MEASURABLE OUTCOMES VS. HIGHER EDUCATION?
Reading tough books carefully—attending to textual details, considering the diverse ways of life of and predicaments faced by the characters, following arguments, writing accurately and thoughtfully about their contents, applying what what you’ve learned to your own way of life and personal predicaments—is usually justified these days by the outcomes of critical thinking and analytic reasoning. I, for one, am impressed by how murky these phrases turn out to be, and how questionable—to say the least—are the standardized devices that have been invented to measure them.Measurable Outcomes vs. Higher Education?
WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION, EVERYBODY’S AN EXPERT
As I would not opine seriously on the best procedures to follow with respect to open-heart surgery (as I have absolutely no medical training), why are so many others who have never had anything to do with religion so quick to comment on serious matters of religion?So very, very many. Interesting answer in the piece as well.
When it comes to religion, everybody’s an expert
DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEOLOGY . . . - WEIGEL
There is ample room for exploration on Catholic theology; for if theology is not religious studies, neither is it catechism. But for that exploration to be authentically Catholic — and thus of use to the Church — it has to take Scripture and Tradition as its baseline, and it has to begin from the premise that the doctrinal boundaries of the Church, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, point exploratory theology in the right direction.Don’t Know Much about Theology . . . - Weigel
ZUCKERBERG DIDN’T KILL PRIVACY
Question: ‘Why did Facebook go public?’Zuckerberg didn’t kill privacy
Answer: ‘They couldn’t figure out the privacy settings either.’
OF FLYING CARS AND THE DECLINING RATE OF PROFIT
Where, in short, are the flying cars? Where are the force fields, tractor beams, teleportation pods, antigravity sleds, tricorders, immortality drugs, colonies on Mars, and all the other technological wonders any child growing up in the mid-to-late twentieth century assumed would exist by now?A bit to the Left, but good questions all the same.
Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit
ENGLISH IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY - AN OVERVIEW : OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
obfuscatory polysyllabic officialese
Phrase of the day!
English in the twentieth century - an overview : Oxford English Dictionary
THE REAL EQUALITY PROBLEM: NO ONE ACTUALLY WANTS IT
Good parents try to provide the best they can for their kids. Good employees try to advance as far as they can at work. Good athletes try to become the go-to player for their teams. Good entrepreneurs try to create and grow a business that is better than its competitors. In fact, it’s safe to say that no reasonable, diligent person strives for “equality” in their own personal circumstances — regardless of whether one refers to equality of opportunity or equality of outcome.
All of this is painfully obvious — or should be — but that doesn’t stop the Left from often wrongly equating inequality with inequity and seeking ever greater and more intrusive regulation to create a world than can never be and no one really wants.
The Real Equality Problem: No One Actually Wants It
THE FOURTH REVOLUTION (NEW CRITERION)
The United States has been shaped by three far-reaching political revolutions: Thomas Jefferson’s “revolution of 1800,” the Civil War, and the New Deal. Each of these upheavals concluded with lasting institutional and cultural adjustments that set the stage for new phases of political and economic development. Are we on the verge of a new upheaval, a “fourth revolution” that will reshape U.S. politics for decades to come? There are signs to suggest that we are.
The Fourth Revolution (New Criterion)
THE AMAZON EFFECT
The bookstore wars are over. Independents are battered, Borders is dead, Barnes & Noble weakened but still standing and Amazon triumphant. Yet still there is no peace; a new war rages for the future of publishing.
Worth noting.
The Amazon Effect
GOING PAPERLESS ON A MAC - PROFHACKER
It’s the 21st century, I really should try to do this.
Going Paperless on a Mac - ProfHacker
THE FIRST WIRED PRESIDENT
Lincoln saw his first telegraph key only three years before he ran for president, in a hotel lobby while riding circuit in Pekin, Ill. Always fascinated with technology, he peppered the operator with questions.
In the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, but entirely non-fictional!
The First Wired President
BXVI AD LIMINA TALKS
Every five years or so, by tradition, the bishops of a given country make ad limina visits to Rome. Centuries old, the practice is a way of maintaining communion with the universal Church. It also offers the pope a chance to comment on the state of the Church in that country.
The bishops of the United States are just finishing up their visits, broken up into five batches, which makes it a convenient time to tally up all five of Benedict XVI’s addresses to them. Thanks to Whispers in the Loggia, here they are:
- Whispers in the Loggia: “The Demand of a New Evangelization”: From B16’s Desk, Bench Talk 1
- Whispers in the Loggia: “The Most Cherished of Freedoms”: On Religious Freedom and the Public Square, B16 Talks The States
- Whispers in the Loggia: To the States, B16 Talks Sexuality
- Whispers in the Loggia: To the States, The “Professor-Pope” Talks Education
- Whispers in the Loggia: “New Signs of Vitality and Hope”: For US Church, The Pope’s Last Word
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A DEGREE IN THEOLOGY?
Wonderful post in this graduation month of May; it definitely reflects my experience of these past ten years as I look back and see where our BAC majors have gone.
What can you do with a degree in theology?
A HIGHER OFFICE
Fr. Thomas Williams (no relation) on Catholic social teaching; good interview!
A Higher Office
CONFUSED BY THE EBOOK LAWSUIT? SO IS EVERYONE ELSE.
Still don’t think reinforcing Amazon’s monopsony is the thing to do.
Confused By the eBook Lawsuit? So Is Everyone else.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES ‘EVANGELICAL’ FROM ‘FUNDAMENTALIST’?
Very useful discussion, especially given how loosely people use the term “fundamentalist.”
What Distinguishes ‘Evangelical’ from ‘Fundamentalist’?
NT STUDIES AND THE SEPTUAGINT
I’ve often wondered this same thing. There has to be a systematic theological argument out there for the ongoing significance of the LXX, expanding on Augustine and taking into account that it remains authoritative for the Eastern Church.
NT Studies and the Septuagint
THE PLEASURES AND PERILS OF THE PASSIVE
Another one for my students, too often taught to slavishly avoid the passive even when their style or arguments would be improved by it.
The Pleasures and Perils of the Passive
DOWNTON ABBEY IS THE EDWARDIAN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Priceless for the opening illustration alone.
Downton Abbey is the Edwardian Battlestar Galactica
JOEL OSTEEN WORSHIPS HIMSELF
The constant recitation of God’s transcendent goodness and the deference paid to his ironclad ability to lift believers magically out of suffering and woe both subtly downgrade the divine presence into a glorified lifestyle concierge. This God has no real way of accounting for the age-old paradoxes of theology, such as the tolerance of personal and historic evil, or the deeper ironies and unintended consequences of the believing life.
The Prosperity Gospel is heresy in a clown suit.
Joel Osteen worships himself
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH MOVES FROM ROLE TO ROLE
the success of “Sherlock,” the television series that casts him as a cool and contemporary — if brutally rational — upgrade of Sherlock Holmes. It returns on May 6 for a second season on PBS’s “Masterpiece Mystery!”
So looking forward to this.
Benedict Cumberbatch Moves From Role to Role
SOCIAL MEDIA'S SMALL, POSITIVE ROLE IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
For most people, the choice is not leisurely walks on Cape Cod versus social media. It’s television versus social media.
Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships
THE MIGHTY SCRIVENER… YOU MIGHT NOT EVER USE WORD FOR WRITING AGAIN
Follow-up to the Word post, with a light intro to Scrivener, aka the Batman of writing tools.
The Mighty Scrivener… You might not ever use word for writing again