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31 Dec 2009 11:40

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Offbeat: High schoolers don’t see humor in U. of Chicago’s great joke

Dear University of Chicago, It fills me up with that gooey sap you feel late at night when I think about things that are really special to me about you. Tell me, was I just one in a line of many? Was I just another supple ‘applicant’ to you, looking for a place to live, looking for someone to teach me the ways of the world?
A University of Chicago sample entrance essay • Which, in our estimation, is the most amazing thing ever. It was sent to high school students last week in an attempt to inspire them to come up with killer application essays ahead of the January 2 deadline. Somehow, though, some people don’t see the humor in this amazingly well-crafted essay and are criticizing its sexual overtones. Others are freaking out big time, afraid that their essays are really similar. WTF?! Enjoy it for what it is, guys! source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2009 20:10

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Politics: We don’t work with our hands, so we watch it on TV instead

The weird fascination of these shows must lie partly in the fact that such confrontations with material reality have become exotically unfamiliar. Many of us do work that feels more surreal than real.
Matthew B. Crawford • In a lengthy essay on the evolution of American society from blue-collar to white-collar, adapted from his book “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.” As a result, we’ll watch TV shows such as “Dirty Jobs” with reverence because it’s become more adventurous since the average person doesn’t do that kind of work anymore. Part of this Crawford blames on the decline of manual labor education such as shop class and the increase in office jobs. • source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2009 10:28

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Tech: Why should Darwin get all the evolution attention?

A MacArthur Fellow poses the question. Carl Safina, in an essay in the New York Times, says that by putting all the attention on the guy who discovered evolution, it’s allowed later advances – Gregor Mendel’s patterns of heredity, DNA, developmental biology, and genetic medicine – to get ignored by those who don’t support the theory of evolution . Safina claims Charles Darwin has unfairly become the talking point. The dude could’ve turned 200 this week, by the way. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

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