Categories
Humor Writings

The Potter-Taran Treatise

Another one from the archives. I’ve been reading the Prydain Chronicles to my sons lately (we’re on the third book) and I suddenly remembered that I’d written this almost 20 years ago. I edited it lightly. Not all of the Potterverse was available yet in 2004, but I think the main criticisms are still valid. […]

Categories
Argumentation Pedagogy Short Essays Writings

Bandwagon Arguments in Academia, Redux

(9/11/23) I have received an intriguing request for a short essay I’d forgotten that I wrote. With some light editing, here it is again, after some digging in the archives. 2018, maybe? In general, the thoughts here hold true. Maybe more so. One of my pet peeves when reading academic arguments is the persistent and […]

Categories
Book Reviews Short Essays Writings

Weizenbaum’s Computer Power And Human Reason

Computer Power and Human Reason by Joseph Weizenbaum was first published in 1976. My interest in ethics had not, until recently, steered me toward it, but having now obtained a copy and considered Weizenbaum’s arguments, I’m quite pleased I did. It is not a book about computers, or programming, or “computer science,” or even an […]