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Blog 3 Columns

  • Is Comfort Dulling Americans’ Minds?

    Is Comfort Dulling Americans’ Minds?0

    Ancient Greece represents a time of almost unparalleled intellectual creativity in world history. It had Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Democritus, Solon, Herodotus, Archimedes, and Hippocrates.   But according to many authors, what Ancient Greece did not have during its Golden Age was an obsession with comfort. And this fact may have played a large role in

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  • How the Clock Changed the World

    How the Clock Changed the World2

    When people reflect on how technology has changed our lives, they usually think about the car, the television, or the computer. But according to historian and philosopher Lewis Mumford, it’s really the invention of the mechanical clock that changed everything. In his 1934 classic Technics and Civilization, Mumford laid out a fascinating argument why “the

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  • For These 10 States, Perception Isn’t Reality When It Comes to Education

    For These 10 States, Perception Isn’t Reality When It Comes to Education0

    Ask almost any American if the nation’s schools are in bad shape and they’ll likely say yes. But ask those same Americans how their local public schools are doing and you might get a different story. A new Gallup poll asked the latter question and found that some states have quite a positive view of

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  • Are These 20 Basic Skills in Danger of Extinction?

    Are These 20 Basic Skills in Danger of Extinction?0

    If teenagers today need to locate something on Google Maps, no problem. If they need to locate something using a traditional map, they’re probably screwed. Skills such as being able to read a map or start a fire were once considered essential for everyday life. Now, however, possession of these skills is increasingly rare. A

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  • Wisdom of the East: Saving Europe from Cultural Invasion

    Wisdom of the East: Saving Europe from Cultural Invasion0

    Editor’s Note: The following is an abridged version of Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán’s State of the Nation Address, delivered on February 29, 2016. It is published in translation here by gracious permission of the Hungarian Embassy in Madrid, Spain. Ladies and Gentlemen, The second and third decades of the twenty-first century will be the

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  • Why Superficial Conversation is Soooo Exhausting

    Why Superficial Conversation is Soooo Exhausting0

    Most of us have people in our lives—whether family, friends, or acquaintances—who cannot seem to talk about anything of substance. And it gets old real fast. Don’t mistake me: I’m not saying that every conversation has to result in an extended philosophical dialogue; the occasional chit-chat is fine. But there are those close to us

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  • When ‘Science Guys’ Try to Philosophize, It Gets Messy

    When ‘Science Guys’ Try to Philosophize, It Gets Messy0

    • March 11, 2016

    Many of you have probably heard of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” He had a TV show by that name back in the mid-90s. He can boast of real accomplishments as an inventor, entertainer, and explainer of science to the lay person. He knows a lot. So why does he get philosophy so wrong? For

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  • Test How ‘Culturally Literate’ You Are

    Test How ‘Culturally Literate’ You Are1

    E.D. Hirsch, professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia, has become famous for his advocacy of “cultural literacy.” According to Hirsch, “To be culturally literate is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world.” He emphasized that a “shared, canonical knowledge is inherently necessary to a literate

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  • Should the U.S. Become More ‘Isolationist’?

    Should the U.S. Become More ‘Isolationist’?0

    Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders support what is being referred to as a more “isolationist” foreign policy for America—and that’s undoubtedly part of their appeal. Americans have grown weary of the U.S. acting as the police for the world, of constantly intervening in the affairs of other countries. Many have asked, “Why does it

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