‘Critical Thinking’ Archives
Facebook: Leave It To Zuckerberg
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg bears a striking resemblence to Eddie Haskell from Leave It To Beaver. [Read More]
The Future of American Surburbs
In a previous Critical Thinking article How American Towns Got To Be So Ugly we looked at Robert Crumb’s series of illustrations depicting the development of one location in the U.S. from idyllic wilderness to modern-day surburban sprawl. We made the observation that [Read More]
One-Hit Wonder Johann Pachelbel
See how Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D is used in recent songs. [Read More]
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class
The middle class in America, the backbone of the America economic miracle, is under fire. Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren gave this lecture at U.C. Berkeley a few years ago. In the lecture she compares the economic situation of a typical family of four in 1970 with a [Read More]
Crisis of Capitalism
Animation of a lecture by Professor and author David Harvey about the roots of economic crisis. [Read More]
The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe
Reading and text of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Gold Bug. [Read More]
It’s In Our Nature
Short film about embracing a fellow traveler in the wilderness. Is this the greatest film ever made. [Read More]
Light Up A Lucky L.S.M.F.T.
So round, so firm, so fully-packed. –Lucky Strike Television Commercial At one time television commercials were dominated by cigarette adverts. This classic television commercial shows a couple at breakfast enjoying “the first cigarette of the day.” Today [Read More]
Orders of Magnitude
Many fields of study have to deal with measurements that are much smaller or larger than normally encountered as we go through life. For instance quantum physicists deal with tiny things on the atomic or sub-atomic level. Meanwhile, astronomers often deal with the vast [Read More]
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field in 3D
A NASA video shows a fly-though the deepest part of the universe. [Read More]
How American Towns Got So Ugly
Artist R. Crumb shows the evolution of one place in an American town. [Read More]
Popular Science Magazine Archives
The American monthly magazine Popular Science has been publishing articles about science and technology for the general reader since 1872. That must be one astounding collection of articles. You could trace the history of technology from the early days sound recording and [Read More]
Country Cornball Curly Harris
Back in the 1960’s there was a popular television show called The Porter Wagoner Show that played mostly in the southern United States and in rural areas. This show had music by Porter Wagoner and his band The Wagonmasters. The show pre-dated the more mainstream [Read More]
Robert Burns: To A Mouse
Scottish poet and lyricist, and Scotland’s favorite son, Robert Burns found timeless truth in the simple and common act of ploughing a field. Robert Burns: TO A MOUSE On turning her up in her nest, with the plough, November, 1785 Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous [Read More]
Avatar’s Not-So-Original Storyline
I saw James Cameron’s science fiction movie Avatar in 3-D and it was truly and awesome experience. But while watching it I had the unsettling feeling that I had seen the story before. Kind of a deja vu felling. Many parts of the movie, like the montage sequences when [Read More]
Interview with Eugene Fama on Market Efficiency
There is a fascinating interview with Eugene Fama in The New Yorker magazine. The article is titled Rational Irrationality by John Cassidy. Eugene Fama is a Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Fama is known as the father of The [Read More]
Old Folk Tale: The Two Winemakers
Once upon a time there were two brothers, Jacques and Pierre. Jacques was diligent and studious. Pierre was lazy and inattentive. Each brother wanted to start a vineyard to grow grapes for wine making. The diligent brother, Jacques, studied farming and wine making. He [Read More]
Book: Samuelson’s Economics
For the study of economics, no textbook has been more widely used than Samuelson’s Economics. This is an introductory college textbook by American economist Paul Samuelson. Economics was first published in 1948. This textbook has been updated every few years with new [Read More]
James Cameron’s Avatar
In 1968 Stanley Kubrick released 2001: A Space Oddysey. In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars. In 1993 Steven Spielburg released Jurassic Park. Each of these films was groundbreaking and unforgettable. In 2009, add James Cameron’s Avatar to the list. Avatar is the [Read More]
