Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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- Blog 3 Columns
Famous Journalist in 1920: One Day ‘The White House Will Be Adorned by a Downright Moron’0
- History
- May 13, 2016
In 1920, H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) was becoming one of the more well-known journalists and authors in America. And apparently, like many Americans today, he was disappointed with the choices being offered to the American public in that year’s presidential election. In article published on July 26, 1920, titled “Bayard vs. Lionheart,” Mencken lamented about the
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Expert: ‘Focus on Diversity’ Is Causing British Universities to Decline0
- Culture
- May 13, 2016
Should university admissions be purely meritocratic, based on students’ demonstrated academic ability? Or, should students with better academic profiles be passed over for admission in order to fill diversity quotas? These are some of the tough questions that British citizens may be asking themselves after a controversial article in The Telegraph last week. The piece reports that
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Atticus Finch’s Critique of the Public Education System0
- Education
- May 13, 2016
In American schools, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is usually read in 8th or 9th grade. As such, because students at that grade level have only had so much life experience, some of its more penetrating social critiques are often missed. The other day I came across one of these critiques. The significance of
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What C.S. Lewis Thought of Testing0
- Culture
- May 12, 2016
As recent years have seen a rising number of high-stakes tests for children in elementary, middle, and high school, more and more Americans are beginning to question the wisdom of testing. Claims of burnt-out, stressed children permeate the news and have caused many parents to join the growing opt-out movement. Like today’s parents and teachers,
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Study: Teaching Kids Philosophy Makes Them Smarter0
- Education
- May 12, 2016
Does teaching younger children philosophy make them smarter? A “large, well-designed study” conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that the answer is yes. As Quartz reports: “Nine- and 10-year-old children in England who participated in a philosophy class once a week over the course of a year significantly boosted their math and literacy skills,
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Study: Half of Your ‘Friends’ are not Your Friends0
- Culture
- May 12, 2016
Friends are important. The people we choose to let into our circle often shape our ideas and character. In a well-known passage from the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle outlined the three primary types of friendships humans often make. Most would agree that Aristotle’s categories of friendship are not equal; some clearly are deeper than others. If
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Science Fiction: Why So Many Intellectuals Despise It0
- Culture
- May 12, 2016
Do you want to rule a world? Blow apart a sun? Test a theory of community? Explore the very depths of depravity? End slavery and misery? Destroy all empires? It is possible. . . At least in the imagination. “The proper study of man is everything. The proper study of man as artist is everything
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Book BURNERS and Book BANNERS are Cut from the Same Cloth0
- Culture
- May 12, 2016
Book-burning serves as a powerful symbol of the dangers of totalitarianism and ideological intolerance. It conjures up images of Nazis throwing books deemed “un-German” on bonfires. It inspired authors of dystopian novels, such as George Orwell and Ray Bradbury, to warn of the destruction of freedom which the burning of books symbolizes and represents. Yet
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Are We Destroying Creativity by Overmedicating Kids?0
- Culture
- May 12, 2016
In recent years, ADHD diagnoses for American children have risen rapidly, particularly for boys. In fact, in the eight-year time span between 2003 and 2011, the percentage of male ADHD diagnoses increased from 11 to 15 percent. But is ADHD always a bad thing? Author and entrepreneur Peter Shankman suggests it’s not. Having been diagnosed
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