"The Maker's Eye" Donald Murray
What Corporate America Cannot Build: A Sentence
Sam Dillon. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Dec 7, 2004. p. A.23
Great essay on why we need to learn to write clearly
What's Wrong With Writing
Lewis Beale. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: May 25, 2003. p. 14NJ.14
A report on why the essay above is needed
Willpower is best used with care
On the power of willpower in higher education -- and how to best use it
Australian Higher Education. Cordelia Fine | June 14, 2006
The Expert Mind
Thinkers are made, not born
Scientific American Magazine - August, 2006
Studies of the mental processes of chess grandmasters have revealed
clues to how people become experts in other fields as well
By Philip E. Ross
Series of essay on why people believe things that are false How to be a skeptic.
Shermer, Michael Natural History;
Apr97, Abstract: Presents an excerpt from the book `Why People Believe
Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition and Other Confusions of Our
Time,' by Michael Shermer
Paranoia Strikes Deep.
Shermer, Michael Scientific American;
Sep2009, Vol. 301 Issue 3, p30-30, Abstract: The article looks at the
psychological aspects of why people need to believe in conspiracy
theories. An example is given of the author's encounter with a
conspiracy theorist while attending a public lecture in 2005. Topics
include historical examples of U.S. conspiracies such as former
President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the Watergate Affair, and
the attack on Pearl Harbor, and improbable conspiracies such as the
U.S. government's involvement in the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks. I Want to Believe.
Shermer, Michael Scientific American;
Jul2009, Vol. 301 Issue 1, p33-35, Abstract: This opinion piece
criticizes instances where the desire to believe that something is true
results in obfuscation. The distinction between the desire to believe
and the desire to know facts is considered. The author considers the
usefulness of the null hypothesis and experimental principles in the
assessment of scientific claims.
Agenticity.
Shermer, Michael Scientific American;
Jun2009, Abstract: This article discusses worldviews that assume that
invisible agents such as supernatural beings, an unseen government
conspiracy, or a god can exercise control over human fate. The author
reflects on the evolutionary advantages of credulity when assessing
claims that there is a conscious force behind events that occur by
chance. Research in neuroscience indicating that people assign mystical
powers to inanimate objects by the psychologist Bruce Hood is also
described.
Patternicity.
Shermer, Michael. Scientific American;
Dec2008, Abstract: This editorial discusses the human tendency to
assume that there are patterns in randomly organized objects. The
difficulties faced by humans trying to separate true patterns from
coincidental relationships are assessed in terms of the evolutionary
development of human psychology. An article in the September, 2008
"Proceedings of the Royal Society" arguing for the evolutionary
advantages of perceiving patterns is described.
The Political Brain.
Shermer, Michael
Scientific American;
Jul2006, Abstract: This article reports on research into the area in
the brain responsible for confirmation bias--the tendency to seek
confirmatory evidence in support of an existing belief and ignore or
reinterpret disconfirmatory evidence. Before the 2004 U.S. presidential
election, men and women undergoing an fMRI brain scan were asked to
assess statements made by George W. Bush and John Kerry. Republicans
and Democrats were just as critical of the opposing candidate, but let
their own candidates off the hook for contradictory statements.
Common Sense.
Shermer, Michael Scientific American;
Dec2004, Abstract: This article reports on findings suggesting crowds,
on average, are smarter than individuals. There is now overwhelming
evidence, artfully accumulated and articulated by New Yorker columnist
James Surowiecki in his enthralling 2004 book, The Wisdom of Crowds
(Doubleday), that "the many are smarter than the few." In one
experiment, participants were asked to estimate the number of jelly
beans in a jar. The group average was 871, only 2.5 percent off the
actual figure of 850. Stranger still was the stock market's reaction on
January 28, 1986, the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded. For a
group to be smart, it should be autonomous, decentralized and
cognitively diverse.
Why Smart People Believe Weird Things.
Shermer, Michael Skeptic;
2003, Abstract: Focuses on the problem regarding the belief of weird
things among smart people. Objection against pseudoscience and
superstition; Social and cultural influences to personal preferences
and emotional inclinations; Principles of the psychology of belief.
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Bill of Rights
What you're entitled to as a citizen
Fear
Reading a Death Warrant in Tehran
Shirin Ebadi. New York Times Magazine. New York: Apr 9, 2006. p. 78 (1 page)
Life in Iran
Spooked
Fredric Alan Maxwell. New York Times Magazine. New York: Apr 27, 2003. p. 116 (1 page)
What happens when you're falsely accused of trying to harm the president
Angry Fathers
Sparing the rod doesn't always spoil the child. Great essay on corporal punishment
Mell Lazarus, The New York Times Magazine , May 28, 1995, p. 20.
The Smart Way to Be Scared
Gregg Easterbrook. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Feb 16, 2003. p. 4.1
Fear is a Weapon: how our government gets away with spooking people.
Fortress America
Matthew Brzezinski. New York Times Magazine. New York: Feb 23, 2003. p. 38 (12 pages)
Media
Media Follies 06
The most hyped and the most underreported stories of 2006
The press and the myths of war: . Chris Hedges. The Nation 276. 15 (April 21, 2003) : p16.
Fine essay on how culture and the media drive us to war. |
General
Show Me The Bodies
David Carr. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Jun 5, 2006.
Interesting essay on censorship and photojournalism in Iraq.
Where Does Your Tax Money Go?
David Wallechinsky Published: April 10, 2005
I'm O.K., You're Biased; [Op-Ed]
Daniel Gilbert. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Apr 16, 2006.
Are Your Tax Dollars Being Wasted?
By David Wallechinsky: Published: November 6, 2005
American Religion: The Great Retreat
On the religious beliefs of our founding fathers. New York Review of Books, June 8, 2006
How to Recycle Almost Anything
Heading explains it.
Predator Panic: A Closer Look
Benjamin Radford looks at child predators in Skeptical Inquirer
Just
Say No--To Bad Science; No one is saying that researchers cheat, but
how they design a study of sex education can practically preordain the
results . Sharon Begley. Newsweek (May 7, 2007) : p57.
Iraq Veterans on the War "The War as We Saw It"
New York Times: Aug. 19, 2007
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