Academe and Education
- Theses distilled to one (snarky) sentence (boingboing.net.) Authors summarise their own work.
- Academics hide snarky, clever comments in the "acknowledgments" sections of scientific papers. (slate.com) 'In a modern scientific paper, [...] you’ll find the “Acknowledgments” section, wherein authors are given space to thank others for their contributions to the project. It is generally accepted that this paragraph is ignored by both readers and reviewers alike. Accordingly, it is chock full of inside jokes, snarky comments, and general silliness.'
- Reclaiming Rhetoric (Pragmatic Education) 'It is time to put rhetoric, the study of powerful speaking and writing, at the heart of English curriculum. To end with a chiasmus, learning rhetoric will help our pupils use words powerfully to influence others, and resist being overly influenced by powerful words.' Can I also take this opportunity to commend Mark Forsyth's excellent The Elements of Eloquence (London, Icon Books, 2013)? (That's a kind of rhetorical question called erotesis. [p.65])
- A road not taken (Clyde Street) Frankly, I find the style pretentious, but some of the ideas are worth thinking about.
- Why Christmas rituals make tasty food « Mind Hacks 'So, for those sitting down with family this holiday, don’t skip the traditional rituals – sing the songs, pull the crackers, clink the glasses and listen to Uncle Vinnie repeat his funny anecdotes for the hundredth time. The rituals will help you enjoy the food more, and carry with them an echo of our long history as a species, and all the feasts the tribe shared before there even was Christmas.'
- Christmas 2013 Around the World (theatlantic.com) 40 pictures
- Wine-tasting: It's Junk Science (Guardian) 'The first experiment took place in 2005. The last was in Sacramento earlier this month. Hodgson's findings have stunned the wine industry. Over the years he has shown again and again that even trained, professional palates are terrible at judging wine.'
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