This morning, I was directed to an online vocabulary test that claimed to be able to estimate one’s vocabulary. I did take the test, but I also spotted several problems with it: It’s self-selecting. That means that people who value high vocabularies are more likely to take it, and are more likely to pass it…
Author: Clio
Teaching standards and Hollywood
Yesterday, we watched Valentine’s Day (2010). Besides being disappointed that David Boreanaz was nowhere to be found, I found it to be passably entertaining but too crowded with characters for my tastes. One of the characters is an elementary school teacher, played by Jennifer Garner. One of the scenes involved the “history” of Valentine’s Day….
The ethics of symbiosis
I was thinking about greed again today. That seems to be a common topic of conversation these days, as the TEA Party and other self-styled libertarians embrace the Randian mantra of the glory of unrepentant greed. I am not a fan of unrepentant greed. On the other extreme of the scale, though, is utterly selfless…
Computer bullies
This post is commentary on “Nerds, We Have to Talk,” in which the author muses about why computer programmers are often so mean to each other. There are a few reasons which come to mind. First, I have a computer programmer friend who has commented that programming seems particularly suited for neuroatypicality. To be a…
“If men could get pregnant…”
It seems like two reliable ways to start a fight on the Internet, even if you honestly don’t mean to, is to suggest that the Second Amendment could use some tweaking in the presence of strong supporters of gun ownership, and to question any significant element of pro-choice rhetoric in the presence of feminists. Sure,…
On the death of bin Laden
Here are some apparent facts: A human being is dead. The US Government killed Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden is incapable of personally causing any more harm. A human being who was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people has been punished for his deeds. People in the United…
On leashes for children
One of the more controversial parenting subjects that has appeared between my own childhood and the current era is the topic of leashes for children. Proponents insist that leashes increase a parent’s sense of ease in dangerous situations while providing a toddler with more range of motion than more traditional forms of restraint, such as…
You must be kidding
In a recent Attachment Parenting discussion, it was asked: Do you refer to your children as “children” or “kids”? It was posited in that question that AP and other ostensibly progressively minded parents are more likely to use “child” while more traditional parents are more likely to use “kid.” “Child,” after all, is more respectful….
The Microsoft Tech that Saved Christmas
Last night, our 18-month-old kidlet was in the mood to have me play a video game. I know this because he handed me an Xbox 360 controller and pointed emphatically at the television. Since I wasn’t doing anything else and it was a welcome break from the near-constant barrage of Scooby-Doo! episodes, I decided to…
Praising children
Prompted by a recent discussion on an Attachment Parenting community, I decided to read the first chapter of NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children, on the subject of praise. In the discussion on the community in question, one person (apparently proudly) announced that she never praises her children, because all praise is bad in that it…