Langer sets the tone for her book right up front with a new preface in which she calls into question the notion of objectivity. Instead, she suggests that all information is manmade and thus both fallible and subjective. This is an interesting point for me to ponder.
On the one hand, I grew up, as Langer might note, "a good little girl" who almost always obeyed the rules and rarely questioned authority figures. The rules were the rules, plain and simple. Two plus two equals four. Always. How could there not be an objective truth?
On the other hand, Langer's assertion speaks to me, perhaps because it immediately brought to mind Mezirow's (1997) concept of "frame of reference." Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory has strongly influenced my own teaching and learning philosophy. Mezirow puts forth that we all operate from our own frames of reference, comprised of our points of view and habits of mind, which are, in turn, shaped by our individual experiences. Everything that we take in is filtered through our frames of reference. Likewise, everything that we put out is necessarily influenced by our frames of reference as well.
Langer's assertion that all information is subjective makes sense, then, as it is subject not only to the frame of reference of the teacher (what and how it is presented) but also to the learner (what and how it is perceived). I suppose it could be argued that information is influenced by the frames of reference of the teacher's teachers, too, but I think you get the point.
Langer has me thinking a ton before I've even reached the introduction! I like where she's going with this; though, I may need some more time to wrap my head around the idea that two plus two might not equal four….
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 74, 5-12.