

Education
Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking
Beware of mass movements and the herd-behavior that they encourage
The late Steve Allen was an author, songwriter, and comedian, and among the most prolific talent in broadcasting history. He wrote more than 9,000 songs, including “This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” which is still aired at New Year’s Eve galas. Not bad for someone who played by ear.
He wrote TV scripts, gags, and jokes. Like many others in TV, Allen’s career began in radio where, as a young DJ, he once announced a Harvard vs. William & Mary football score as “Harvard 14, William 10, Mary 7.”
His interests extended beyond show business as well. A tireless advocate, Allen was instrumental in the airlines’ smoking ban.
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Capturing Good Ideas
I met Allen in the 1990s at the American Bookseller’s Convention in Los Angeles. It was rumored that he never traveled without a pocket tape recorder and when I asked him if this was true, he took out his pocket tape recorder and showed me.
Allen once explained that although he was thought of as extraordinarily productive, he figured he owed his high output to “Not letting good ideas get away.”
He recalled that even back in the 1950s, when tape recorders were bulky and expensive, he had one in each room of his house, even the bathroom.
Steve Allen also managed to write 50 books: he started with mysteries; then he moved on to show business; then self-help topics such as presenting, speaking, and humor; and then he focused on social issues, before his departure early this century.
Near his passing, he was concerned that our entire society seemed to be “dumbing down.”
The Lost Art of Thinking
Here are my notes and excerpts from Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking, With 101 Ways to Reason Better & Improve Your Mind, by Steve Allen, originally published by Prometheus Books, in 1998:
* Decide that you will reason more effectively in the future.
* Beware of rushing to judgment or falling in love with your first answer
* Beware of erroneous assumptions or making predictions on scanty evidence.
* Recognize your superstitions and personal prejudices.
* Beware of arguments by slogans or epigrams,“ If the glove fits…”
* Beware of thinking that because you are bright and quick minded you therefore reason well.
* Beware of reacting to labels rather than to specific individuals.
* Concede ignorance when you are ignorant. Be more humble.
* Feel a twinge of shame when you employ a ad hominem argument.
* Be realistically skeptical, even of leaders.
* Beware of rationalization.
* Beware of the distinction between consistent evidence and conclusive evidence.
* Avoid falling for the one “right answer.”
* Become your own fact checker.
* Do not attempt to read minds.
* Recognize that all reality is complex – even describing a man sitting in a chair. This involves 100s of observations about lighting, the room, the man’s appearance, his clothing, expression, the chair, what happens over time
* Practice lifelong learning.
* Watch less commercial TV.
* Make notes, use your dictionary, and/or keep a journal.
* Rethink your religion, even if it is scary for you.
* Spend time with people brighter than yourself.
* Use maps.
* Beware of political rhetoric.
* Don’t be afraid to change your mind.
* Recognize that no one thing remains the same for very long.
* Find evidence first before making up your mind, not the other way around.
* Don’t equate your ideas with yourself.
* Study creativity itself.
* Play thinking games.
* Recognize that everything is subject to criticism.
* Become more familiar with history.
* Beware of mass movements and the herd-behavior that they encourage.
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Education
Eight Dysphemisms to Start Your Week
A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive than the words it is replacing
A “euphemism” is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that might suggest something more bluntly or offend others, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. To say, for example, “He doesn’t have all his marbles,” is regarded as gentler than saying “He is stark raving insane.”
The Mighty Dysphemism
The opposite of a euphemism is a “dysphemism.” A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive, blunt, or harsh than the word or phrase which it is replacing. For example, instead of stating that the Manhattan District Attorney is “cognitively challenged,” you refer to him instead as a “total partisan whack job.”
For your amusement, at the least, here are eight dysphemism followed by the kinder, gentler, or at least more definitive terminology of what is being said:
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“Biting off more than you can chew” – Orally extracting an amount of edible matter that exceeds what one is comfortably able to masticate.
“That’s a load of B.S.” – Your assertion reminds one of bovine excretion.
“Sh__faced” – Bearing an expression that one normally associates with the act of removing solid waste from the body.
“Can’t tell your ass from your elbow” – Unable to differentiate between your dorsal side orifice and the joint connecting your forearm and upper arm.
“Stepping in a pile of crap” – A pedestrian venture into an accumulation of animal or human waste.
“Go F-yourself” – Engage in the act of physical consummation with yourself.
“Up to your eyeballs in crap” – Finding yourself surrounded at the visual level by unpleasantly aromatic organic waste.
“Carnal knowledge” – Having a close encounter with another, free of garments and other impediments, leading to direct tactile stimulation.
A True Time Saver
Thank goodness for dysphemisms. In a most fundamental way, they are true time-savers. Without them, we’d be groping for tedious phrasing all day long. “Up your nose with a rubber hose,” if you don’t “catch my drift.”
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Education
On Listening Carefully for the Sake of Your Children
The decades long lack of African-American academic achievement is a do-it-to-yourself proposition
I attended a two briefings at East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) for the parents of rising 9th graders. All parents of eighth graders received the same invitation. The first session focused on what courses students would need to graduate from high school and to be prepared for University studies, technical college, or direct participation in the work force.
I listened closely. I found the information presented to be so vital, that had I not attended I would be unprepared to assist my daughter in course selection in any meaningful way throughout her time at ECHHS.
At the first meeting, the nearly 200 parents in attendance listened with rapt attention as well s evidenced by the many questions. Graduating from ECHHS with the new requirements would not be a cakewalk. The demands were rigorous.
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The eighth grade children of many parents, however, did not attend these crucial meetings. Only one African-American parent was in attendance at the first meeting although the African American student population was more than 12%. At the second meeting where parents had a chance to meet and listen to school counselors, department heads, and teachers, about 275 parents attended, three of which were African-American.
All of the above occurred in 2004. Such poor attendance is another disheartening aspect of our society that bodes well for no one. To me, this spelled the future of America. In 2023 – today – the 13- and 14-year-olds represented by the parents that night are now 32 and 33, out of college and graduate school if they attended, car owners, possibly home owners, heads of families, and hopefully participants in the economic mainstream.
Those students whose parents didn’t listen in 2004 were the most likely to be unprepared at age 13 and 14 and all throughout high school, and the most likely today to be unprepared to be a part of the economic mainstream. Yet, someone will say that education Chapel Hill is unfair or sets students to fail, and that it rewards only certain groups and deprives others.
They will be among the first to rail on about some vague notion of “social justice.” They’ll say the teachers are biased or that the educational system favors whites and Asians. This is simply not the case.
The decades long lack of African-American academic achievement is a do-it-to-yourself proposition. It has nothing to do with CRT, biased teachers, or a dozen other lame excuses. In another 19 years – in 2042 – I wonder if anything, at all, will be any different. I wonder if greater numbers of African-American parents will take the time to listen to school administrators, teachers, and counselors who hold vital keys to the quality of their children’s lives.
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