Summary and Reaction to Chapter 3 (The Slow Hunch) of Steven Johnson’s book ‘Where Good Ideas Come From’ The main argument in the chapter is that great innovations are due to accumulative processes rather than spontaneous ‘eureka’ moments. Almost in any major technological or scientific innovation of modern times, the break-through was made possible by…
Category: Education
A speculation on the most valuable book lost to humanity
Much of the knowledge which the world had at one time has been lost to us now. Natural disasters, wars, fires, have destroyed books and the knowledge in them. We know they existed once, but they no longer exist now.Suppose you could protect and save ONE of the things we’ve read this semester so people of future…
William Shakespeare: A Question of Authorship
William Shakespeare and JS Bach are perhaps the two most important cultural figures in Western Civilization. This high pedestal that they occupy makes questions over their authorship almost blasphemous for their admirers. If Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor has come for scholarly debate in recent years, the question marks over Shakespeare’s authorship were…
Education in the Future
Education is very important for social progress. Whether our civilization will flourish or not is dependent on the quality of education we offer children. As it stands, the education system today has a few obvious flaws. The foremost is the emphasis on competition and grades, which turns students into machines that cram up data before…
New perspectives on Education & Philosophy: Realism
Realism: Summary Students are encouraged to think critically and creatively. Teachers, instead of spoon-feeding all concepts and course content, give a fair degree of liberty for students to find their own individualized style of learning. They prompt students to find equilibrium in the interaction between the organism and the environment. There is a focus on…
New perspectives on Education & Philosophy: Social Reconstruction
Social Reconstruction: Summary This system treats education as an instrument for addressing social problems. Education is seen as the means to creating a harmonious social order. It adopts an open ended syllabi intended to meet practical problems with socially conscious solutions. Progressive education is embraced as against conservative models. Some of the leading thinkers include Theodore…
New perspectives on Education & Philosophy: Idealism
Idealism: Summary This model of education focuses on value education and student character development. One of the goals is to gear learning toward understanding objective truth. The teacher plays an important role in imparting knowledge. Conceptual methodology that uses logic and rationality is employed as an instructive tool. The education method is so designed to…
New Perspectives on Philosophy and Education: Pragmatism
Pragmatism: Summary Philosophers such as John Dewey, Charles Peirce and William James are the founding fathers of Pragmatism in education. These influential thinkers rejected Idealistic education model and instead conceived of schools as institutions for practical goals. The curriculum is based on performing activities, history and geography, and scientific problem solving. Progressive politics is also…
Literature Review: Why do International Students Choose Australia to Study?
There are numerous favourable reasons why international students opt to study in Australia. A review of the literature pertaining to the topic published over the last 5 years throws light on these reasons. Some of the major reasons include cost-effectiveness, multi-racial academic environment, prospects for employment after graduation, precedent of successful immigrant integration into society,…
An outline of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche’s key ideas and their contribution to the development of social thought.
Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche are two important intellectuals whose thoughts are integral to the development of social thought in Europe and North America. Immanuel Kant’s thoughts have enriched a wide variety of disciplines within humanities, including theology, political science and sociology. But Kant’s work does not fit easily into any particular disciplinary paradigm. Of…