Re: [tips] Crisis of the Humanities II - NYTimes.com
Hi James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca >>> "michael sylvester" msylves...@copper.net> 19-Oct-10 9:27 PM >> ( >>> mailto:msylves...@copper.net> ) As a mobile disc jockey,I learnt that it is always best to play what people want to hear.I used to think that it would be nice to turn them on to jazz but it did not work.They wanted to hear David Allan Coe,Skynyrd,and AC/DC. The humanities and social sciences could possibly be history.Let me suggest that you read Thomas Kuhn I have read Kuhn and particularly like the following passages: "A number of them [philosophers], however, have reported that I believe the following: the proponents of incommensurable theories cannot communicate with each other at all; as a result, in a debate over theory-choice there can be no good reasons; instead theory must be chosen for reasons that are ultimately personal and subjective; some sort of mystical apperception is responsible for the decision actually reached. More than any other parts of the book, the passages on which these misconstructions rest have been responsible for charges of irrationality. ... Nothing about that relatively familiar thesis [i.e., importance of persuasion] implies either that there are no good reasons for being persuaded or that those reasons are ultimately decisive for the group. Nor does it even imply that the reasons for choice are different from those usually listed by philosophers of science: accuracy, simplicity, fruitfulness, and the like. " (Kuhn, 1970, pp. 198-199) Take care Jim --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5811 or send a blank email to leave-5811-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Crisis of the Humanities II - NYTimes.com
I think universities have largely undermined the humanities (and social sciences) by the growth of professional schools that become isolated academic units, usurping content from other departments. How many philosophy departments would be strengthened by business students having to take an ethics course from philosophy rather than internally (where they probably learn that ethics is "good business" rather than why ethical behavior might be a good in itself)? Or a history course taught by an historian? Or psychology courses taught by psychology departments? I would not be surprised if basic sciences do not eventually (or already) feel a similar pinch from the emergence of applied science departments. Chemical engineering becomes valued, but not chemistry ... Take care Jim As a mobile disc jockey,I learnt that it is always best to play what people want to hear.I used to think that it would be nice to turn them on to jazz but it did not work.They wanted to hear David Allan Coe,Skynyrd,and AC/DC. The humanities and social sciences could possibly be history.Let me suggest that you read Thomas Kuhn "The structure of scientific revolutions" where he talks about the necessity to adapt to the changing zeitgeist. The times they are a changing. Michael "omnicentric" Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5810 or send a blank email to leave-5810-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Crisis of the Humanities II - NYTimes.com
Hi I think universities have largely undermined the humanities (and social sciences) by the growth of professional schools that become isolated academic units, usurping content from other departments. How many philosophy departments would be strengthened by business students having to take an ethics course from philosophy rather than internally (where they probably learn that ethics is "good business" rather than why ethical behavior might be a good in itself)? Or a history course taught by an historian? Or psychology courses taught by psychology departments? I would not be surprised if basic sciences do not eventually (or already) feel a similar pinch from the emergence of applied science departments. Chemical engineering becomes valued, but not chemistry ... Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca >>> "Christopher D. Green" 19-Oct-10 3:10 PM >>> More by Stanley Fish on the impending death of the humanities. If you find it too long, be sure to read to the last three paragraphs before giving up. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/crisis-of-the-humanities-ii/?hp Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ == --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=5807 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-5807-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5808 or send a blank email to leave-5808-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] Crisis of the Humanities II - NYTimes.com
More by Stanley Fish on the impending death of the humanities. If you find it too long, be sure to read to the last three paragraphs before giving up. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/crisis-of-the-humanities-ii/?hp Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ == --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5807 or send a blank email to leave-5807-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] Fundamental attribution error/Cuban Americans
Cuban-Americans seem to be always reminding us that they and their parents escape Cuba with nothing on their backs,had to work very hard,took menial jobs,sacrificed alot in order to achieve the comfortable economic,political,educational, and community status. Although the same may hold for other immigrant groups,what the Cuban-Americans like Ricky Sanchez,Soledad O'Brien,Miguel Roig,Marco Rubio and others fail to tell us that when they and their parents escaped Cuba,the U.S government gave them all types of assistance from housing, financial help,and immigrant status within two to three years.As a matter of fact,a program called Pedro Pan,which brought thousands of young people on airlifts to Miami,placed those kids in orphanages,homes throughout the U.S, and in various schools (mostly Catholic) where they got good education and a chance at upward mobility. In some sense,Cubans fleeing Castro's Cuba,were the recipients of all types of assistance unprecedented in immigration history. Cuban Americans were also helped politically because of anti-Castro sentiment and found strong political allies with the Republican party.They never forgave the withdrawal of support for the Bay of Pigs by JFK and the democrats. Although immigrant enterpreneurs gett support from their associated groups,the Cubans gave support to virtually all businesses owned and operated by Cubans.Their strategic acculturation was successful because they could not return to Cuba so they had to learn good English.In contrast to other latino groups such as Colombians and Mexicans,Cuban-Americans had to asimmilate. quickly in this U.S culture,Colombians do not lose ties with Joe Arroyo and Shakira.Cuban-Anericans may be more into Rock music and not much into Celia Cruz.(I personally feel that the Cubans have the best of latin music especially the charanga). Cubans may also gain from the "affinity" variable-they look more European than other mestizos cultures of the Americas except for Argentina,Uruguay, and Chile. Last but not least,the fundamental attribution error,can be viewed in those Cubans who can play the race card.I call this the "mulatto escape hatch". Simply this means that a Cuban of mixed heritage can exploit both the latin and African aspects of the heritage to some advantage. My famous example of this is Soledad O' Brian. She has received many awards as both a black and a latin.The truth seems to be that in the Americas mixed heritage people emphasize more their European roots and downplay their indigenous and African roots.Soledad plays a good and economic profitable game. Michael "omnicentric" Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5805 or send a blank email to leave-5805-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
> >On 10/19/2010 8:22 AM, Michael Britt wrote: >> Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers. > >On 10/19/2010 11:06 AM Chris Green wrote: That's funny. I thought science was >a journey and we didn't have all the >answers. :-) > That's funny. I thought that life was a journey and we do not have all the answers. . Robert W. Wildblood, PhD Adjunct Psychology Faculty Germanna Community College drb...@rcn.com --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5804 or send a blank email to leave-5804-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
On 10/19/2010 8:22 AM, Michael Britt wrote: Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers. That's funny. I thought science was a journey and we didn't have all the answers. :-) Chris Green York U Toronto --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5803 or send a blank email to leave-5803-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
Allen, I was so entranced by the quote you posted that I went to the original article you posted (http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Dawkins.htm). Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting it. I'm printing it up to save. Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5801 or send a blank email to leave-5801-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
Great quote Allen. Thanks. Michael Michael Britt mich...@thepsychfiles.com http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt On Oct 19, 2010, at 10:10 AM, Allen Esterson wrote: > "It is a good question whether the Wittgensteinian account [previously > discussed] chimes very well with the self-understanding of believers, > and whether it matters if it does not. It has consequences for one > problem that troubles Dawkins, which is the extent to which even > atheists seem drawn to ‘respect’ the attitudes and beliefs of religious > people. Why should anyone ‘respect’ the belief that there is a china > teapot orbiting the sun? It is just dotty, and there is an end of it. > But if we see a religious tradition as a record of a culture’s ongoing > attempts to cope with fear and hope, life and death, gain and loss, > then it becomes a candidate for respect, just as much as the other > poetry and songs of our ancestors." --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5800 or send a blank email to leave-5800-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
Mike Britt started his thoughtful post: >I think most of us try to stay away from the >science vs. religion thing, but I might as well jump in... I really didn't see my post as yet another pot shot in the science vs religion skirmishes. (At this point nowadays I'm supposed to say that I'm sorry if anyone felt offended by what I wrote, I didn't intend to do so, not to mention that no animals or trees were hurt in the course of my writing and sending the post, and I must remember not to leave my TV on standby tonight.) I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of giving thanks to God for some peoples' lives being saved, whereas others have lost their lives (in the same, or corresponding circumstances) despite there being as much prayer devoted to them. Watching football (soccer to you lot :-) ) on TV one sees players crossing themselves as they come onto the pitch at a substitution (especially South American and African players, and perhaps to a lesser degree Spanish and Italian players). Obviously their teams sometimes win and sometimes lose, and the guy crossing himself every game must sometimes have bad days and sometimes good ones. And as far as I know, those who regularly have mediocre games don't cross themselves any less than their more talented colleagues – now there's an idea for a study which could win an Ignoble Prize. :-) Obviously the players know this, but it makes no difference. So surely something else must be going on other than a belief that God is going to give them a special boost that day. But what is it? I'll finish with a quote providing a way of looking at religion historically that I think is food for thought for atheists and agnostics, from the philosopher Simon Blackburn in a review of Richard Dawkins's book of essays *A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love*: "It is a good question whether the Wittgensteinian account [previously discussed] chimes very well with the self-understanding of believers, and whether it matters if it does not. It has consequences for one problem that troubles Dawkins, which is the extent to which even atheists seem drawn to ‘respect’ the attitudes and beliefs of religious people. Why should anyone ‘respect’ the belief that there is a china teapot orbiting the sun? It is just dotty, and there is an end of it. But if we see a religious tradition as a record of a culture’s ongoing attempts to cope with fear and hope, life and death, gain and loss, then it becomes a candidate for respect, just as much as the other poetry and songs of our ancestors." http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Dawkins.htm Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org - Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things? Michael Britt Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:23:04 -0700 I think most of us try to stay away from the science vs. religion thing, but I might as well jump in... The explanation of 'God saved them" always seems to come up whenever anything "miraculous" occurs after a tragedy and it has always bothered me because of course, one could always wonder why God didn't save other people who died or why God allowed the terrible event to occur in the first place. I heard the "God saved them" argument so many times in the Catholic church that it was one of the reasons I became an Episcopalian. Our minister/priest (whatever they call him) this past Sunday decided to discuss the "God saved them" argument during his sermon and he said this kind of thinking "makes for a brittle kind of religiousness" because the opposite argument (why did God allow this to happen) makes just as much sense. His opinion was that he didn't know why the tragedy happened or whether God was involved at all. Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers. That's a definition of religion I can live with. Michael Michael Britt mich...@thepsychfiles.com http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5799 or send a blank email to leave-5799-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] How To Live To 100 Years
One opinion on the matter by a centenarians |"There's no secret about it, really. You just don't die, and |you get to be 100." |- HAZEL MILLER, 100, on getting there. >From an article in the NY Times on four centenarians: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/health/19Voices1.html?th&emc=th -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5798 or send a blank email to leave-5798-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
I think most of us try to stay away from the science vs. religion thing, but I might as well jump in... The explanation of 'God saved them" always seems to come up whenever anything "miraculous" occurs after a tragedy and it has always bothered me because of course, one could always wonder why God didn't save other people who died or why God allowed the terrible event to occur in the first place. I heard the "God saved them" argument so many times in the Catholic church that it was one of the reasons I became an Episcopalian. Our minister/priest (whatever they call him) this past Sunday decided to discuss the "God saved them" argument during his sermon and he said this kind of thinking "makes for a brittle kind of religiousness" because the opposite argument (why did God allow this to happen) makes just as much sense. His opinion was that he didn't know why the tragedy happened or whether God was involved at all. Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers. That's a definition of religion I can live with. Michael Michael Britt mich...@thepsychfiles.com http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt On Oct 19, 2010, at 4:04 AM, Allen Esterson wrote: > Stephen Black wrote on the 33 rescued miners: >> Four psychics the government had hired to help >> find them said, "Forget it, they're all dead." > > > "Regardless of how it happened, the miners--and many faithful > viewers--are thanking God for their survival. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5797 or send a blank email to leave-5797-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re:[tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
Stephen Black wrote on the 33 rescued miners: >Four psychics the government had hired to help >find them said, "Forget it, they're all dead." Stephen rightly mocks the psychics, but he could have gone on to give credit for the survival of the all the miners where it ultimately belongs: :-) "Regardless of how it happened, the miners--and many faithful viewers--are thanking God for their survival. " 'I was with God and I was with the Devil, they fought me, but God won. He took me by my best hand, the hand of God and I held on to him I never thought for one minute that God wouldn't get me out of there,' said Mario Sepulveda when he emerged from the mine this morning." http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7027154-chilean-miners-families-thank-god-for-rescue-prayers-for-miracle Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org --- From: sbl...@ubishops.ca Subject:Why don't we hear more about such things? Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:40:17 -0400 The chief engineer at the mine in Chile where 33 miners were just rescued, describing how hopeless the situation seemed at first: "[He] remembers the early, gloomy days of the search, when initial drilling failed to find any trace of the men. Four psychics the government had hired to help find them said, "Forget it, they're all dead." http://tinyurl.com/2a3te78 Stephen --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5796 or send a blank email to leave-5796-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Are Genes Left-Wing?
John Kulig wrote: >Though what happened in history didn't quite fit the [Marxist] theory. >England and Germany, being more advanced in the Industrial >Revolution, were supposed to be where workers united. In >Russia, it was reversed, communism was used as a means >to industrial growth) Belatedly (not exactly psychology :-) ): More precisely: Capitalism in industrially advanced countries like Germany and England [read Britain, there is no *English* government :-)], capitalism was predicted to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions (to use the jargon). In what had been the Russian empire, following the October 1917 Bolshevik coup against the post-February revolution provisional Government, Lenin and Co proceeded to set up what they described as a *socialist* state (not communist – that was to come). But as citizens of the USSR used to say, the difference between capitalism and socialism is that in a capitalist society man exploits man, whereas under socialism it's the other way round. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org --- Re: [tips] Are Genes Left-Wing? John Kulig Sun, 17 Oct 2010 05:29:29 -0700 Getting caught up on email, so only briefly scanned these posts, but two things come to mind about the gene/environment/left/right wing issue. While in my personal experience left wingers seem to favor environmental explanations for individual differences, I have to point out that Marx (Karl,not Groucho) was a fan of Darwinism (I am lumping evolution with genes, big jump I know, but both imply biological determinism), and wanted to dedicate portions of Das Kapital to Darwin, who declined partly because of his unfamiliarity with the topic, and also I believe Marx' opposition to religion. My readings of the original communists/socialists was that they saw parallels between biological and cultural evolution (Though what happened in history didn't quite fit the theory. England and Germany, being more advanced in the Industrial Revolution, were supposed to be where workers united. In Russia, it was reversed, communism was used as a means to industrial growth). Second, when one follows the logic of Herrnstein & Murray's Bell Curve, you can see how genetics and left-wing can be easily combined. That is, right-wingers sometimes combine two incompatible ideas: (1) don't help the poor because everyone should be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and (2) the poor, unemployed, etc. are stuck there because of genetic inferiority (putting it too crudely perhaps). The Bell Curve makes a case for people rising and falling through the socio-economic ladder based on genetics. IF people gravitate toward the bottom of society because of genetics, one can more easily make the case for charity and welfare imo, echoing the famous phrase "from each according to their ability" and "to each according to their need". Though, some conservatives opt for family, friends, churches being the source of charity rather than "big government." Interestingly, the authors are an odd couple, with Herrnstein being the liberal and Murray from the conservative Heritage Institute. == John W. Kulig Professor of Psychology Plymouth State University Plymouth NH 03264 == --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5795 or send a blank email to leave-5795-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
