I hear folks complain that the overload of information and change is driving us crazy. A phone call used to be a rare interruption. Now, even robo calls “reach out and touch someone.” Continue reading
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Blog 115. Is STEM best for education?
Is a STEM program the best guide for improving our schools? STEM—the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—is advertised as “innovative learning,” and “the future of the economy.” That’s what you see when you type <STEM education> into a Google search. Continue reading
Blog 113. Information, misinformation and survival
Scientific news magazines now feature articles that reach out, not only to scientists, but to the educated public. The journal Physics Today, once of interest only to physicists, now has a section entitled People and History. How come? Continue reading
Blog 98. Minecraft or Mindcraft?
“You’ve got these kids, and they’re creating these worlds, and they think they’re just playing a game, but they have to solve some of the hardest problems facing humanity.” Continue reading
Blog 97. Seven Brief Lessons–without time
It’s about a space without time.
A small book, just a quarter-inch thick, made the New York Times bestseller list: SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS* by Carlo Rovelli. Bestseller? With that title? Continue reading
Blog 86. A message from Kathmandu
The story below is an email from an American anthropology professor who is doing aid work in Nepal. It illustrates what happens when critical reasoning isn’t applied in social or governmental services. For those of us who thought of Nepal as an impoverished but bucolic place populated by kind, reverent people, this report is a new view. Might the developing disparity of wealth and power in the U.S. eventually bring a similar social situation here? Continue reading
Blog 85. Should scientists become advocates?
Scientists are committed to tell the truth, as best they can from the measurements they make in the physical world. But you can’t apply a scientific statement, however true, to just any situation. Continue reading
Blog 78. The teen brain–rebel or recruit?
A newborn’s brain immediately learns who his mother is, but a teen’s brain seems to busy itself with learning what his mother forbids. We recognize that teens rebel. But they also join, seeking meaning as recruits for cults or terrorists. Continue reading