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An Introduction to the Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy 0
- 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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Science Fiction: Why So Many Intellectuals Despise It 0
- 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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Study: Teaching Kids Philosophy Makes Them Smarter 0
- 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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Book BURNERS and Book BANNERS are Cut from the Same Cloth 0
- 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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Study: Half of Your ‘Friends’ are not Your Friends 0
- 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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