Tabula Rasa

Here are some links on the concept of the "blank slate"--including the TED talk we watched on Wednesday:

http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_blank_slate

Check out the comments section for criticism, support and more to think about.

Also, a couple of reviews of Steven Pinker's book that also give a brief history of the issue:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/11/25/021125crbo_books

http://home.uchicago.edu/~rjr6/articles/Sunday%20New%20York%20Times.htm

Stephen Jay Gould  was a strong proponent of "the blank slate" and strong oppositional voice against biological determinism (look it up if you don't know what this means).

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2011/06/24/defending-stephen-jay-goulds-crusade-against-biological-determinism/

http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/courses/intelligence/cache/carroll-gould.html

Cosmolicious!

During today's discussion it struck me that many of you may not know about the remake of the old television show "Cosmos."  Astrophysicist Carl Sagan wrote and narrated the original show, taking viewers on a mind-blowing journey through space and time.  The show has recently been brought back to life by Seth MacFarlane (yes, the "Family Guy" dude) and Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysicist and all-around amazing translator of science for the general public).  Science is cool, people--join the party and watch the new "Cosmos:  A Spacetime Odyssey" on Fox or Hulu.

http://www.cosmosontv.com/

Writing Resources

Here are some sources for writing college papers.

General Guidelines:

http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/resources/collegewriting/

https://www.mcla.edu/library/uploads/textWidget/1460.00019/documents/mlw_manuscript1.pdf

Chicago Manual of Style:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html

Use the sources here at SCCC:

The Writing Center

http://seattlecentral.edu/learningsupportnetwork/?page_id=132

The SCCC Library

http://www.seattlecentral.edu/library/

Presentation Programs (Software):

Students can download the Microsoft Office Suite free!

http://seattlecentral.edu/~ymoh/MicrosoftSoftware.html

Prezi for students is also free:

http://prezi.com/

Experts and Authority

Here is the TED talk we watched on Monday (April 13):

https://www.ted.com/talks/noreena_hertz_how_to_use_experts_and_when_not_to

An article on art and expertise:

http://bigthink.com/insights-of-genius/the-experts-ear-expertise-and-aesthetic-judgments

And some thoughts on the role of authority in America.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/06/why-david-brooks-is-right-about-authority/258506/

Please feel free to make comments on these entries!

The Trouble with TED Talks.

Here are a couple of criticisms of TED, including a TED talk about the problem with TED.

http://www.newstatesman.com/martin-robbins/2012/09/trouble-ted-talks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5cKRmJaf0