PerennialChild

Karma: 37

PerennialChild 6 Jul 2012 15:58 UTC
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on: Break your habits: be more empirical
Her five closest friends must have it rough. If she only watches movies that the majority of them recommend, and never contributes her own unique movie-watching experiences for her friends’ benefit, than she has established a “take… and take” relationship, a balance unfavorable to everyone but herself. If the rest of her social interactions are patterned the same way, then she is a social parasite.

Although, making movie recommendations may well just be a trivial aspect of being a friend. Far more important is if she comforts them when comfort is needed, recognizing her “altruistic” actions to be an investment to secure comfort for herself in the future. Unless she’s too analytical to allow herself to feel negative emotions, rendering that service unnecessary.

PerennialChild 29 Jun 2012 22:10 UTC
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on: Guessing the Teacher’s Password
This is no doubt a good way to control the problem, but I’m not grasping whether or not de-emphasizing the use of “passwords” would be the ideal thing to do. After all, language was invented so that people could effectively and easily communicate their understanding with others. It hardly helps to NOT drill in the common language to students, otherwise we’d be dealing with people using long, complicated circumlocution to describe what should be a very simple concept.

But this article is correct. Technical knowledge: asking HOW something works, and solidifying critical thinking skills is paramount to good education… but that’s no reason to be overtly strict, and doing away with verbal behavior. It’s been used and has worked for centuries, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s useless.

PerennialChild 16 Jun 2012 20:42 UTC
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on: A Fable of Science and Politics
Gregory looked at the sky contemplatively, arms folded across his chest. “It all seems very obvious to me,” he said “that if anyone was REALLY concerned about the color of the sky, what they ought to have done was sent scouts to the surface immediately to determine who was correct, instead of arguing pointlessly without any evidence.”

With a disgusted snort, he returned underground.

PerennialChild 15 Jun 2012 16:46 UTC
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on: We Change Our Minds Less Often Than We Think
That’s true. Matters are not helped by the value society places on commitment and consistency. When we do, in fact, change our minds, we are more often than not labeled as “wishy-washy,” or some similarly derogatory term.

PerennialChild 15 Jun 2012 16:25 UTC
14 points
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on: A Fable of Science and Politics
“Rachel glanced at the sky only once, briefly, before turning to study the expressions of the others who have inevitably followed her outside. She sees incredulity, defeat, unabashed wonder…

She proceeds to gather those with the most angry expressions into a group, and leans in to whisper something to them.

“Now the likelihood is that we can tell everyone back inside that the sky is green. All we’d have to do is make sure none of the Blues ever make it back, and we can say that they died in the earthquake. How many of you are able to pretend to be former Blues that have been converted? The rest of you can help seal up the entrance...”