Rants, Raves, and Rhetoric v4

Tag: knowledge

  • Unknown Knowns

    Yesterday’s post mentioned unknown unknowns. When I heard this matrix, it pained me that one of the quadrants was missing. Over the years, I have thought about that missing one and what it might mean. Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 talking about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq a year before the invasion: Reports that say…

  • TED Talk: On being wrong

    A while back I pulled a post. It had to do with my wanting to be caught being wrong by my coworkers. I catch myself being wrong all the time, so I very much know my own fallibility. But, people take lack of confidence as lack of ability. Which means to get things done, one…

  • TED Talk: The currency of the new economy is trust

    How would you describe my reputation in three words? My judgment, knowledge, and behaviors in various situations? Back in the 1990s, the beauty of the Internet was we could disappear and be whomever we wanted. Wherever we went, almost no one knew who we were. Then web sites started providing accounts to sites and tracking…

  • For 9/11

    This seemed appropropriate to re-post today, the tenth anniversary of the event which inspired its need. The problems we are to overcome seem more prevalent and prominent today. This statement was issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States in December 2001 as a response to the terror attacks of…

  • Quotes That Make You Think: Collected for First Half 2011

    More quotes for Quotes to Make You Think collected over the past year. Additional ones can be found under the Quotes tag. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. — William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. — Charles Mingus The…

  • Feynman Flower

    There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts. Richard Feynman, What Do You Care What Other People Think?

  • Guard Dead Paper?

    Seth said, “What we don’t need are mere clerks who guard dead paper.” Whenever, I read “mere”, “only”, or “just” as a descriptor, it makes me sad someone (even me) relies on obvious straw men. Librarians already do more than guard dead paper. It just makes it easier to knock them down and kick them while…

  • Research in Higher Ed

    SC lawmakers want to professors at universities to teach more instead of doing research. An Associated Press article “SC budget would make professors teach more classes”: College professors should be in the classroom teaching at least nine credit hours each semester because the state is having a tough time paying for college budgets, said state Rep.…

  • Competitive Edge

    Found a Backupify blog on controlling employee access to social media odd. Preventing employees from discussing work on social media may help, but really you need to operate like the Manhattan Project. Sequester them in a town you build in the middle of nowhere, go through all of their correspondence paper or electronic, and control…