Quotes

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Hard Facts

March 13, 2010 in Education, Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

Some quotes from the Overcoming Bias blog from the book Hard Facts. (I’ve cleaned up some spelling errors.)

Merit pay for teachers is an idea that is almost 100 years old and has been subject to much research.  In one study conducted in 1918, “48 percent of U.S. school districts sampled used compensation systems that they called merit pay.” … The evidence shows that merit-pay plans seldom last longer than five years and that merit pay consistently fails to improve student performance.  … [Researchers] also showed that cheating [by teachers] was quite sensitive to the size of the incentives provided for enhancing student scores.  … The same problems emerged when merit-pay systems were implemented in the 1980s. … “It is like policy makers suffer from amnesia.” (pp.22-24) … Hard Facts: Teaching

Another good one.

Students who are in school or who have chosen a major for instrumental reasons – in order to get a better job or to make more money – are much more likely to cheat than students who have chosen a course of study because of their interest in in the subject matter.  (p.124) Hard Facts: Incentives

Another book to add to my wishlist, I guess.

Decisions, Decisions

January 29, 2010 in Quotes by Ezra S F | 1 comment

“The way to make better decisions is to make more of them” -Anthony Robbins

We do learn from retrospective analysis of effects. I question the need to make our own bad decisions in order to learn. We ought to be able to watch others make mistakes and avoid them.

Every Movie Geek Needs His Quotes

January 15, 2010 in Movies / Films / TV, Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

GeekDad published a list of top 100 Geek quotes. I happen to like movies and quotes. However, this list seems lame. None of my favorites even made the top ten.

  1. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Obiwan Kenobi, Star Wars. Of course, I got more attached to this quote when a coworker used this to perplex our boss. I’m sure there are days he regretted hiring so many twenty somethings.
  2. “Half of writing history is hiding the truth.” Mal, Serenity.
  3. “I’ve done far worse than kill you. I’ve hurt you. And I wish to go on… hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her. Marooned for all eternity, in the center of a dead planet… buried alive. Buried alive.” Khan Noonien Singh, ST:TWOK
  4. “I must not fear. / Fear is the mind-killer. / Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. / I will face my fear. / I will permit it to pass over me and through me. / And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. / Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. / Only I will remain.” – Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune
  5. “How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn’t you say?” Captain James T. Kirk, ST:TWOK
  6. “Do or do not. There is no try.” Yoda, SW:TESB. Yes, I have a teeshirt about this.
  7. “Raspberry. There’s only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Star!” Dark Helmet, Spaceballs.

What are your favorite movie quotes?

Water

October 3, 2008 in Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

From George…

You can lead a horse to water, but he will just drown.

Marbles in the Mouth

February 19, 2008 in Quotes by Ezra S F | 1 comment

Dava Sobel on John Harrison in Longitute:

Harrison, according to those who admired him most, never could express himself clearly in writing. He wrote with the scrivener’s equivalent of marbles in his mouth…. The first sentence [of his last published work] runs on, virtually punctuated, for twenty-five pages.

I propose we call long winded typing which no can understand the point “Marble keys”.

All Good Things

February 7, 2008 in Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

A good one…

It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
- Rene Descartes

From Michelle so she can be quoted…

If you don’t feel and don’t want and don’t love, all you do is breathe and eat.

Tricky Quotes

February 3, 2008 in Quotes by Ezra S F | 1 comment

Archilochus (Greek lyric poet and soldier, 675-635bc)

The fox has many tricks, and the hedgehog only one, but that is the best of all.

Ingrid Bergman

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.

Ray Bradbury

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.

Leonardo da Vinci

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.

Seymoure Cray

The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.

Image of God

February 2, 2008 in Quotes, Religion / Baha'i Faith by Ezra S F | No comments

I picked up Einstein and Religion the other day. Its been a compelling read as I am about 1/3 through in just over 24 hours. Both of these come from pages 74-75.

Maimonides:

Our Knowledge [of God] consist in knowing that we are unable to comprehend Him.

Spinoza:

On your question whether I have a clear idea of God as I have of triangle, I would answer in the affirmative; but on your question whether I have a clear image of God as I have of triangle, I would answer in the negative. For of God no image can be made.

Generalization

September 13, 2007 in Quotes by Ezra S F | No comments

.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, com a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
– Robert A. Heinlein

Found in John Samaras’ email signature. I served as an Ex-Officio member of the Faculty Senate Technology Subcommittee of which he was a member and at one point chair.

Insanity

August 8, 2007 in Quotes by Ezra S F | 1 comment

.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
Rita Mae Brown – Wikiquote

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