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5 Ways to Practice Positive Skepticism 0
- Education
- April 13, 2016
Skepticism vs. cynicism: the modern day quest for certainty. Cynics are those who distrust most information they hear or see, and even more so when the information challenges their own system of beliefs. Because of this they tend to be intolerant of other people’s ideas. Skepticism, by comparison, is a key part of the critical
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Is Kleptocracy the Most Common Form of Government?0
- Economics
- April 13, 2016
“Kleptocracy” means “rule by thieves”. People have been complaining for millennia that such is what their government is. How common is such rule? And if it’s that common, can much be done about it? In his classic book The City of God, St. Augustine lamented that the Roman Empire, having been built by force and fraud,
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7 Highly Profound Quotes from E.B. White 0
- Culture
- April 13, 2016
1) “If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” 2)
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Millicent, Zombies, and the Gullibility of Americans 0
- Culture
- April 13, 2016
By now you’ve likely seen the video of the Phillips brothers pranking their sister into thinking that the nation was under attack by zombies. As USA Today describes it: “After their younger sister Millicent had her wisdom teeth removed, brothers Cabot, Hudson and Barrett Phillips convinced her that a zombie outbreak had hit their city.
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Is It Important to Support Small Businesses?0
- Culture
- April 13, 2016
It’s difficult not to feel a degree of sympathy for those arrested at the “Democracy Spring” demonstration on Capitol Hill. They are, after all, highlighting the gross injustice at the heart of our present political and economic system. Take, for example, the fact that, between 2007 and 2012, the two hundred most politically active corporations
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Does Abandoning Community Lead to Inequality?0
- Culture
- April 13, 2016
For years the people in my neighborhood expressed a reserved politeness toward one another. But last year, that politeness exploded into downright camaraderie. The reason? The city council decided to railroad a project through that the young and old, rich and poor, liberal and conservative commonly despise. P.S. A common enemy unites even the oldest
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