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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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An Introduction to the Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy0
- Education
- May 12, 2016
It’s easy to look up at a starry night sky and ponder existential thoughts because it is such a natural human emotion to want to know if there’s anything, anyone else out there besides ourselves. Some other sentient, intelligent being that has evolved to the same extent as ourselves; capable of complex thought, emotion, and
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Why is Prostitution Still Illegal?0
- Culture
- May 11, 2016
Over the weekend, I read about a prostitution sting in Lansing, Michigan, that resulted in 49 arrests. Many of the arrests likely went down like this one: A man walked into a spa on Lansing’s south side on an early February morning last year and paid $40 for a 30-minute massage. Moments later, a woman
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Why Did Elvis Want to Be a Narc?0
- Culture
- May 11, 2016
The National Archives’ most requested photo features President Nixon standing beside one of the world’s most recognizable royals: the King of Rock n’ Roll. Is it genuine history, political commentary, a Photoshop spoof? Surreal but authentic, the black-and-white image shows President Nixon, wearing a full suit, shaking the hand of Elvis Presley, wearing … exactly what
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The Undemocratic Democratic Primary0
- Politics
- May 11, 2016
Bernie Sanders has won another primary in West Virginia, taking 18 delegates while Hillary Clinton took 11. But, as we’ve been told over and over again, he has no chance of winning the Democratic nomination. Why? Because of the “superdelegates”. There are over 560 superdelegates available. They are free to pledge their support to any
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