to dowse, merely knowing the answer in his gut, reminding him of the woman therapist who found her head nodding yes or shaking no with no need for further tests as she questioned her patients.

Dr. Dowser, which was not his given name, but a name he had chosen some ten years prior, and it had become his legal name, on his medical license, social security card, credit cards and everything else, had found his dowsing name useful and powerful in his work. There had been a movement in America to encourage adults to pick a name that suited them better than what parents had given them and he could have been their poster boy.

Dowse for water.....dowse for health.....dowse for truth.....huh huh huh.....mumbo jumbo.....New Age baloney....people have been dowsing forever.....pendulums branches rods.....thousands of years.....clear your head.....ask the universe a question.....is there water here......is there anxiety present,,,,,.is her heart healthy.....are his kidneys failing.....to and fro.....left and right....it swings.....clockwise and counterclockwise.....it rotates.....yes.....no....I don't know.....I can't tell you......centuries and centuries of this

He had been dowsing since medical school, over twenty years ago, but did not know it was dowsing in the beginning, merely a pendulum to engage the subconscious in a hypnosis seminar he was taking. He had found this work so fascinating that he continued to work with the instructor and began using hypnosis with his hospitalized patients, some for sleep, some for pain, and was thrilled by how hypnosis was able to help them without the added problems of drugs or procedures.

His pendulum pattern had remained the same over the decades: To and fro was yes, side to side was no, a clockwise spin was I don't know and counterclockwise was I can't tell you. He had learned to use the pendulum to induce trance by suggesting its heaviness and had found it a way to talk to the subconscious when people were unable to talk about problems or had a speech problem such as stuttering.

Don't tell the doctors.....avoid the chairman.....watch out for medical boards....OK with hypnosis.....in trance OK.....dangle the pendulum....suggest heaviness....as it descends....the eyes closing.....and when it touches the table....they enter trance.....or talk with them.....some can't talk easily.....trance can change that.....some stutterers are fluent......and if silent.......the pendulum in their hands answers.......yes no I don't know I can't tell you......maybe a question.......about your treatment.....is the anxiety gone......yes or no....how much.....an 8.....a 7.....a 6......take it down to zero.....dowsing.....getting a reading

It was only when a bright social worker told him that he was dowsing that he became curious about that ancient practice, which he had always associated with forked willow sticks mysteriously used to search for water. He attended a dowsing meeting and was fascinated by the practice and the diverse talents present, engineers working with minerals or dowsing for water, farmers treating their animals, investigators looking for lost objects or people, healers of many professions talking and listening to the body. While Americans liked using rods the Europeans loved their pendulums and there were artisans who crafted beautiful ones in myriad shapes and sizes.

He had found dowsing a big help when he was using energy practices to clear out trauma. While most therapists used muscle testing to ask the body questions that a patient could not put into words, he used the pendulum and found that patients liked what they saw, as if the swinging, blue ceramic weight at the end of a short chain, was visual evidence of their healing in progress.

Dowsing over the phone.....remote dowsing.....dowsing a map....for water.....dowsing a woods.....for a body.....that woman lost.....or kidnapped.....or murdered.....the sheriff a former client.....help us out.....DOWSE!.....The map..... her picture.....the questions.....they found her body.....over by the old mine......a shallow grave.....where the pendulum positioned her.....ask the questions.....get the answers.....we are all receivers.....of vibrating information.....that has no vocabulary.....just energy moving.....the brain translates.....ask the question.....the universe responds......be open for the answer

This hypnotic experience in medical school had steered him into brain science and mind-body medicine. He received combined Ph.D. and M.D. degrees exploring brain blood flow and electrical activity in psychosis. He then was trained in psychiatry while part of a neurological research team and followed that with training in neurology. By the time he was in his early thirties he was known for his expertise with psychosis and his ability to work at many levels with severely disturbed patients and their families.

Observe your family.....she they them ours........Gloria.....quick nerdy strong silly-serious.....loves the cortex.....marathon projects.....committees.....four days with kids in labs in Eugene......three days with Dr. Dowser.....here and gone.....always renewing.....how nice.......each eager to get to work Monday.....then the desire to see touch smell play on Friday.....Alex and Grace.....early teens.....bring a friend or two to the coast.....long hikes on the beach.....or in the mountains.....family walking and talking.....no electronic devices....laughing singing pissing and moaning.....a little tribe of dowsers.....right there in Oregon

He had married Gloria in his late twenties, a bright and pretty neuroscientist who was researching the aging brain. They had two children, first Alex and then Grace. His parenthood and his awareness of the severe trauma in childhood which pervaded the early lives of so many of his patients, found him addressing what might be done to prevent the abuse and neglect of children and eradicate the subsequent development of major mental illness. He had consulted with schools, which had inspired his book and film that had brought him to national and international attention and to our Scottish businessman's awareness. Simon Clark had felt right off that he had found a potential collaborator in education.

And so it was, late that day in Scotland, early that morning in Oregon, as Simon looked at his verdant countryside and Dr. Dowser looked up from his pendulum, at the long rolling waves of the Pacific, that he was jarred out of his relaxed dowsing dialogue by the ring of his office phone.

Dowser here.

Is this Dr. Dowser?

Yes.

Hello, I'm Simon Clark. I'm calling from Scotland. Do you have time to talk?

Dowsing the kids.....the kids dowsing.....meditating.....tapping.....by ten smart about energy stress breath.....reading poetry.....writing poetry....singing.....chatter and silence.....when to talk.....when to shut up.....when to be alone.....when to gather....... ....making crab and salmon dinners together.....Alex on the salmon.....Grace the bread and salad.....music cranked up.....dancing in the kitchen....eating inside.......outside... .....the ocean always in view.....Dr. Dowser paying attention to the kids.....getting brain waves.....listening.....who are they.....how different.....Alex quiet polite analytical droll persistent.....Grace an enthusiast extroverted athletic artistic.....growing shaping changing.....but the basics in place since toddler days

CHAPTER 3

D r. Dowser, by the very novelty and uniqueness of his work often received calls from curious strangers, some of them more strange than curious, but he had learned to take all the calls because they often lead to interesting conversations with fascinating people.

I do. What is it you wish to talk about?

I need your help. Not me personally, but maybe some of that, but my efforts in education which aren't getting anywhere.

And where do you want them to get to?

I may not be certain of the destination, but I am more certain of our need to get out of this morass we're stuck in, this modern educational monster. It is such a complex and distressing circumstance. and all the more frustrating because good hearted, intelligent people can's seem to find the answer.

Is that why you are calling?

Well, yes. I've read some of your writing and seen a film.

And?

And it looks like you are doing just that. Getting unstuck. Getting on with it.

And you like that?

Well, yes, I do. But nobody else around here reads you or takes you seriously. West Coast still has a pejorative ring.

To say nothing of dowsing.

The dowsing doesn't bother me. My uncle in the Highlands was a dowser, for water and the health of his cattle.

So you have some idea about its practicality.

"Yes. Practicality. That's a good word. It works at a basic practical level. You can see the good results. Which is just what our schools need and lack.

Gloria a major influence in their collaboration.....Dr. Dowser consults.......... .....University kids.....his ideas accepted.....Gloria a quiet strong presence.....seeing to the high quality of their learning......Alex teasing Dr. Dowser now.....knows all about the EEG.....feigning disabilities phobias craziness.....tries to catch and trip up dear old Dad.....often succeeds.....Grace more interested in arts and sports and boys.....but as a kid did a lot of neurotherapy with Pop.....she loved it.....the equipment.....the lights...... .....the beeps and bells.....mostly she loved being there with Daddy.....Gloria a whiz with brain training.........full of ideas about new tools.....programs trials.....they could talk for hours about that wonderful marvelous central nervous system

And there in Scotland, what is it you do? Are you the Simon Clark I have read about, who is rich and generous?"

Yes, I must be that one. I'm a biochemist by training, so I have a scientist's eye, and I have been fortunate in my endeavors as a businessman, from medicine to whisky. In recent years I have been putting my money to work in education, and this area now holds my interest more than anything.

To work? Is this more business, more profits?

Oh no, no, no. I've done enough of that in this lifetime, except distilling better whisky, enough for two or more lifetimes. This is strictly non-profit, where I hope my money and energy can help.

Help with what? What do you see as being the problem?

This comes back to my biological training. I think education has become non-biological, perhaps anti-biological.

Imagine Andrew Carnegie giving it all away.....350 million smackers.....he thought it obscene to take it with him......so he built hundreds of libraries across the land.....lovely......full of books.....for an industrialized America.....and hundreds of church organs.....not like the current billionaires......buying jets islands sports teams politicians.....Andrew gave to nurture the minds and spirits of Americans.....so tell us Clark.....what about you.....medicine.....whisky.....schools.....what's the connection....or is there one....pills and booze and books.....solid ventures.....folks will always get sick......and schools......everyone goes to school.....so why is a distiller of single malts so generous with his wealth regarding education.....won't that cut into whisky sales

Anti-biological?

Yes, you know, more digital and instrumental. More perversely results oriented.

Perversely?

Yes. As if taking a test or a test score were what education had to offer. I have thousands of people who are employed in my companies and their test scores only have a modest correlation with the quality of their work.

Modest correlation?

Ha! You are rebounding, bouncing back at all my ideas.

Yes. It keeps me focused and helps us define just what it is we are talking about.

I see. Certainly. Well, there are so many other things that make for good work performance, such as temperament, curiosity, likeability, energy, perseverance, cooperative capability, enthusiasm, you know, I could go on.

He is a scientist....a biological scientist.....ah that explains it....loving the brain.....what an instrument.....out of the ocean and muck.....from reptiles to mammals....layers of cortical cells.....figuring out what happened....who the hell are we.....what is consciousness.....how do we see.....hear.....learn.....love....create......now the government sitting......pressing on us.....taking the air out our lungs.....testing testing testing.....guess what I'm thinking.....Oh no.....you're wrong!.....so back to your studies.....study study study.....learn how to take a test.....learn what you need to know......to get into college.....to go to graduate school.....to get a job.....to be a good citizen.....to have a family......build a nest egg.....retire.....die......the American dream

The subjects not taught in your schools.

It's not that they aren't taught, but they are poorly taught, only glancing reference to these fundamental human attributes and how important they have been in our history, and the centrality of philosophy, literature, art and music; to all the elements of human wisdom that have lifted us from our lives as hunters and gatherers.

And when you try to include this wisdom, or maybe, whole earth canon, what happens?

Nothing. Well, not much. Others will nod and smile. Some remark on a book they have just read or a film they liked. But nobody takes it seriously. There isn't time. These topics aren't important anymore. Information changes so rapidly that we have to prepare young minds for a digital life.

Remember the researcher who took ghetto kids.......who had only passed and graduated from high school due to social promotions....who were awful students....and he got them into a college....where they wanted to blend in.....be like all the other students.....but he knew better.....you aren't students.....you have to learn how to be students....so they built desks and book cases......made their own books a page at a time.....improved language skills.....number skills..........and then...........after a year of this simple remedial work......began going to class.....built from the ground up.....rescued from their failing schools.......and failing ghetto culture.......hopeless futures.......they succeeded.....obtained professional degrees.....became stellar citizens....imagine how they would have done on our national tests out of high school......a stake through their hearts.....only prison or the military awaiting

And it is this digital life that supersedes everything else?

Well, yes, and from the top down. From the universities and education authorities, reaching out and making policy and protocols, algorithms for contemporary education, lesson plans, hourly plans, so that almost no time is left to engage the creativity or imagination of the teachers or students.

The teachers, do they like this?

Yes and no. Some know nothing else. They are trained, rather indoctrinated at university and come out as digital wizards. It is a little terrifying. They are so adept at what they do. I have been in their houses. Some do not have books or magazines.

What about those who are less keen about the electronic life?

Invariably they seem to have had bad experiences or to admire some people who think differently, how ever it has happened, they are more taken with the human side of human beings. Maybe there were books at home, or parents who read to them, or they went to museums and galleries, or they made videos, somewhere along the way they were touched with aspects of what is marvelous about human life.

And the students?

I like to walk behind the child.....to see where he is going....to be there for him if he stumbles or falls.....to pick him up....help him get back on his way.....not my way....or your way.....or their way.....but his or her way.....he is unique in this universe.....his path is up to him.....and we can help if he is lost....or unfamiliar..... or wanting in skills or information.....the best kind of instruction.....give her the tools and watch her go.....but never think.....never for one moment.....that you know the way.............for she is the only one to choose her path.....and my role is to be there.....but get out of the way.....she knows she can count on me.....but I won't interfere....her life is hers.....not mine or yours.....that is why I walk behind.....so I can see where they are going

They are mostly caught up in the work, the long hours, the stress of exams. Now and then you see one who is going in another direction. You can see it in their eyes. I think they would flower in the right atmosphere.

The right atmosphere?

Yes. And here is where I think you can help us. I think you see all this digital striving as misplaced, but you are no Luddite. The digital world is there to serve the curious mind, not the other way around. We are not machines.

We probably agree then on the fundamental importance of educating the individual person in a grounded way that includes how to enhance that process with any and all electronic tools that help.

One rainy Sunday in springtime.....Dr. Dowser had an errand.....asked his boy Alex.....all of 4 years old......want to go for a walk.....sure Pop....and without a word from Pop.....he ran to put on his raincoat....and then his boots.....and Dowser was tempted to tell him......or help him....but he just stood by.....admiring his efforts.....and then it came to him......like a wall caving in......he didn't have to tell Alex anything...... .........he knew enough to put his rain gear on....he knew his name.....he knew his address....their phone number........he knew to look both ways crossing a street....he knew to avoid strangers........and if he didn't know....he asked....and Dowser saw a picture of all those parents in public places....... telling their kids what to do....while the children's bodies stiffened... .........their eyes blanking out

Exactly. It sounds so good and simple and direct. How come we can't get there?

Maybe we are getting there. Talking on a phone, a 19th Century device. Using it to further human purposes. Dr. Dowser was feeling more and more fortunate about taking this call.

Ha! Great! I like that. Simon was delighted with their progress.

"You hinted at the temporal problem. Not enough time in the class for other than digital work. Not enough time in the student's life for