From the category archives:

Critical Thinking

Cultivate Your Connoisseurship

August 7, 2010

Sometime in the late ‘90s an art collector named Richard L. Feigen came across a painting at a Sotheby’s auction that he really loved. Feigen is an avid art collector and, by his estimation, the painting dated somewhere around 1430. He bought the painting for around $20,000 and brought it back to the States. A [...]

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The Jam Experiment: On Choice

July 15, 2010

I talk a lot about The Jam Experiment. Now, stop me if you’ve heard this one, because this is not BREAKING NEWS. In fact, the results of this particular study were released ten years ago by some students at my neighborhood academic institution, Columbia University. The Jam Experiment (officially titled “When Choice is Demotivating: Can [...]

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Critical Thinking: What Is It, Anyway?

June 13, 2010

As much as we hear about bringing creativity to classroom and business, we hear even more about teaching and using critical thinking skills. Since we’re prone to throwing terminology, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about critical thinking and what it entails. First, let’s parse out the difference between thinking and critical [...]

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On Jargon

May 23, 2010

Jargon. It’s the ultimate hiding place. Usually, if you’re using jargon to talk about something, you’re very likely coating a very small piece of meat in a thick layer of batter. The ACME Plunger Corporation exists to synergize air pressure and human force to facilitate and champion the clearing of all manner of pipes, passageways, [...]

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Jazz and Fundamentals, Part 3: Improvisation

May 15, 2010

You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. —Charlie Parker It’s often suggested that, with the evolution of technology and accessibility of information, we don’t really need to memorize fundamentals anymore. Why not outsource them? [...]

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On Feynman and Us

April 29, 2010

Perhaps a thing is simple if you can describe it fully in several different ways without immediately knowing that you are describing the same thing. Richard Feynman, Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1965 If you’ve ever listened to a Richard Feynman lecture or read his books, you’ll understand why I like to think that his greatest [...]

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