Thinking critically on the job: do workers have what it takes (non-technically speaking) to succeed in the Age of Technology? From the article: To determine the most sought-after soft skills, LinkedIn analyzed those listed on the profiles of members who applied for two or more jobs and changed jobs between June 2014 and June 2015. The [...]
The costs of learning: prudent parents have thought of better investments than financing the studies of their children I am thinking of something I heard in Bologna, where I was a student, from a certain honorable citizen, the father of a legal scholar, who told me more than once that there was nothing he regretted as much [...]
No literature allowed: parents see little need for their children to receive a broad university education, as its ROI seems negligible. From the article: For me, there’s nothing more depressing than meeting incoming freshmen at Mason who have declared themselves as accounting majors. They’re 18 years old, they haven’t had a chance to take a course in [...]
Math and the Mayans: an archaeologist brings his engineering experience to bear in reinterpreting pre-Columbian calendars. From the article: Archaeologists have long looked to Venus to understand Maya calendars and tradition. But now, a fresh look at an ancient text called the Dresden Codex suggests that our understanding of how the Maya tracked Venus for their celestial calendars [...]
What was Shakespeare thinking (and why does it matter)? The ways that old, even ancient, methods of learning can produce original results. From the article: You take it for granted that Olympic athletes and professional musicians must practice relentlessly to perfect their craft. Why should you expect the craft of thought to require anything less [...]
Sifting through and sifting out: ways employers are testing the college degree. Do employers (and students) expect too much from university education, or too little? From the article: According to the Gallup-Lumina survey, only 11 percent of employers think graduating students have the skills that their businesses need. It’s not as though degree holders are only falling [...]
The arts of medicine: for those in the healing field, knowing their patients requires more than the natural sciences. From the article: "[T]oday’s medical curriculum teaches new doctors about culture and communication. It is no longer good enough – and probably never was – for a doctor to simply know the appropriate medication to prescribe or diagnostic test [...]
Poetic justice: how a poet may know the justice system, inside and out. From the article: Reginald Dwayne Betts has wanted to be a lawyer for almost as long as he has wanted to be a poet. “Poetry and law have always been intertwined in my mind,” he said recently, “in part because poetry gives me the [...]
A letter about writing: a correspondent argues against the mania for writing Editor’s note: The following letter, printed below in its entirety, was written in response to an earlier post, Against Reading. The editorial staff does not typically sanction the placement of readers’ letters in the monthly Observations, yet found that the author’s candor [...]
Explanation vs. perception: how intellectual comprehension gets it wrong Ibn Arabi taught through what was apparently love-poetry, and people became bitterly hostile towards him. This behavior of theirs was due to their inability to understand the projection which he was using, not to the reality of their imaginings. But their suppositions about him and his [...]
