Adam just said this to our sweet dog, who is supposed to be a Labrador Retreiver, but since we got him from a rescue, we don't know for sure:
Toby, you may not have gotten the Lab's love of water. You may not have gotten the Lab's love of retreiving. But you got the Lab's Love.
Friday, May 22, 2009
A Little Thing
Samantha learned how to open doors this week. She's finally tall enough to get enough of a grip on the round doorknobs in our house to turn them and pull. This means two things: 1) She might come out of her room at night at any time. It hasn't happened yet and I have no idea how in the world we'll handle it when it does. Maybe we'll use the Supernanny method. But on the bright side, 2) she can now come out of her room in the morning on her own so we're one step closer to sleeping in again someday.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Objectivist Round Up #97
Welcome to the May 21, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Round Up. This week presents insight and analyses written by authors who are animated by Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. According to Ayn Rand:
My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
"About the Author," Atlas Shrugged, Appendix.
So without any further delay (and in no particular order), here's this week's round-up:
Burgess Laughlin presents What is exaltation? posted at Making Progress, saying, "This article considers the importance, nature, and prerequisites of a particular emotion, exaltation."
Gus Van Horn presents First, "Access." Now, "Excess" posted at Gus Van Horn, saying, "In less than a year, advocates of socialized medicine have gone from complaining that everyone can't have medical care to saying that some people have too much of it!"
Exalted presents "Atlas Shrugged", "The Objectivist Ethics", And Exalted Moments posted at Exalted Moments, saying, "The sales rate of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is triple the rate of 2008. Given the attention of the novel, it is important to understand Miss Rand's point in writing it. Many think it was "prophecy". Many think it was to organize a strike ("Going Galt").
Many would be surprised to hear Miss Rand's answer: "Exalted moments.""
Rajesh Dhawan presents Is rationality a virtue worth emulating? posted at Objective extrospection, saying, "Discussing Gina Gorlen's article in TOS about the Reason-Emotion Split as Manifested in House, M.D. the TV series. Popularity of the lead character Dr. House who is a medical genius suggests that people’s admiration for the virtue of reason is still alive and kicking."
Paul McKeever presents The Interest Myth Exploded posted at Paul McKeever, saying, "advocates of capitalism should familiarize themselves with this myth, and with why/how it is a myth, because it is a such a virulent, anti-Capitalist myth and serves as the basis of many a pro-collectivist conspiracy theory."
Ari Armstrong presents The Nobility of Capitalism posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, "I quickly reply to a letter attacking capitalism."
Monica presents A Reader Weighs in on the Nature of the NAIS Listening Sessions posted at FA-RM, saying, "The USDA wants to institute a National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a massive program to track all animal movements in the United States with RFID chips. This week a reader of mine reported on her experience at the recent NAIS listening sessions. You won't want to miss it."
Paul Hsieh presents Simpson on Licensing posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "Steve Simpson explains why we should oppose medical licensing."
Amy Mossoff presents Should Students Use the Internet for Research? posted at The Little Things, saying, "Some thoughts on why children should be encouraged to use the Internet for research - with plenty of guidance!"
Amy Mossoff presents Tantrums and Principles posted at The Little Things, saying, "A rant about my toddler's latest tantrums containing just a hint of self-pity, but a lesson learned in the end."
Stella presents An open letter to President Obama posted at ReasonPharm, saying, "The President's proposed health care reforms cannot possibly work -- because they are immoral."
Roberto Sarrionandia presents Tito's Blog: Obama outlaws reality posted at Tito's Blog, saying, "Obama's absurd claims over the minds in the auto industry."
Greg Perkins presents Standing Up for Truly Free Speech posted at NoodleFood, saying, ""So there I was, sitting among a couple hundred conservative folks, trying to figure out how I could point out hypocrisy and inspire a genuine stand for liberty without being booed out of the room.""
The Editors present FDA Keeps Smokers At Risk posted at The Undercurrent, saying, "Although there is evidence that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than the traditional variety, the FDA is still actively interfering with the sale and importation of these products. Where does the government acquire the moral authority to do this?"
John Drake presents Auto economics - the future of Chrysler, GM, and other auto manufacturers posted at Try Reason!, saying, "Summary of a presentation by an economist specializing in the auto industry. In spite of the presenter's flawed philosophy, there were many interesting facts and trends."
Ryan Krause presents Published posted at The Money Speech, saying, "As my study shows, Obama's attempt to regulate for "long-term" compensation makes no sense, technically or ethically."
Daniel presents The Potentially Alive posted at The Nearby Pen, saying, "This is the first part of a short story about the end of the world--or its beginning."
Rational Jenn presents Keeping Kids Safe posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "Teaching kids how to be safe doesn't necessarily need to frighten them if you keep a focus on the factors that are inside their control--and if you teach them to talk to the right kinds of strangers."
Kathryn presents Movie Review: Vitus posted at The Pursuit, saying, "Kathryn from 'The Pursuit' reviews Vitus, a Romantic film about a young piano prodigy who uses his remarkable intelligence in order to find the freedom he needs to pursue his values."
Michael Labeit presents On Recession and Price Deflation posted at Philosophical Mortician, saying, "In defense of price deflation."
C. August presents Miracle at Philadelphia: QOTD 3 posted at Titanic Deck Chairs, saying, "The third in a series of posts pulling quotes from an excellent history book about the men who hashed out the Constitution in 1787. The author noted that then, there was "no quarrel between human rights and property rights" as there is today. I look at what that really means."
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Objectivist Round Up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: objectivist round up, blog carnival.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Dueling Cell Phones
No, this isn't a link to a cute YouTube video, but links to two contrasting opinions about whether or not to let your children have cell phones.
Kim takes the affirmative.
Michelle takes the negative.
I found both arguments interesting, but I tend to agree with Kim, for many of the same reasons that came up in my last post about Internet research. You can't blame the tool when it is misused.
Kim takes the affirmative.
Michelle takes the negative.
I found both arguments interesting, but I tend to agree with Kim, for many of the same reasons that came up in my last post about Internet research. You can't blame the tool when it is misused.
Should Students Use the Internet for Research?
Stephen Bourque at One Reality wrote recently about his love-hate relationship with the Internet. In the "hate" post, he brings up an interesting point about students using the Internet for research, saying that teachers should discourage use of the Internet for research until college. As a future homeschooler, I gave some thought to what he said. (I'll count on you to read Stephen's post now to get the full context for the rest of mine.)
I agree that a "report" pulled from one source without any digestion of ideas is pointless. But use of the Internet is not the cause of this problem. Students do the same thing with books all the time. The student can learn what resource to use for what purpose by the guidance and feedback he gets from his teacher. Maybe we're all becoming inured to incompetent teachers who can't tell the difference, but I've graded many essays and I think the difference between a regurgitation-essay and an essay that involved critical thinking is usually quite clear, barring clever plagiarism. If a reasonable teacher can't tell the difference, then the whole assignment may have been misguided. If you want the student to learn to do the research and use his mind, you must find a way to judge that effort. That might mean skipping the report and doing something completely different, but I suspect that is usually not necessary.
You can usually (but not always) get in-depth information and can "follow your nose" on the web - you just have to want to do the work. The student who took the lazy way using the Internet in Stephen's example would probably not do the work he describes with the books anyway. I see no difference here between books and the web - it's a matter of motivation.
In regard to the "flat" information of the Internet, I partially agree with Stephen. When I Googled "first scene of wagner's ring" the first hit was a Wikipedia entry that described the four-part opera and included the facts Stephen presented. Links were included that would probably lead to the same kind of information you would find in books. However, there is no table of contents or easy way to know what is relevant - the student would have to click around until he figures out the hierarchy of the information on his own. This method of organizing, in my own mind, the "flat" information presented to me on the web is a difficult process and sometimes I actually fail. I had this exact problem when trying to research the Paleo diet and "diseases of civilization." Finally, I had to turn to a book, which gave me a clearer, but still imperfect understanding of these ideas. Shouldn't a student, with a lot of guidance, be given the opportunity to learn to use his judgment in the same way?
The second hit brought me to a page that looked like a blog entry with a title "Wagner's Ring: A Guide For The Willing But Perplexed - Part III" and a subtitle of "First Day: Das Rheingold - Prelude and Scene 1." I started reading and had no idea what was going on. My first thought was, "I need to go back to Parts 1 and 2 if I want to understand the context of this." And I could easily have done this by using links. Then I would have had to decide if the information was relevant and reliable. Shouldn't a properly educated 12-year-old be able to do the same thing?
Regarding reliability, students using the Internet must understand that not all information they find will necessarily be true, so they need to judge the source. However, this is no different with books. Students too young to use this judgment need guidance from an adult. With books, that guidance might be, "Use the encyclopedia," and an explanation. With the Internet, it might be, "Check for multiple sources." Or, you might start compiling a list of resources with the child, categorizing them into groups such as "reliable," "semi-reliable," "unknown," and "not reliable." You can explain how you make that determination for each one, which would give the child a good inductive way of learning how to make the judgments on his own. Then you can help the child develop a process to verify unreliable information. (I put Wikipedia into "semi-reliable," and would check other sources if I had no prior knowledge of the subject.) This is not an easy process and it requires a huge mental database of knowledge about sources and what makes them credible. The only way to build that database is to start working with sources - to gain firsthand experience of the process.
This whole process is what critical thinking in research is all about. I think, at the right age and with the right guidance, the Internet is a 100% positive thing. It opens up whole new worlds of information to the child, and removes much of the drudgery of looking up mundane facts. The possible misuse of the Internet does not taint it as a tool. Stephen's final paragraph expresses this same thought, so maybe we don't disagree on anything but the age-appropriateness of the Internet. He says wait until college. I suspect a child can start using the Internet with guidance somewhere around 8-10 years old.
Since I have no real experience with this subject, I'd love get some comments, especially from teachers.
I agree that a "report" pulled from one source without any digestion of ideas is pointless. But use of the Internet is not the cause of this problem. Students do the same thing with books all the time. The student can learn what resource to use for what purpose by the guidance and feedback he gets from his teacher. Maybe we're all becoming inured to incompetent teachers who can't tell the difference, but I've graded many essays and I think the difference between a regurgitation-essay and an essay that involved critical thinking is usually quite clear, barring clever plagiarism. If a reasonable teacher can't tell the difference, then the whole assignment may have been misguided. If you want the student to learn to do the research and use his mind, you must find a way to judge that effort. That might mean skipping the report and doing something completely different, but I suspect that is usually not necessary.
You can usually (but not always) get in-depth information and can "follow your nose" on the web - you just have to want to do the work. The student who took the lazy way using the Internet in Stephen's example would probably not do the work he describes with the books anyway. I see no difference here between books and the web - it's a matter of motivation.
In regard to the "flat" information of the Internet, I partially agree with Stephen. When I Googled "first scene of wagner's ring" the first hit was a Wikipedia entry that described the four-part opera and included the facts Stephen presented. Links were included that would probably lead to the same kind of information you would find in books. However, there is no table of contents or easy way to know what is relevant - the student would have to click around until he figures out the hierarchy of the information on his own. This method of organizing, in my own mind, the "flat" information presented to me on the web is a difficult process and sometimes I actually fail. I had this exact problem when trying to research the Paleo diet and "diseases of civilization." Finally, I had to turn to a book, which gave me a clearer, but still imperfect understanding of these ideas. Shouldn't a student, with a lot of guidance, be given the opportunity to learn to use his judgment in the same way?
The second hit brought me to a page that looked like a blog entry with a title "Wagner's Ring: A Guide For The Willing But Perplexed - Part III" and a subtitle of "First Day: Das Rheingold - Prelude and Scene 1." I started reading and had no idea what was going on. My first thought was, "I need to go back to Parts 1 and 2 if I want to understand the context of this." And I could easily have done this by using links. Then I would have had to decide if the information was relevant and reliable. Shouldn't a properly educated 12-year-old be able to do the same thing?
Regarding reliability, students using the Internet must understand that not all information they find will necessarily be true, so they need to judge the source. However, this is no different with books. Students too young to use this judgment need guidance from an adult. With books, that guidance might be, "Use the encyclopedia," and an explanation. With the Internet, it might be, "Check for multiple sources." Or, you might start compiling a list of resources with the child, categorizing them into groups such as "reliable," "semi-reliable," "unknown," and "not reliable." You can explain how you make that determination for each one, which would give the child a good inductive way of learning how to make the judgments on his own. Then you can help the child develop a process to verify unreliable information. (I put Wikipedia into "semi-reliable," and would check other sources if I had no prior knowledge of the subject.) This is not an easy process and it requires a huge mental database of knowledge about sources and what makes them credible. The only way to build that database is to start working with sources - to gain firsthand experience of the process.
This whole process is what critical thinking in research is all about. I think, at the right age and with the right guidance, the Internet is a 100% positive thing. It opens up whole new worlds of information to the child, and removes much of the drudgery of looking up mundane facts. The possible misuse of the Internet does not taint it as a tool. Stephen's final paragraph expresses this same thought, so maybe we don't disagree on anything but the age-appropriateness of the Internet. He says wait until college. I suspect a child can start using the Internet with guidance somewhere around 8-10 years old.
Since I have no real experience with this subject, I'd love get some comments, especially from teachers.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tantrums and Principles
Samantha had two massive tantrums today. There were also at least two other minor meltdowns. Something is up, and I think I know what it is.
The first one happened at day care. I was picking her up and I smelled "production," as we've come to call poop sometimes around here. (I mean, when they are babies, that's the only thing they really produce, right?) I took her to a changing station and she was resisting a bit, but I talked her into letting me put her up on the table. The diaper had leaked (AGAIN) and I was going to have to change her pants, so I took off one of her shoes. That's what started it. NO SHOES OFF. NO SHOES OFF. The next 45 minutes were hell. The poop was everywhere and she screamed for 20 minutes straight, waking up all the babies in the room next door, and was completely inconsolable. I could not allow her to get down because the poop went halfway down to her knees, but she insisted on squirming off the table over and over. I just had to catch her and put her back up every time, both of us getting covered in shit in the process. She constantly tried to hit me and I had to hold her arms. I could not understand anything she might have tried to say, except once she said she wanted to have the diaper changed on the floor (not possible with that much mess) and once she said she wanted the teacher to do it (that might have ended it, but I was feeling stubborn). Finally, something broke and she let me hug her and start consoling her. She was still too upset to do anything but cry for another 15 minutes or so, and then we finally got the diaper changed and made it home.
She pooped in the potty last night right before bed (first one in a long time), so tonight I asked her if she wanted to try again. She eagerly said YESCH. After a minute or so of trying, she started asking for fruit candy. We've offered her this little treat as a reward for making something in the potty. I actually tried to stop the reward thing a while back, but she just won't forget that she is entitled to a fruit candy, so I decided that, for this one thing, a reward is ok.
Anyway, I told her she could only have a fruit candy if she made a pee or poo, and at some point, the tantrum began. It was so intense that she threw up from all the screaming. She did a much better job restraining herself from hitting me this time, so I didn't do much except try to stay out of her way and occasionally try to elicit some words. But the intensity of her emotion was just too much. I could see she was trying to say words to communicate with me, but they were buried in the screaming. Since we were home and she wasn't hitting me, I was able to really stay calm and just wait it out, and finally, I heard these words: TRY POOP POTTY. CAN'T DO IT.
I just about died with remorse. The poor girl wanted to make a poop so badly that she was having a total meltdown when one wasn't forthcoming. The damn reward thing was a total mistake. Once I understood the problem, I could talk to her about it a little bit, but again, it took her a long time to recover. I explained that sometimes there is poop in your body and it is ready to come out and sometimes there is just no poop, so you can't do it any time you want to. I told her the best thing to do was to keep trying every day. I told her that we were no longer going to give her fruit candy for making something on the potty, but we would give her some on occasion just for fun. I'm not sure how much got through to her. I'm pretty sure her earlier tantrum had something to do with this issue, since the same dark matter was involved.
I've tried to keep the potty training issue casual and to make sure that Sam feels like it is a fun and good thing to do, but only when she is ready. But I blew that all away with the fruit candy. I've now made the same mistake twice. I've allowed one particular situation to be an "exception" to my usual parenting methods. With Sam's hitting, I decided that time-outs were necessary instead of more natural consequences. With the potty, I decided that rewards just might work, when I normally don't use them at all. Both "exceptions" have been failures.
It's a good lesson in thinking in and acting on principle. Sure, as a parent, you have to be flexible and open to lots of different methods, depending on your child's temperament, age, and the situation at hand. But certain fundamentals will hold true no matter what the situation. Next time I start thinking of something as an "exception," a red flag will pop up in my mind and, hopefully, I'll think it through more carefully.
The first one happened at day care. I was picking her up and I smelled "production," as we've come to call poop sometimes around here. (I mean, when they are babies, that's the only thing they really produce, right?) I took her to a changing station and she was resisting a bit, but I talked her into letting me put her up on the table. The diaper had leaked (AGAIN) and I was going to have to change her pants, so I took off one of her shoes. That's what started it. NO SHOES OFF. NO SHOES OFF. The next 45 minutes were hell. The poop was everywhere and she screamed for 20 minutes straight, waking up all the babies in the room next door, and was completely inconsolable. I could not allow her to get down because the poop went halfway down to her knees, but she insisted on squirming off the table over and over. I just had to catch her and put her back up every time, both of us getting covered in shit in the process. She constantly tried to hit me and I had to hold her arms. I could not understand anything she might have tried to say, except once she said she wanted to have the diaper changed on the floor (not possible with that much mess) and once she said she wanted the teacher to do it (that might have ended it, but I was feeling stubborn). Finally, something broke and she let me hug her and start consoling her. She was still too upset to do anything but cry for another 15 minutes or so, and then we finally got the diaper changed and made it home.
She pooped in the potty last night right before bed (first one in a long time), so tonight I asked her if she wanted to try again. She eagerly said YESCH. After a minute or so of trying, she started asking for fruit candy. We've offered her this little treat as a reward for making something in the potty. I actually tried to stop the reward thing a while back, but she just won't forget that she is entitled to a fruit candy, so I decided that, for this one thing, a reward is ok.
Anyway, I told her she could only have a fruit candy if she made a pee or poo, and at some point, the tantrum began. It was so intense that she threw up from all the screaming. She did a much better job restraining herself from hitting me this time, so I didn't do much except try to stay out of her way and occasionally try to elicit some words. But the intensity of her emotion was just too much. I could see she was trying to say words to communicate with me, but they were buried in the screaming. Since we were home and she wasn't hitting me, I was able to really stay calm and just wait it out, and finally, I heard these words: TRY POOP POTTY. CAN'T DO IT.
I just about died with remorse. The poor girl wanted to make a poop so badly that she was having a total meltdown when one wasn't forthcoming. The damn reward thing was a total mistake. Once I understood the problem, I could talk to her about it a little bit, but again, it took her a long time to recover. I explained that sometimes there is poop in your body and it is ready to come out and sometimes there is just no poop, so you can't do it any time you want to. I told her the best thing to do was to keep trying every day. I told her that we were no longer going to give her fruit candy for making something on the potty, but we would give her some on occasion just for fun. I'm not sure how much got through to her. I'm pretty sure her earlier tantrum had something to do with this issue, since the same dark matter was involved.
I've tried to keep the potty training issue casual and to make sure that Sam feels like it is a fun and good thing to do, but only when she is ready. But I blew that all away with the fruit candy. I've now made the same mistake twice. I've allowed one particular situation to be an "exception" to my usual parenting methods. With Sam's hitting, I decided that time-outs were necessary instead of more natural consequences. With the potty, I decided that rewards just might work, when I normally don't use them at all. Both "exceptions" have been failures.
It's a good lesson in thinking in and acting on principle. Sure, as a parent, you have to be flexible and open to lots of different methods, depending on your child's temperament, age, and the situation at hand. But certain fundamentals will hold true no matter what the situation. Next time I start thinking of something as an "exception," a red flag will pop up in my mind and, hopefully, I'll think it through more carefully.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
A Little Thing
Adam: She's so sensitive.
Amy: Like the Princess and the Pea.
Samantha: PRINCESS AND THE PEA. PRINCESS AND THE POO.
Amy: Like the Princess and the Pea.
Samantha: PRINCESS AND THE PEA. PRINCESS AND THE POO.
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