Letters to the Editor
NotOrbitBoy
Published Letters: 499 Editor's Choice: 5
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@ Roger64 - Again
[Read the article: Hillary's time of troubles]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dear Roger,
I don't know if I should apologize, or hang my head in despair.
Your Clinton Tragedy letter, was awarded a star (sunday 7:47 am). In it, you claim that as a psychologist you understand how people's belief's cannot be changed, if they do not want them to be changed.
I read that as; people with strong beliefs are incapable of rational thought. I am not a psychologist, but that sounds close to insanity.
After reading numerous letters written by various salonistas, your claim has a lot of backing. According to those letters, the clintons were not part of any scandals (FBI files of Republican rivals, pardon of Marc Rich, chinese campaign contributions. . . followed by technology transfer to the chicoms). Should we include bill's execution of a mentally retarded man as a scandal? He had an IQ of 70. As a psychologist, what does that mean?
Explanations offered by salonists; Those were all mistakes. It was just the republican spin machine. It didn't really happen, or, it doesn't matter, or, let's not spend money investigating them, it should be spent somewhere else. That last excuse is also used by Republicans when they are investigated.
How different the response from salonistas to clinton scandals, as opposed to their view of Scooter Libby.
The salonistas proved your point. They lack the ability to engage in rational thought.
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Fear of the Future
[Read the article: How will it all end?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When hillary loses, we're not going to be seeing sidney blumenthal around here again, are we?
Since getting busted for drunk driving like his buddies George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, will that jeopardize his return to salon?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/blumenthalmug1.html
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Hispanics and clinton
[Read the article: Clinton "firing" fallout?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Reminds me of another clinton scandal. The pardon of terrorists.
This scandal, like most clinton scandals, DOES NOT revolve around bill's womanizing.
It's worse. When you look at it as a thwarting of our justice system, it is worse than all the complaints heaped upon alberto gonzalez.
Hillary is directly implicated. She can't be trusted.
The author of the link below is not Rush Limbaugh, nor Ann Coulter. The author's brother died on 911.
Read it if you dare.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120277819085260827.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
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Gonna miss hillary
[Read the article: Obama's surge extends down the Potomac]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Now that hillary is just a few weeks away from withdrawing, I realize I'm going to miss her.
It was fun to point out the discrepancy, the inconsistent response, to billary's numerous ethical lapses, and the outrage voiced by salonistas about Bush Cheney Gonzalez Wolfowitz, and whoever else p'd them off.
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Not good enough
[Read the article: What the Huck?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Huckster is not right-wing enough for Fox News.
You guys can have him.
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Imagination More Important than Knowledge
[Read the article: America closes the book on intelligence]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. I think he meant that facts in books matter less than a person’s ability to use their mind as they try to understand our world. In Einstein’s case, the topics that interested him required that he engage in imaginative thought experiments. He used his tremendous powers of reason to deduce the behavior and relation of time, matter, and energy.
If Einstein had memorized every text book in the world, it would not have given him the theory of relativity. There’s a bunch of examples of this in the history of science.
The quote from Einstein is provocative, but you shouldn’t stop with the “imagination” part. He wasn’t just making up physics for the fun of it. He engaged in disciplined critical thinking to understand and draw conclusions about his topic of study. All of his theories were subject to challenge from his colleagues. All sorts of tests were conducted to prove or disprove elements of his theories, decades after his death.
You don’t marginalize or ignore a hypothesis based on the result of an opinion poll. You don’t adopt or reject conclusions without challenging the underlying logic of the argument leading to that conclusion.
If you did,…well,… we wouldn’t know who Albert Einstein was.
My Point: Critical thinking, reasoning, and a disciplined analysis of our world is the weakness of our society, and our educational institutions (in my opinion). That’s the part that Susan Jacoby nailed on the head.
Facts matter, a certain body of knowledge is important, but it does not answer the questions we will face tomorrow. With today’s technology, I can carry all the known facts as of 1900 on my wrist. And a couple years from now….?
Too many people pick a side, and then engage in the fight. They don’t challenge their own conclusions. Case in point; the banning of DDT. People made impassioned speeches about how DDT was destroying the earth. It was a popular, fashionable, position. Over the following decades, millions died from malaria. Far fewer would have died had DDT been used.
Why did it take so long to correct this error? Answer: the lack of reason, the lack of critical thinking, the inability to understand the underlying facts and how they relate to one another. Too many people got caught up in “the cause”.
It is the challenge of an idea, the asking of why this could or could not be true, that leads to determining truth. That’s what Einstein did.
Our schools should spend more time teaching students how to solve problems, how to come to conclusions, and less time offering their opinions, their personal beliefs, or brain washing our students. From grade school through college.
We should encourage students to study math, the scientific method, and philosophy (logic), in order to develop their ability to reason. Regardless of what those students may end up doing in their life, the ability to engage in critical thinking will be invaluable to them. Like when they encounter a dilemma that has no answer in a text book.
…And remind them that an elected leader, a poll follower, is the last place to look for answers. Those people rarely use their imagination.