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Blog 3 Columns

  • Do the British Write Better Children’s Books?

    Do the British Write Better Children’s Books?0

    Both British and American authors have produced a number of children’s bestsellers. But, as Colleen Gillard argues in The Atlantic, the British may have an edge when it comes to children’s literature. Why? According to Gillard, it’s because they tend to produce more books in the fantasy genre: “The small island of Great Britain is

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  • Christianity’s Intellectual Foundation

    Christianity’s Intellectual Foundation0

    Christianity is often derided as “unintellectual”. Yet, if you actually spend any time with those making the most dogmatic arguments about the “stupidity” of religion, particularly Christianity, you get the feeling that few of those individuals have actually engaged in any meaningful way with the intellectual tradition of Christianity. In The Spirit of Early Christian

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  • Ben Franklin’s 3 Tips for People Actually Interested in Rational Debate

    Ben Franklin’s 3 Tips for People Actually Interested in Rational Debate0

    Benjamin Franklin’s famed Autobiography portrays a bright, talented young man, eager to be a success, but with a touch of mischief coursing through his veins. Reading between the lines, one can almost picture the spirited young Franklin as the equivalent of a modern-day Facebook troll. But something happened to Franklin in his late teens that

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  • Academic Writing is Becoming a Caricature of Itself

    Academic Writing is Becoming a Caricature of Itself0

    Much of modern postsecondary intellectual discourse emblematizes a regressive displacement of phraseology toward loquacious amalgamations intended to subvert intelligibility. Which is academic-speak for “Most academic writing these days is crap.” We’ve written on this subject before. In no other time in history have so many professors written so much that is unintelligible to the public,

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  • Yet Another Reason to Study History

    Yet Another Reason to Study History0

    The British author Hilaire Belloc once noted that “men are always powerfully affected by the immediate past—one might say that they are blinded by it.” When confronted with change, most people evaluate it based upon a very limited understanding of what’s considered normal. Our modern age, obsessed with diagnosis, has apparently come up with a

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  • Plato’s Very Relevant Warning about Politicians

    Plato’s Very Relevant Warning about Politicians0

    It’s amazing how relevant ancient works can be to modern life. Such is the case with Plato’s dialogue Gorgias?, which contains a very applicable warning about politicians. The Gorgias is a polemic against rhetoric—the art of speaking well and persuading others. Plato was not completely against rhetoric; he was okay with it if used “with

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  • Let’s be honest about the Cologne assaults

    Let’s be honest about the Cologne assaults0

    Awful things took place in Cologne and other German cities over New Years. In Cologne alone, 1,000 men assaulted women to varying degrees, including rape. As the BBC reports: “City police chief Wolfgang Albers called it ‘a completely new dimension of crime’. The men were of Arab or North African appearance, he said.” Ah, yes,

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  • Doctor: Overstimulation May Be Causing ADHD

    Doctor: Overstimulation May Be Causing ADHD0

    It’s not hard to find a child these days who has been diagnosed with ADHD. According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the number of children labeled with the condition had risen to 11% by 2011.   But a new medical article by Dr. Dimitri Christakis raises the question: are American adults

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  • Could Students Today Pass the 1919 SAT Exam?

    Could Students Today Pass the 1919 SAT Exam?0

    With the holidays over and graduation fast approaching, many students are preparing for a final crack at the SAT.  In light of this test preparation, it’s interesting to consider whether or not today’s students would be able to take one of the earliest SAT exams. Judging from the 1919 English Literature test from the College

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