Academic Research Should Be Free
This article from the New York Times is a fairly balanced account of the Open Access movement. In my opinion, the current academic system is corrupt. Not only is access to information determined by library budgets, it is also restricted by entrenched interests, i.e. peer review.
What to call your Academic Event | PHD Comics
Zombies vs. Grad Students
A Research Guide for Students
A Research Guide for Students includes writing guides, literature guides, and lots of other great academic writing resources. Check it out!
Why online learning will fail
Why online learning will fail – Agenda – The World Economic Forum
It’s all about the mating opportunities.
Beards in Academia – Academia Obscura
Beards in Academia – Academia Obscura
I wish that I had the internal fortitude to grow a great beard like my father had at one point, but my skin is too sensitive. I’ve tried many times over the years, usually as a by-product of neglect of personal hygiene associated with mild symptoms of depression brought on by cold weather, but it just becomes too itchy and uncomfortable after several days, until I’m brought to a point where I’m constantly scratching my face, leading to a rash which results in even more discomfort. Eventually I shave it all off, to repeat the attempt the following year.
The Death of Ideas in Higher Education
This excellent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education is an epitaph for the Humanities. Roughly speaking, the author divides the history of thought into three eras: pre-rational/religious, idealist/humanist, and materialist/scientific. Although a familiar framework, he includes many examples of each strain of thought. In general, I feel that this article is a cogent analysis and useful overview of the death of ideas.
As for the future, I predict a resurgence of religion, as people seek out meaning and ethical precepts to direct their lives in this cold, amoral, and materialist modern society where we find ourselves. As a human institution, Science is not immune from error and therefore I shudder to think of the terrors ahead now that all social, political, and economic theory must conform to our brains rather than our brains confirming to our previously cherished ideals.
The death of ideas is surely a foreboding development and may signal the end of civilization as we know it, and not in a good way. I only hope that these developments indicate that Science has reached its apex and will soon be subsumed or supplanted by a more satisfying system of thought.
The LaTeX cargo cult
Why philosophers use LaTeX instead of something easier.
A Thesis Most Foul 