Silentio

I came to post the same thing about middle school. I'm sure they had us working in MS Frontpage. The bad old days, but I was fascinated.

Not a bad question. I am absolutely in grad school for the degree. It is not, however, my first reason for being in grad school or even one of my primary reasons.

Much of what I am learning I could learn on my own by studying the books and thinkers my peers and I have studied in the classroom setting this semester; I know this to be true. The draw of graduate work (and any post secondary education as far as I'm concerned) is the opportunity to think alongside professors with a wealth of accumulated knowledge and wisdom in their particular field, and to think and discuss with classmates who share a similar passion to one's own. Learning completely on your own doesn't come close to the experience of learning from and with people who share one's passion for a particular subject.

So it's pretty disappointing when a rather large chunk of those peers don't seem to care one way or the other about real learning and application of knowledge, but only seem to care about the grade.

The basic premise of the article is that there is a reality external to ourselves that can be known outside of our particular systems of language and culture. If there isn't a transcendent "Truth out there" that can be grasped by a particular value system (science, religion, etc) then it is perfectly understandable that two people were convinced they were living in a different world. In other words, all worlds are "fantasy worlds," or if you like, "all worlds are real within the context of their particular systems of language."

>Two students asked if I was going to continue asking them about things they had never studied in the class.

I'm in grad school and people still ask this question after tests. Many of my peers expect only to be asked questions that have already been asked during the course of instruction, or at least ones that resemble them very closely. I think this is pretty good evidence that people are only in school for the degree and not for the skills and practice of thinking/wondering/exploring on their own.

This might have something to do with our generally rather antiquated public educational system that basically beats "wondering" out of students heads in favor of industrial education.*

*This is not true of all teachers or all schools systems, but it applies to much of my experience.

I love your comment and I think it sheds light on the possible way a Neanderthal really would be treated if we did clone one.

>What do you do if you’re Audi?

Claim BMW is playing the wrong game. Come back with something like: "King me," as an allusion to checkers, and then a quip about choosing Audi being the clear and simple choice.

Nice thing about social media, especially Twitter, is you don't have to friend, follow, or have any contact with anyone whom you don't want to have contact. Sorry Oprah, I won't be following.

Given how sure you are of it, I assume you have a quote from Roddenberry that backs up your statement.

I did screw up the quote, and I know it is about despair (different than depression, I think) but it popped into my head. I should have been more rigorous about getting the quote right. Sorry 'bout that.

I believe a quote by Soren Kierkegaard is apt in this discussion: "I have just now come from a party where I was its life and soul; witticisms streamed from my lips, everyone laughed and admired me, but I went away — yes, the dash should be as long as the radius of the earth's orbit ——————————— and wanted to shoot myself."

Funniest thing he ever wrote.

I agree and disagree with your comment. On one hand the tribalism in the article is a distraction from the argument he is making. On the other hand, it's pretty funny if you're an introvert. The following quote in particular, I think, was meant to be funny: "I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts," and not mean or serious. Looked at this way the "tribalism" in the piece is pretty harmless.

>Come on: “to go boldly where no man has gone before” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “to boldly go.” If it sounds better to split the infinitive, then take an axe to it!

It is likely that "to boldly go" has a "ring to it" because the author has watched hundreds of episodes of Star Trek where the infinitive is split.

To my mind there is nothing inherent about, for instance, the phrase "Man and Wife" that gives it a special ring. Instead it is the ingrained convention of the firstness of men that makes the phrase sound "right."

I am not saying the author is wrong about split infinitives, but the example, "if it sounds good use it," isn't a very good one.

Nothing about anything in this article implies causation.

I don't know if this is an appropriate comment, but I am interested from which flavor of Christianity you've "deconverted."

http://www.seeqpod.com does something similar, though it isn't as well designed.

Looks like they've been making episodes for shows on Adult Swim...

What happened at Facebook December 2008?

As for "aahs" and "uhhms," these happen to be Obama's worst verbal tick.

I feel the same way as you do. I am friends with some of the same people I follow on Twitter, and I follow people on Twitter (and am followed) by people whom I am not friends with on Twitter. I fiddled with FF a little and didn't feel the functionality it offered was that useful to me.

If I was a part of a large number of services and I didn't want to check them all the time, I suppose I might use FF. Facebook and Twitter, though, are too distinct to be paired the way FF offers, however.

If I don't stop watching videos like this I won't be able to enjoy Star Trek.

Yes. It was well made.

This drives me crazy too. All they need to say is, "87% of respondents to our poll blah blah blah." Not that viewers would understand the difference. Maybe that's why they don't say anything when announcing these polls.

Thanks. I will check it out.

As someone who recently moved to an apartment sight unseen (it worked out) and will be moving again soon under the same conditions, a decent rental site would be most welcome. CL doesn't cut it.

I have a small blog hosted with Dreamhost and I am very happy with the service. The whole company seems particularly creative and very responsive to any question or need I have. Tech support in particular goes beyond simply responding to a problem and has taken the time to teach me how to fix issues myself the next time. It's a great company to associate one's site with, I think.

Part of me really wants digital distribution of games, especially if it means cheaper titles. On the other hand, I'll miss being able to sell games to save money on new ones.

Compare DFW with authors like Albert Camus and Simone Weil and it becomes pretty clear a particular style has little to do with an author's perceived brilliance -- it's about ideas.

In re-reading this comment, I realize I should clarify something. I didn't mean all people who visit zoos are idiots, just the ones who don't know the difference between a monkey and an ape. Zoos are great places to learn, I just wish more people used them as a learning resource while they were there.

A well done feminist critique of fantasy, literature, and "real life," and he pulled it off with a sense of humor.

Read "The Colour of Magic" if you get the chance, it's hilariously funny in spots, especially if you're a little bit of a fantasy geek.

Interestingly enough, it seems that most respondents fall between 20-25 with the next largest group being 25-30.

>I was surprised because I thought the crowd here was mainly young.

Maybe there is something about being +40 that compels one to disclose one's age?