Archive for July 2024
Question Authority!
In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing. – Mark Twain I confess to have…
Read MoreThe language of tribalism: How political shibboleths are destroying discourse
We live in a world dominated by the sound bite, the clip and all things scrollable. To facilitate this shortened content, different groups have had to find creative ways to convey great meaning in small packages. Though this may sound ingenious, these words — known today as political buzzwords — have had a divisive effect.…
Read MoreHow to Motivate Children: Science-Based Approaches for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] What’s the best way to motivate children? The intrinsic motivation to learn about…
Read MoreFriends should intellectually challenge you
When I imagined college as a place for intellectual growth, I visualized riveting exchanges with professors and radical arguments in textbooks. When I stepped foot on campus, however, I realized that my ivy-covered academia fantasies perpetuated rigid expectations of what qualified as “growing my perspective,” and I had underestimated the importance of developing relationships with…
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