Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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From Dummies to Blankies – When Should You Worry About Your Child’s Attachment to Comfort Items?0
- Family
- February 14, 2018
Many parents will feel a twinge of concern if their five-year-old can’t sleep without his dummy or their teenager refuses to throw out the tattered blanket she’s had since she was a baby. The topic of comfort objects is hotly debated, with some arguing that the attachment to objects from babyhood is childish, unnecessary or
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Chesterton on the Dangers of ‘Cloudy Political Cowardice’0
- Philosophy
- February 14, 2018
If G. K. Chesterton were around to account for what’s wrong with our world today, he’d likely list political correctness high among our current ills. The term itself would not have been familiar to him, but the phenomenon was. He detected in the atmosphere of his era a “cloudy political cowardice.” Instead of telling others
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The ‘Real’ St. Valentine Was No Patron of Love0
- Culture
- February 13, 2018
On Feb. 14, sweethearts of all ages will exchange cards, flowers, candy, and more lavish gifts in the name of St. Valentine. But as a historian of Christianity, I can tell you that at the root of our modern holiday is a beautiful fiction. St. Valentine was no lover or patron of love. Valentine’s Day,
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Should Schools Purge Literary Classics From Reading Lists Because Students Feel ‘Uncomfortable’?0
- Education
- February 13, 2018
The English writer George Orwell once observed that the “most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” This idea is working itself out in one of Minnesota’s largest school districts. A decision to pull two of the most influential novels in recent American history, To Kill
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School Tells Girls They Can’t Say ‘No’ When Asked to Dance….Because Inclusivity0
- Culture
- February 13, 2018
Have you ever noticed that living in a politically correct world is akin to navigating a field of landmines? The truth of this metaphor recently made itself apparent in the realm of Valentine-themed dances. The first instance occurred in a New York elementary school, which cancelled its father-daughter dance because it failed to
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Confabulation: Why Telling Ourselves Stories Makes Us Feel Ok0
- Science
- February 13, 2018
In a now classic experiment, the psychologists Richard E Nisbett and Timothy Wilson at the University of Michigan laid out a range of items, such as pairs of stockings, and asked people to select one. Participants consistently preferred the items on their most right-hand side. But when they were asked to explain their choices, they
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Children Are the UN’s ‘Secret Weapon’ Against Climate Change0
- Education
- February 13, 2018
The United Nations is an outspoken proponent of taking action against global warming, and enlisting youth organizations to participate in the cause has long been part of their strategy. Recently, however, UN panelists explained that getting young people involved against climate change isn’t just important. Rather, it was described as “one of the most effective
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Transgender Ideology Is Riddled With Contradictions. Here Are the Big Ones.0
- Culture
- February 12, 2018
People say that we live in a postmodern age that has rejected metaphysics. That’s not quite true. We live in a postmodern age that promotes an alternative metaphysics. As I explain in “When Harry Became Sally,” at the heart of the transgender moment are radical ideas about the human person—in particular, that people are what
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Bright Kids Shouldn’t Be Dulled Down with Drugs0
- Culture
- February 12, 2018
When my stepdaughter, Adrienne, was in first grade, her teacher pressured me to put her on stimulants. She explained that Adrienne daydreamed; she also became hyper when she learned something new. “Inattention and hyperactivity are classic symptoms of ADHD. They can be treated with Adderall or Ritalin,” her teacher explained. But I knew this was
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