he earliest form of a writing system found in the Incan Empire of South America prior to colonialism was the Quipu. Although writing system may not be fitting, it served as some sort of a "transmittal system." The quipu is colored strings made of wool and cotton which are joined in many different ways and knotted in order to communicate. Several South American societies were capable of reading it. Upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1531, the conquistadors were suspicious of the quipu and burned most of them. To this day, only 300 quipu's remain. As to what the Incans were communicating with each other about, archaeologists remain uncertain. They do know however that they were used for administrative purposes such as tracking tributes. They might also have been used as maps or legends to be told orally in the future. Little is still known about this fascinating system of communication.

This makes me think back to the other day in class when Dr. Wesch brought up excellent questions. Who decided in 16 weeks is enough time to be educated in a certain subject? We cram so much information into such a short amount of time. Even the way we are taught to learn is sometimes misguiding. Ken Robinson makes a great point when he states the following: "All children are born artists...either we grow into it or we grow out of it or rather we get educated out of it."