Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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- Blog 3 Columns
The Cult of Niceness0
- Uncategorized
- February 22, 2016
More than twenty-five years ago, in The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom pointed out that college students in the United States had become very “nice.” Students in general did not want to offend anyone and there was a constant concern to protect one another’s feelings. Bloom meant this as a half-hearted, even backhanded
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New Study Suggests Manners Might Reduce Obesity0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
Across the political spectrum an overwhelming majority of adults believe that it’s important to teach children to be well-mannered. Yet in spite of this widespread agreement, the growing popularity of etiquette classes signal that few people actually know what good manners really entail. As it turns out, good manners may solve more than America’s rudeness
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Modesty, Faith, and Burqa Bans0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
In America, talk about dress codes usually revolves around miniskirts, half shirts, and what sayings and gestures cross the line of appropriate for printed t-shirts in public spaces. Yet this issue could soon evolve into discussions of when dress in the name of modesty and religious observance also goes too far. This thought came to
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Many New Toys Leave No Room for Imagination0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
The other day my sister and I were reminiscing about the toys we used most as children. It quickly became clear that the common denominator in our play was a love for miniatures. We regularly used families of paper dolls, bears, and Fisher Price people (the old ones, not the gargantuan, unswallowable, and dumb-faced new
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George Washington’s Secret to Successful Government0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
Searching for the perfect president is quickly becoming the main goal of 2016. But as we continue on the elusive quest for an ideal 45th president, perhaps we would benefit from examining the first: George Washington. While Washington had a number of ideas on what made a nation and its government great, one idea in
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‘Peter Rabbit’ vs. ‘Polar Bear’s Underwear’: The Revenge of the Classics0
- Culture
- February 22, 2016
More than 70 years after her death, Beatrix Potter has a new book coming out in September to coincide with the 150th anniversary of her birth. The long-lost manuscript of The Tale of Kitty-In-Boots, which will be illustrated by Quentin Blake (the wonderful illustrator of Roald Dahl’s book), is already a bestseller. Potter, most famous
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Is the Pope Infallible? It depends.0
- Culture
- February 20, 2016
Since Pope Francis has seemingly jumped into the American presidential election with his comment about Donald Trump and building a wall on the southern border of the United States (see below), it’s worth clarifying what the Catholic Church actually teaches on papal infallibility. “‘A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be,
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Atheist Philosopher Describes His Fascinating Near-Death Experience0
- Philosophy
- February 20, 2016
Most students of philosophy will recognize the name of A.J. Ayer, who died in 1989. An atheist, he was one of the best-known representatives of a school of thought known as “logical positivism,” which holds (among other things) that religious claims are meaningless because they are not empirically verifiable. It’s therefore interesting to note that
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New Study: Parenting More Effective than Ritalin for ADHD0
- Culture
- February 19, 2016
Do you believe that kids today are overmedicated for issues like ADHD? If so, a new study out of the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology may lend credibility to your belief. According to The New York Times: “The study enrolled 146 children with an A.D.H.D. diagnosis from ages 5 to 12 and randomly
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