Monthly Archives: July 2010

THE BEST COLLEGE HOUR I EVER SPENT.

THE BEST COLLEGE HOUR I EVER SPENT. The best single hour I ever spent in college came in the winter quarter of my sophomore year. I was in a full-year seminar where every reading assignment was in great literature. The … Continue reading

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MY VOTE ON THE SOCRATIC METHOD.

MY VOTE ON THE SOCRATIC METHOD. On their blogs, which I check, law school professors Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit), Ann Althouse, and Stephen Bainbridge are discussing the merits of the Socratic Method. (The comments have lots of interesting opinions as … Continue reading

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SUPER MARIO AND INNOVATION.

SUPER MARIO AND INNOVATION. I have often remarked to the kids that their video games taught them very important lessons about how to think—how to learn by trial and error. When Super Mario entered a room, there were rewards for … Continue reading

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JOYCE APPLEBY’S DARWINIAN THEORY OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

JOYCE APPLEBY’S DARWINIAN THEORY OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. Niall Ferguson points out that for Appleby the changes we refer to as the Industrial Revolution were the result of an evolutionary process. Appleby’s theory stresses the trial-and-error process of innovation. He … Continue reading

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GREGORY CLARK’S DARWINIAN THEORY OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

GREGORY CLARK’S DARWINIAN THEORY OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. Niall Ferguson in his review of Joyce Appleby’s THE RELENTLESS REVOLUTION in the Times Literary Supplement (July 2, 2010) discusses two Darwinian theories of the Industrial Revolution that are very different. They … Continue reading

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BOYS JUMPING ROPE.

BOYS JUMPING ROPE. Back in the day, jumping rope was a girl’s sport and boys didn’t do it. There came a time in high school when the boys’ gym class was misbehaving, and the gym teacher made us run a … Continue reading

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GIRLS JUMPING ROPE.

GIRLS JUMPING ROPE. Here is a wonderful video of athletes in action. I advise you to stay with it to the end. It keeps getting better. (Here is a different link. (I had trouble with linking this, but I think … Continue reading

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MY MOTHER AND THE SQUIRRELS.

MY MOTHER AND THE SQUIRRELS. For the first ten years of my life, we lived in a house that had five pear trees in the backyard. My mother was in a continuing struggle with the squirrels over the pears. The … Continue reading

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INTELLECTUAL BATTLES WITH SQUIRRELS.

INTELLECTUAL BATTLES WITH SQUIRRELS. I resist the tendency to underappreciate squirrels and blue jays because of past failures at feeding small birds at bird feeders. Mary Jane also remembers with amusement my paranoia that hidden squirrels were watching when I … Continue reading

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ANOTHER NOVEL PRODUCTION CONCEPT FOR SHAKESPEARE.

ANOTHER NOVEL PRODUCTION CONCEPT FOR SHAKESPEARE. I posted here on a director’s concept of Prospero as a pizza chef who’s lost his position. The Onion has a report on another novel concept. To quote the director: I know when most … Continue reading

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