Mar 1
So the weirdest thing happened. For some inexplicable reason, my MA thesis was downloaded, in the US, 226 times last month. Bizarre! Compare (here) that to the 52 downloads in total in the last 6 months of 2018. Who are these people?!
I was reading some commentary on Jason Brennan’s book Against Democracy
- “Epistocracy is a system in which the votes of people who can prove their political knowledge count more than the votes of people who can’t. In other words, it’s a system that privileges the most politically informed citizens”; read more from Vox
- “Like John Stuart Mill, he contends that voting is not merely an individual choice, but the exercise of “power over others.” Such power must be used responsibly, if at all.”; more from the Washington Post
- Reflective thinking, in short, means judgment suspended during further inquiry; and suspense is likely to be somewhat painful. As we shall see later, the most important factor in the training of good mental habits consists in acquiring the attitude of suspended conclusion, and in mastering the various methods of searching for new materials to corroborate or to refute the first suggestions that occur. To maintain the state of doubt and to carry on systematic and protracted inquiry ― these are the essentials of thinking. – Dewey: How We Think (1910)
Mar 1
This is is just the sort of gig that would have had me packing my bags 10 years ago. It was a similar add that found me quitting my job at Qinghua and moving to Nepal back in 2007 and what an adventure that was!
Mar 7
The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association posted my Right to be Forgotten on their twitter feed.
Mar 9
Can a single national court dictate the content of search results for internet users worldwide?
- From Michael Geist: The Equustek Effect: How One Case Has Sparked Canada’s Aggressive Approach Over Internet Jurisdiction In part due to the Equustek doctrine, Canadian courts now more aggressively assert jurisdiction over online activities.
Mar 22
The 7,000–Mile Divide: 85% of Chinese international students at Penn say they don’t have one American friend.
- This is the first time I’ve come across the term “racial literacy”: “One “very significant” cultural barrier is the “racial illiteracy” among many Chinese international students who come to the US. Because China is relatively racially homogenous, Juliette explained, students arrive with little knowledge about race and racism, especially in the American context.”