Human Prosperity
Human prosperity has increased dramatically in the past 100 years. But we tend to focus on the glitzy technology, and overlook the big reasons for it.
Knowledge
Knowledge, Wisdom & Curiosity
The Ideal & Romanticism
How many of the Romanticists ever visited the peasants in winter? Did any of them bother to pass by their frozen shacks when there was not enough food, fuel, clothes or warmth? In its focus on the ideal, how much disease, starvation, and death did Romanticism miss, in the nature all around them, and in the homes of their poor neighbors? The Romantics are like all of us: we only see what we wish to see…
Scut Work: My Life as a Janitor
People think the life of an ER doctor, or any doctor, is exciting. Truth is, most of it is scut work. But then, most of life is scut work: there are no exciting jobs, only people excited about their jobs.
Blind Spots
“There is none so blind as he who cannot see.” Sooner or later, this is all of us.
Inferior Workforce Development
How could workforce development ever produce workers for work that doesn’t yet exist?
Colors as Shorthand (Ch. 1, Illusions)
Colors may not exist, but that does not mean they are not useful nevertheless. They are highly useful, and colors as shorthand help us process information more quickly.
Us vs Them
‘Us vs Them’ is pretty simple, from a strategic standpoint. When we decide that another person is similar to us, it means we are looking for cooperation, for peace. And when we decide that someone is different, we are looking for conflict and competition and ultimately, war.
Are Colleges Too Liberal?
Some years back, conservative columnist George F. Will argued that colleges are too liberal.
If liberalism means the freedom to consider new ideas, what else would we expect?
Busted Paradigms: Why Education Doesn’t Work
There is growing evidence that our brightest students don’t remember the most basic things they have studied, and that they are disconnected from the most general current events. When these ideas emerge, many people complain that schools, students, and parents aren’t doing their jobs.
What if they are doing their jobs?
Snake Blind
Scientists, doctors, and all of us, are snake blind: it was true for Galen, Vesalius, and William Harvey, and it is true for today’s doctors & scientists.