If there is a cardinal sin committed by the formal institutions of learning, it is that they do little or nothing to help students see the value of mistakes. Mistakes are something to be avoided at all costs. Students graduate … Continue reading
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The one indisputable intellectual talent of the human species is the ability to discern patterns. Mythology follows patterns; seasons, sex, the balance of wrongs and retribution, and so forth. Our knowledge of nature and the universe has been one long … Continue reading
I found myself amused–sort of–by this news article on how TV doesn’t seem to be reaching the Boomers, i.e., my generation (Study: TV’s Youth Obsession Backfiring). Here are some excerpts: A significant number of baby boomers – 37 percent – … Continue reading
To do science on the most basic, fundamental level is to observe some phenomenon of nature, and record what you see. Keep this up for long enough and the chances are surprisingly good that you will discover something, perhaps even … Continue reading
Just for a moment, let’s ignore the fact that the likelihood of someone who is truly rich reading this blog is roughly the same as Jerry Falwell getting his nipples pierced. In fact, let’s forget that this blog is probably … Continue reading
The intellectual legacy of the western world has few equals to the discipline of science. The careful, sometimes chaotic winnowing of facts from the chaff of traditional hearsay and bias is, in the words of a good scientist friend of … Continue reading
As I described earlier, the use of posture/submit behavior to establish social dominance is an integral part of our human biological heritage. It has always been a part of politics. In unthinkably ancient times, perhaps it might have been enough … Continue reading
My previous posts on the marketplace of ideas and posture/submit behavior were part of a train of thought that has been rattling around in my head for some time. It grew out of the insight that what we call the … Continue reading
In my last installment I made reference to ideology and ideologues as one of the great enemies of a functional, fruitful marketplace of ideas. This is self-evident to most people if you cite their least-favorite ideologues as hijackers of intellectual … Continue reading
Most discussions of ideas eventually invoke the metaphor of the “marketplace of ideasâ€. I’ve always assumed this alludes to the market square of ancient Athens—the Agora—where some of the greatest minds of antiquity thrashed out the issues and ideas of … Continue reading