Justin P. McBrayer, an ethics and philosophy of religion professor, has an opinion piece in the New York Times bemoaning the fact that students are showing up for college not believing that moral rules are facts. What would you say if you found out that our public schools were teaching children that it is not true … Continue reading Students showing up at college understanding the fact value distinction is a good thing.
Tag: Education
Writing Excuses: New season, a writing course by podcast
Many of my readers and fellow bloggers are aspiring (or practicing) writers. If you haven't caught it before, 'Writing Excuses' is a podcast about writing in the science fiction and fantasy genre. If you've ever contemplated doing that kind of writing, it's a pretty awesome podcast to follow, and even if sci-fi/fantasy isn't your chosen … Continue reading Writing Excuses: New season, a writing course by podcast
Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling: How not to be ignorant about the world
Worried the world is going to hell in a handbasket? You'll feel better after watching this video, and also get some insight into why you might have thought it was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg Watching this video also reminded me of something I learned years ago, not to trust numbers given in isolation. Whenever I hear about the … Continue reading Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling: How not to be ignorant about the world
Who’s afraid of math? Study finds some genetic factors
As someone who's never been good at math, I found this particularly interesting. It's strange that I've always been in the top tier of programmers on any team I worked on, easily gotten As in any programming class I took, and that programmers as a general breed tend to be good at math, but I've … Continue reading Who’s afraid of math? Study finds some genetic factors
How apraxia got my son suspended from school – Michael Graziano – Aeon
I've written before about Michael Graziano and his attention schema theory of consciousness, which seem to me to be the best candidate right now for a scientific theory that actually explains consciousness without resorting to magic steps or simply asserting that it doesn't exist. But this article isn't about that. It's a sobering tale of … Continue reading How apraxia got my son suspended from school – Michael Graziano – Aeon
Belief in immortality hard-wired? Study examines development of children’s ‘prelife’ reasoning — ScienceDaily
By examining children's ideas about "prelife," the time before conception, researchers found results which suggest that our bias toward immortality is a part of human intuition that naturally emerges early in life. And the part of us that is eternal, we believe, is not our skills or ability to reason, but rather our hopes, desires … Continue reading Belief in immortality hard-wired? Study examines development of children’s ‘prelife’ reasoning — ScienceDaily
Psychologists document the age our earliest memories fade — ScienceDaily
Although infants use their memories to learn new information, few adults can remember events in their lives that happened prior to the age of three. Psychologists have now documented that age seven is when these earliest memories tend to fade into oblivion, a phenomenon known as "childhood amnesia." The study is the first empirical demonstration … Continue reading Psychologists document the age our earliest memories fade — ScienceDaily
Why a Larger Multiverse Shouldn’t Make You Feel Small | Max Tegmark
The Higgs Boson was predicted with the same tool as the planet Neptune and the radio wave: with mathematics. Why does our universe seem so mathematical, and what does it mean? In my new book, Our Mathematical Universe, which comes out today, I argue that it means that our universe isn't just described by math, … Continue reading Why a Larger Multiverse Shouldn’t Make You Feel Small | Max Tegmark
8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper
8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper. An interesting post at HuffPost on the effects of music on our brain's processing. In a perhaps not entirely rigorous manner, a chart linking different personality types is presented. I wonder what my habit of listening to podcasts on my daily walks … Continue reading 8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits our Brains | Belle Beth Cooper
SelfAwarePatterns 