- Why bother learning stuff?
- Social Media Venn diagram
- As he turns in his dissertation, Cal Newport (of Study Hacks blog fame) reflects on his grad-school experience
- A thought on the university as "an ethically superior institution"
- James Fallows is back in the US after several years reporting in China, and has this priceless quote in his blog post about the healthcare "debate":
Pretty soon I will lay off the "As a Rip van Winkle returnee to your country, what I notice is...." approach. But I have to say that it is striking to come back -- from the world of controlled media and not-always-accurate "official truth" in China -- and see the world's most mature democracy, informed by the world's dominant media system, at a time of perceived economic crisis and under brand new political leadership, getting tied up by manufactured misinformation. No matter what party you belong to, you can't think this is a sign of health for the Republic.