I held a debate with my 8th grade students in the Refutation and Confirmation Classical Composition class. I thought it would be a good way to practice their refutation and confirmation skills learned thus far. It didn’t go well. Eighth graders may know how to talk and argue but don’t know how to debate. So […]
Michael Knowles gained some notoriety by publishing a joke for his first book “Reasons to Vote for Democrats“, which consisted of 250 blank pages. Very clever. It also ironically foretold the antagonist in his second book, “Speechless” which took aim at the illiberal left and their war on speech. In his first earnest book, Knowles […]
I just began teaching a logic class at my kids’ school and while I am by no means an expert in teaching and I will be learning as much or more than the kids through the process, I have had some successes already. I wanted to get the first class started off right in an […]
After thinking it for almost my whole life, I was pretty disappointed when I found out that I did not in fact descend from the great artist and inventor Samuel Finley Breese Morse. That caused me to rethink my pen name, one of my son’s names, and my web development company that plays off of […]
I love logic. As a form of discussion, accompanied by the Socratic method, it’s unsurpassed. The beauty of logic is that it applies to every discussion and everyone in the discussion. No matter what you’re talking about, logic can be used as a tool to make dramatic points and turn the conversation around. Dictionary.com defines […]
2015 was pretty bad for the concept of agreement. Religious differences spurred despicable terrorist attacks; protests across the US resulted in antagonism between racial minorities and police; and caustic political vitriol seemed to be at an all-time high across the globe. As one commentator wrote, “If you ask 100 different people how we should fix this […]
There has been a lot of discussion recently about rights and while I love that people are acknowledging there’s such a thing as rights, I’m also disheartened that it’s clear people have absolutely no logical concept of what they are. For instance, when people demand people respect for gay rights, or claim they have a […]
I’m seeing a lot of #loveWins tags and colorful profile pictures on Facebook recently. That’s great, I love love and I’m a big fan of all the colors of the rainbow. A full on double rainbow all the way? fuggheddaboutit! Unfortunately, I think people are getting it wrong here. Not to be a Debbie Downer […]
For most of human history, society has been subjected to indefensible beliefs—some legitimate, some not—but when the Enlightenment came, many people thought that we as a species were done with superstition, blind faith, and indefensible beliefs. Science will save us from those foolish belief systems! *Plot twist* Much of humanity has crept back into a […]