As is his Monday custom, the janitor at Blogistan Polytechnic Institute listened to the slurred mutterings in the faculty lounge and compiled a list of ideas for consideration. We'll have a guest lecturer again this week, as elropsych will post Tuesday's Morning Feature. I'll take the day to try to rescue data from an (I hope) not-quite-dead-yet computer and get the new system fully running.
The mutterings, and a poll, below the fold....
Last week, Blogistan Polytechnic Institute hosted two guest lecturers, with plf515 offering a seminar on CO2 capture technology, and Mishima giving us a look at politics in the Far East. Thank you both for your efforts, and thank you in advance to elropsych for tomorrow's Morning Feature.
What did the janitor overhear in the faculty lounge?
- Are We Heroes or Villains? - The question seems absurd, but how we answer that question strongly shapes our political outlook. If you see people as heroes-in-being, needing only to be enabled toward heroism, you are more likely to be progressive. If you see people as villains-in-being, needing always to be restrained from villainy, you are more likely to be conservative.
- Are We Socialists or Capitalists? - Picking up on the themes above, this explores whether Americans are fundamentally more socialist or capitalist in outlook and expectations. As Meteor Blades explores in a diary today, it's time to wipe some tarnish off the word "socialism."
- What Is a Best Solution? - Touching on issues from several recent conversations, we explore the topic of heuristics - what a "best solution" should look like - and how we often apply different heuristics to proposed solutions for reasons that are not visibly rational.
As always, your topic ideas are always welcome as well. And if you would like to be a guest lecturer at Blogistan Polytechnic Institute - which is to say, if you'd like to write a Morning Feature diary next Tuesday - feel free to volunteer below. We'll even let you borrow the key to the wine truth cellar.
Happy Monday!