In a recent article for The Times Higher Education, a variety of university professors from Great Britain and Australia note a common theme in today’s students: an inability to read anything of length or depth. Take, for example, the following quotes: “Our undergraduates – and postgraduate students as well – seem mainly not to be
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If you’ve taken a course in “critical thinking”—or even just had an excellent teacher in high school or college—chances are you’ve heard of “the fallacy of hasty generalization.” There’s also the logically converse fallacy, which is equally common but unlabeled and often confused with the first. I call it that of “hasty counter-example.” For the
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A scientific study conducted several years ago found that the sorts of architecture once typical of “museums, churches, and libraries” has measurable effects on brain function that are similar in some ways to traditional forms of meditation. That’s potentially very significant, not only for the small elite that designs such buildings today, but for the
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Last week, former Stanford dean Julie Lythcott-Haims made a list of eight skills which every 18-year-old should possess. The list ran as follows: An 18-year-old must be able to talk to strangers. An 18-year-old must be able to find his or her way around. An 18-year-old must be able to manage his assignments, workload, and
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December 15, 2016, will mark the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s passing. Half a century later, I vividly recall the intense sadness I felt when I learned, at age 13, that he had died. It was as though I had lost a close member of the family. I doubt that I ever missed a single
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The results of a Pew Forum Survey, posted last week indicate that “highly religious people” are, on average, more engaged with family, volunteer more, and are happier overall than non-religious people. Before anybody concludes that “religion” is better than irreligion, however, three fair questions need to be raised and pondered. First, is this study isolated,
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