Monthly Archives: July 2014

Learning How to Learn: Free Online Course from UCSD

Posted on 31 July, 2014 by alfin2101

UC San Diego is offering a free online course in August on “Learning How to Learn,” through the Coursera.org website. Here is a brief outline of the course: Week 1 – Introduction: Focused versus Diffuse Thinking (begins Aug 1) Week … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 1 Comment

Putin’s Russia Accelerates Its Own Decline

Posted on 28 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Putin’s aggressive rush to war in Eastern Europe appears to be a misguided attempt to jack up global oil prices. The Russian government is deeply dependent upon oil & gas revenues, and while the price of oil remains below the … Continue reading →

Posted in Putin, Russia | Tagged | 10 Comments

A Coming Disruption in Education

Posted on 27 July, 2014 by alfin2101

From “The Futurist” blog comes a provocative essay on the future of education entitled “The Education Disruption: 2015“. (via Xenosystems) It is worth reading the entire essay, although I have excerpted some of the parts that I feel especially important. … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, Education | Tagged | 1 Comment

Knowledge vs. Belief

Posted on 26 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Knowledge: “… a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning. Knowledge can refer to a theoretical or practical understanding of … Continue reading →

Posted in Knowledge, Philosophy | Tagged | Comments Off on Knowledge vs. Belief

Russians and Russophiles: Weird and Kooky Guys?

Posted on 25 July, 2014 by alfin2101

… [Putin] has much enjoyed The Third Empire, a fantasy about an imaginary Latin American historian from 2054, who recounts the exploits of Tsar Vladimir II, the in-gatherer of all Russian lands. __ In the Court of Tsar Vlad II … Continue reading →

Posted in Russia | 1 Comment

Capital Flight and Brain Drain: Is China in as Much Trouble as Russia?

Posted on 24 July, 2014 by alfin2101

No. China’s numbers may be worse than Russia’s, but China has a lot more talent and capital to lose than Russia. In the end, China will eat Russia’s lunch (Siberia). Over the last few years, the situation has become worse. … Continue reading →

Posted in Brain Drain, China | Tagged | Comments Off on Capital Flight and Brain Drain: Is China in as Much Trouble as Russia?

Russia in 2014: Recapitulating 1914?

Posted on 23 July, 2014 by alfin2101

In 1914, the world was dominated by great and belligerent empires, including the British Empire, the Tsarist Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the powerful Prussian dynasty. The situation was unstable, so that triggering World War I … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Metaphor, Russia, Russian Oil Curse | 7 Comments

Freedom’s Just Another Word for Something More to Learn

Posted on 19 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Dangerous Children Master at least 3 Different Ways to Support Themselves Financially By Their 18th Birthday: And That is Just the Beginning When young persons are confident that they can move skillfully through the world according to a trajectory of … Continue reading →

Posted in Competence, Dangerous Child | 3 Comments

Black Start after Power Grid Collapse: Not Something for Apes or Zombies

Posted on 17 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Abundant and affordable electricity is vital to a modern society. If electrical power were suddenly lost, up to 90% of the population in an advanced society would die within one year — unless power were restored in full in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Dysgenics, Electrical Power Grid, Zombies | Tagged | 5 Comments

Long Term Survival vs. Rebuilding Civilisation

Posted on 13 July, 2014 by alfin2101

At the Al Fin Dangerous Child Institute, children are taught survival over all time scales — immediate, intermediate, and long term. But Dangerous Children are also taught how to build networked communities of like-minded and competent people, with the aim … Continue reading →

Posted in Rebuilding Civilisation, Survival Prepping | 3 Comments

Germany’s Green Reich: The Decline of a Former Industrial Superpower

Posted on 10 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Due to renewable subsidies, Germany’s electrical prices are now the highest in Europe. The government has vowed to cut back but there are reports of production plants leaving the country and headed for America, of all places, to take advantage … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Energy, Europe, Germany, Green Quagmire | Tagged | 5 Comments

Google: Government Is Likely to Collapse Under Its Own Weight

Posted on 9 July, 2014 by alfin2101

To be precise, Google’s co-founder Larry Page said: … regulation that “increases without bounds” is likely to lead government “to collapse under its own weight:” _ http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/08/googles-larry-page-i-think-the-governmen Denizens of Washington DC seem to believe that government was meant to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Obama | Tagged | 3 Comments

Things Fall Apart, the Centre Cannot Hold: Chaos is the Natural State

Posted on 6 July, 2014 by alfin2101

There are many reasons why once-thriving cities and regions become abandoned. Wars, earthquakes, and local resource depletion, are some of the most common causes. Nuclear power plant accidents in Ukraine and Japan have caused other abandonments. But if humans were … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Enlightenment, Demographics, Dysgenics, Idiocracy, Technology | 1 Comment

Who Are You Today? Shifting Brain Networks Change Who You Are

Posted on 4 July, 2014 by alfin2101

The human brain appears to work by synchronous, long-distance linking of distant brain modules. Different groups of modules — different brain networks — are “in synch” at different times, depending upon the general types of tasks which the brain is … Continue reading →

Posted in Cognition, Human Brain | Comments Off on Who Are You Today? Shifting Brain Networks Change Who You Are

Which is Poorer: US Schools or US Students?

Posted on 2 July, 2014 by alfin2101

Every time another international comparison of educational test scores is released, US media and educational pundits wring their hands over poor rankings of American schools. “Experts” typically call for more educational spending, higher pay for teachers, smaller classrooms, more personalised … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 3 Comments