Tag: Academics

“Baloney Detection Kit”

The late scientist Carl Sagan…..Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934–December 20, 1996) was many things — a cosmic sage, voracious reader, hopeless romantic, and brilliant philosopher. But above all, he endures as our era’s greatest patron saint of reason and critical thinking, a master of the vital balance between skepticism and openness.

He3 devised a way of separating facts from crap…..he called it the ‘Baloney Detection Kit’…..

it contains invaluable tools of healthy skepticism that apply just as elegantly, and just as necessarily, to everyday life. By adopting the kit, we can all shield ourselves against clueless guile and deliberate manipulation. Sagan shares nine of these tools:

  • Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts.”
  • Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
  • Arguments from authority carry little weight — “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.
  • Spin more than one hypothesis. If there’s something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each of the alternatives. What survives, the hypothesis that resists disproof in this Darwinian selection among “multiple working hypotheses,” has a much better chance of being the right answer than if you had simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy.
  • Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it’s yours. It’s only a way station in the pursuit of knowledge. Ask yourself why you like the idea. Compare it fairly with the alternatives. See if you can find reasons for rejecting it. If you don’t, others will.
  • Quantify. If whatever it is you’re explaining has some measure, some numerical quantity attached to it, you’ll be much better able to discriminate among competing hypotheses. What is vague and qualitative is open to many explanations. Of course there are truths to be sought in the many qualitative issues we are obliged to confront, but finding them is more challenging.
  • If there’s a chain of argument, every link in the chain must work (including the premise) — not just most of them.
  • Occam’s Razor. This convenient rule-of-thumb urges us when faced with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well to choose the simpler.
  • (This is my opinion….and this is where the Democrats lose the voter….they offer way too many details and ‘facts’….in other words that give TMI for the voter to grasp.)

It is a shame that more people, especially voters, do not have the mental capacity to test their ‘facts’ out before they act.

It is either they are too confused or lazy and now they let AI do their thinking….after all the attention span of the normal voter is that of a goldfish.

Social media has killed the desire for the truth it is easier to find someone who thinks like the individual and stop there before examine the information provided….I give you, my reader, the current situation in the world….about 70% of the information available is either a half-truth or an outright lie.

If you want to save our republic from collapse then maybe now would be a good time to start paying attention to the crap you fed.

Just a thought!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Would Your Child Like To Go To A Great School?

Just a little FYI for those considering a higher education for their children.

My granddaughter will be attending Univ of New Orleans this fall….and it will be a tough nut for my daughter to crack and that got me to thinking about ways that kids could lessen the costs.

We all want what is best for our children and that includes to go to a good college….but thanks to many factors that is becoming only a dream….if you are middle class then the best you can hope for is a local community college and hope something breaks so they can move on.

But did you know that there are 15 great universities that offer free tuition to middle class families?

No?

Well here they are….

With the shocking cost of college tuition these days, many hoping to earn a degree are wondering if it’s worth it, or even fiscally possible.

Fortunately, more elite colleges have been adjusting their policies to cover tuition for middle-class students, making college possible for more Americans (and creating a way to keep more cash in your wallet while attending).

Here are 15 highly respected schools that offer free degrees for middle-class students.

Brandeis University

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, students whose families make less than $75,000 annually will receive total grants and scholarships that cover the cost of full tuition at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Students whose families earn less than $200,000 will receive grants and scholarships to cover 50% of their tuition.

Brown University

At the famed New England Ivy, Brown University students whose families earn less than $125,000 annually can expect to have their full tuition covered.

Students whose families earn less than $60,000 annually will have their tuition, plus room, board, and other expenses, covered through scholarships.

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon’s CMU Pathway Program, which will go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year, will fully cover tuition for students whose families earn $75,000 or less annually.

Columbia University

Students who land an acceptance letter from prestigious Columbia University in New York City will also be able to secure free tuition if their family earns less than $150,000 annually.

Dartmouth College

Students whose families make less than $125,000 annually will receive a financial aid package at Dartmouth that requires no parent contribution.

Students may be expected to contribute to tuition based on jobs they hold during the summer or school year, but full needs will be met without the students having to take out loans.

Duke University

In the fall of 2023, Duke began covering full tuition for undergraduate students from North and South Carolina whose family incomes were $150,000 or less annually.

For admitted students from the Carolinas whose families earn less than $65,000, the school will cover tuition through grants, as well as financial assistance without student loans for housing, meals, and other college expenses.

Harvard University

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, students accepted to Harvard can attend for free if their families earn $200,000 or less annually. These students qualify for “Free Tuition Plus,” which covers tuition and may offer additional financial aid for things like fees and housing based on individual needs.

Students whose families earn less than $100,000 qualify for free tuition, fees, food, housing, and more.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

MIT will begin allowing students with family incomes less than $200,000 to attend for free beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The cost of tuition will be covered by grants and scholarships.

New York University

Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, The NYU Promise program ensured that all undergraduate students who started as first-year students on the New York campus would have their tuition covered if their families earned less than $100,000 annually.

Princeton University

Back in the fall of 2023, Princeton upgraded its financial aid program to cover the full tuition, room, and board through grants for students whose families earn less than $100,000 annually.

It was the first university in the U.S. to eliminate loans from its aid packages, and in the most recent school year, all families with annual incomes up to $180,000 qualified for some sort of aid.

Stanford University

At Stanford, accepted students whose families earn less than $150,000 annually qualify to have their full tuition covered. If a student’s family earns less than $100,000, the school covers room and board as well.

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago takes it one step further, offering free tuition to students whose families earn less than $125,000 per year and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

If a student’s family earns less than $60,000 annually, they can expect tuition, fees, housing, and meals to be covered.

University of Michigan

Students who qualify for in-state tuition and have a family income of $125,000 or less will qualify to have their tuition and university fees covered at the University of Michigan starting in fall 2025. Housing, meals, and other expenses are not covered under the new program.

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is another top-notch school moving to make Ivy League education accessible to students in the 2025-2026 school year.

Starting in the fall, the school will offer full tuition scholarships to students whose families make $200,000 or less per year. They also removed a home equity evaluation from the financial aid assessment process.

University of Texas

In late 2024, schools in the University of Texas system agreed to cover the full tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students whose families earn $100,000 or less.

The rules will go into effect in the fall 2025 semester, and students whose families earn $125,000 or less may qualify for tuition support as well.

Please if interested check out the schools…..I am sure there will be a criteria for this program so check closely……and that does not mean the entire education will be free….so far just the tuition.

Good luck.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Humans Have Reached The Pinnacle

It is Sunday and as usual I will try to be anything but a analyst for the next couple of days….. ut that does not mean that stupid is any less prevalent…..

Humans fell out of the trees then we walked up-right then weapons were made then fire was used we then set about creating civilizations and now we humans may have hit our zenith and started the downward spiral…..

I have made light of those Ancient Alien people for spread psuedo-science………one of the most outrageous claims, in my opinion, is that little grey dudes are breeding with us humans…

Now a Oxford professor has joined the land of the whack-a-doodles……

An Oxford University academic says aliens are breeding with humans to produce a hyrid species capable of saving the planet from major disasters like climate change and nuclear war.

Young-hae Chi, an instructor in Korean at Oxford’s Oriental Institute, said the primary aim of the aliens was to ensure their own survival, but in doing so could protect the human race.

He first made the claims in a lecture in 2012 when he cited an “abduction researcher” from the US who believes the hybrids are already walking among us, the Oxford Student newspaper reported.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/oxford-university-professor-says-aliens-are-already-breeding-with-humans-on-earth-a4128116.html

And more on his claim……

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/an-oxford-professor-has-the-wildest-claim-about-climate-change-weve-ever-heard/

Did I mention that he, the professor, thinks that aliens are invisible?

In an interview with The Oxford Student, Chi shared some of the highlights from the book — including his belief that, because these invisible extraterrestrials live among us, they have a stake in avoiding planetary destruction due to climate change.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/oxford-invisible-aliens-breeding-humans

Just what makes a professor at a prestigious university like Oxford drink the “ancient alien” kool-aid?

This will do nothing to tamp down the alien ancestor conspiracy…….did I mention he says these aliens are invisible?

Time to move on as MoMo tells me that there is something “doing” in the back 40……probably that damn squirrel that is irritating the crap out of her.  IT had better stay sharp or his days are numbered.

Closing Thought–13Mar19

Poor go to work

The Rich go to college

A whole new story on how the rich get their larvae into college….they buy their way into academia…..

It’s the biggest college admissions bribery case the DOJ has ever prosecuted, and it has snared some pretty big names: Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among those indicted for mail fraud Tuesday in an alleged bribery scam. The latest:

  • A name fit for Hollywood: The investigation is called “Operation Varsity Blues,” and CNN cites US Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling’s description of most of those indicted: 33 parents; 9 coaches (from schools including Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest, and Georgetown) in sports like soccer, water polo, tennis, and volleyball; one college administrator; two SAT/ACT administrators; and an exam proctor. The AP reports a former soccer coach at Yale pleaded guilty and helped prosecutors make their case.
  • At the center of it all: … is allegedly a man named William Singer. He ran a college-prep company called the Key and allegedly facilitated the scheme. Prosecutors claim he bribed college coaches to put individual students on a recruited athletes list, though CNN notes the coaches were aware the students weren’t recruitable players. NPR reports that in the case of a Yale women’s soccer recruit, the student didn’t even play soccer. Per the indictment, parents in one case allegedly had fake photos taken of their child participating in sports. Charges against Singer include racketeering conspiracy.
  • The timeline: Prosecutors say payments were made to Singer between 2011 and February 2019. Per NPR, parents typically allegedly paid $250,000 to $450,000, but one is said to have forked over $6.5 million. Singer’s alleged total take: about $25 million.
  • Words come back to haunt him: In a January interview with Parade magazine, Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, had this to say of their 18-year-old daughter: “She’s going to go to college … We’re right now in the thick of college application time, which is so stressful. I am voting that once she gets accepted, she maybe takes a year off. God doesn’t let you be 18 twice… But it’s just my opinion, and we’ll see what she wants to do, what Felicity thinks and how the chips fall.”
    The allegations against Huffman: People reports the feds say they taped calls between the 56-year-old actress and a cooperating witness about an alleged SAT scam. A chosen proctor was reportedly sent to West Hollywood and allegedly allowed the teen to have extra time and changed her incorrect answers.
    The allegations against Loughlin: She allegedly paid $500,000 to get her daughter “recruited” for a rowing team. Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was also charged.
  • Other parents: The AP lists executives among those indicted: Law firm co-chair Gordon Caplan of Greenwich, Connecticut; marketing company CEO Jane Buckingham of LA; packaging company founder Gregory Abbott of New York; and finance CEO Manuel Henriquez of Palo Alto.
    Who hasn’t been charged: Authorities say the schools aren’t targets, and no students were charged, with many unaware of what was even going on. Macy was not charged; prosecutors did not say why.
    Initial fallout: The AP reports Wake Forest University has suspended head volleyball coach Bill Ferguson, who is “accused of accepting $100,000 to recruit a student who had been on Wake Forest’s wait list

I do believe that we have an answer on how an idiot got through a prestigious business school….

Need we say more?