Degree of Freedom: Civics and Critical Thinking
From the new blog… One of the reasons last month’s Civic Learning Impact and Measurement Convening in California was so familiar, even for this relative newbie to the community, was that the challenges faced by those dedicated to civic education and the teaching of critical thinking are very similar. As the experts at the event pointed out, while […]
Puzzle Beta
LessWrong: Double Crux — A Strategy for Resolving Disagreement
Preamble Double crux is one of CFAR’s newer concepts, and one that’s forced a re-examination and refactoring of a lot of our curriculum (in the same way that the introduction of TAPs and Inner Simulator did previously). It rapidly became a part of our organizational social fabric, and is one of our highest-EV threads for […]
Carnegie: Why Education Improvement Strategies Always Disappoint
Those of us who work for change in education need a new set of habits to avoid a repeat of recent reform disappointments. We must learn how to study the problems we aim to solve in the contexts in which they occur, before latching onto solutions. We must listen more closely to students and practitioners, […]
Desegregate Public Bathrooms?
Check out this piece from Harvard Law Professor Jeannie Suk Gersen in the New Yorker. Does our map accurately represent her argument? How strong is her argument?
Let them eat cake?
Here’s an editorial from the Chicago Tribune praising the Supreme Court’s ruling in the controversial case of the Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding for a gay couple because of his religious beliefs. The Court’s ruling was deliberately quite narrow, and set aside the larger question of whether business owners can refuse on […]
End the Gun Epidemic
Here’s another example of how mapping arguments can help us talk about a really controversial issue. “End the Gun Epidemic in America” was published on on the front page of the New York Times, 12/5/2015. It was the first time an editorial appeared on the front page since 1920. Given recent national events, this conversation is […]
Liberal Intolerance?
Here’s an argument map of Nicholas Kristof’s “A Confession of Liberal Intolerance“, from the New York Times. How accurate is my reconstruction of his argument? How charitable is it? How about Kristof’s argument itself–is it strong? Why or why not? Do you agree with his claims? Is his evidence relevant and sufficient?
God is a Question
Here’s an argument map of philosopher William Irwin’s “God is a Question, Not an Answer” from The Stone (a New York Times opinion forum). Once again, visualizing arguments helps us talk intelligently about a difficult issue! How accurate is my reconstruction of his argument? How charitable is it? How about Irwin’s argument itself–is it strong? Why […]
Medium: The “Other Side” Is Not Dumb
There’s a fun game I like to play in a group of trusted friends called “Controversial Opinion.” The rules are simple: Don’t talk about what was shared during Controversial Opinion afterward and you aren’t allowed to “argue” — only to ask questions about why that person feels that way. Opinions can range from “I think […]
