Author: Larry Sanger
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The opportunity costs of progressive education
I have created a video version of this post! There is a surfeit of great ideas in education. They are “great ideas” for various reasons: children will learn a lot; they’ll be really happy or enthusiastic; they’ll have vivid memories of what they are taught; or they’ll learn very efficiently. It is easy,…
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Report on the boys (March 2014)
It’s been a long time since I updated blog readers about H. & E. Once again I start this with a resolution to keep this short. Ha ha. First, H., is now 7 years old (8th birthday rapidly approaching). Many things to report. He’s officially in the 2nd grade and after slightly lighter work in the summer…
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Why There Is Free Will
I. Some quick preliminaries I believe there is free will. I am a compatibilist. In this essay I will defend this view. I’ve taken this line ever since college, but have never taken the time to elaborate it since then. Especially with neuroscientists and other scientists asserting that free will doesn’t exist, and others buying…
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Please read: my challenge to kindergarten and first grade teachers
Dear Teachers(and those who support teachers, please listen in), I will buy your class $100 worth of books, and donate whatever anyone else pledges below (more on that in a bit), if you successfully execute the following. (I can do this for only one teacher. But if more people pledge money for other teachers to…
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Why Edward Snowden deserves a pardon, explained in 10 easy steps
Let me put this briefly and simply. The government should not be snooping on us. But they started anyway. That was wrong and unconstitutional. When they did, they made their snooping program secret. That was wrong twice over, a cover-up of a wrong. Then they actually lied about the existence of the program to Congress,…
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Update about the boys, April 2013
In the past I’ve given mammoth updates about the boys, because I do enjoy writing such updates; but I really can’t afford the time now. Still, I will take a little time and share the highlights. First, H., age 6, almost 7. UPDATE: he has continued to do Supermemo every day, usually twice a day. I…
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Ask DadDude: spawning analytical thinkers
Someone emailed me this question. Since it was asked so nicely, I thought I’d answer. I have a question for you and I hope you have time to reply to it. I admire your essays and the indepth analysis of topics. You put a lot of critical and analytical thinking in your writing. Even when…
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How I set up my standing desk
And now for something completely different. After my wife told me I sat too much, and reading various scary things about the evils of sitting too much and the benefits of standing desks, I decided to try out a standing desk. At first I was going to order one or buy one locally, and then I…
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Reading Bear improvements
Here’s our latest Reading Bear update. We’re not done working on Reading Bear–which will always remain a non-profit, free website to teach reading through phonics and vocabulary. Here’s a quick progress report. Alternative reading systems soon supported. We’re putting finishing touches on a feature allowing us to reorganize our words into the order in which they appear in…
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On the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting
I think the most relevant cause of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting has relatively little do with guns or mental health. I think it’s because our society is seriously ill–not mentally, but morally–and many of us are in denial about it. We rarely talk unironically about honor, morality, or shame, or otherwise give signs that…