The ReasonRx Podcast: A Rational Perspective on Education

It is a big mistake to focus on grades over understanding. Doing so involves all sorts of errors and fallacies -- such as the idea that you cannot focus on both, or the idea that understanidng does not lead to high grades, or the idea that going after grades without developing the capacity to think critically will have no deleterious affects that outweigh the good grades got through impoverished t...

Science should be taught by following how it developed historically. There are all sorts of reasons why -- most importantly because that method fits with the nature and aims of education. The historical and inductive essence needs to be there, but how that is achieved could vary -- and should, by age, intellectual level, power of patience, etc. You could go into more or less depth and breadth, dep...

Thanks for the good administrators out there! But the less-than-good need to be "controlled" and "managed" by checks and balances of critical thinking, logic, root-cause analysis, and "Extreme Ownership." And sone outside oversight. “Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our m...

Induction is valid. Hume was wrong: there is no “problem of induction."  Inductions validly and logically formed are contextual absolutes. We can and should confidently and certainly form inductions, use them, and rely on them.  Necessity is in experience. It is in reality. It has epistemic and metaphysical priority over anyone’s imaginings and ramblings. 1. “Practical scientists [and adults] who...

Math is a way of understanidng of the world. It is a tool of thought that is governed by both metaphysics and epistrmoology. It is not a "free creation of the mind." In this episode, I discuss some thoughts on the nature and philosophy of mathematics and how it really works, contra to what many today and through the ages have said. (Their practice of math, thank goodnes, has not been entirely cons...

Teaching, learning, and understanding -- examples are critical, not just in school, but in life and at work. After all, we all have to sometimes teach and sometines learn -- it's part of being a social animal. And we frequently have to think. So we should know how to do them well. No matter what -- Acid. Base. Titration. Redox. Quantum mechanics.  Maxwell’s equations.  Navier-Stokes equations. Tur...

Just a few thoughts on how to fix educaiton and on what won't work.  We need to get to the funcamentals if we want improvement for our students and our children, and we want a better world -- we need to do to educaiton what Galileo and Newton did to physics: set education on a rational, inductive basis, one that is true to human nature.  Notes. I. Here is more of the  MLK quote. ”Education must al...

In this episode, Scott Harris joins us to discuss: -what philosophy is -why you need it -why students need it -why it should be taught -his background in all that -how he teaches it -his scope and sequence -what students get out of it -some of his teacing experiences -how philosophy has helped his students -and more About Scott: Scott K. Harris (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-k-harris-b037966)...

In this episode I read Dr. Michael Fowler's "Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory" and discuss its significance. It recommends teaching physics historically, which also helps students learn science, logic, and reasoning, which they need for using thought in the world and they need for adult life. Note: sorry for some of the reading in the episode. I was tired, so my contacts were...

In this episode I discuss the great, classic article "The Median Isn't the Message" by Stephen Jay Gould. We delve into the article, its meaning, and lots of the depth and breadth we can get out of it. It should be read and studied by every statistics teacher and statistics student -- and everyone else, it is so full of lessons. Contact Michael: 1. Email: reasonrx@aol.com 2. Gold Academy: https://...

In this episode I discuss what grammar is and why we need it. It ain't about blindly following rules or being rude to each other. Rather, grammar is how we put thoughts together so we can think better, so we can be better understood, so we can better understand others, so we can write and speak better at work, so we can teach and learn better, etc. Contact Michael: 1. Email: reasonrx@aol.com 2. Go...

Nick Burroughs (PT, MSPT) and Dr. Phil Lombardo (PT, DPT, SCS), each a Physical Therapist and a MovNat Certified Fitness Trainer, join us to discuss -fitness -physical therapy -successes they have had working with physical therapy clients -ideas and techniques for working with physical therapy clients -theory and practice of physical therapy (and fitness) -philosophy of physical therapy (and fitne...

Dr. Jon Morey is back to talk about modern physical education, its pros and cons, and what we can do to do it better. Jon's bio and info in a previous episode: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11043023/59-dr-jon-morey-on-fitness-thriving-and- Contact Jon: 1. Uncivilized Vitality: https://greatlakesmovement.com/uncivilized-vitality/ 2. Great Lakes Chiropractic & Movement Center: https://greatlakes...

Dr. Jon Morey joins us to discuss -being outdoors and making the most of it -benefits of nature -his background and fitness journey -physical therapy -our fitness culture -MovNat -and more Dr. Morey's bio: "Doctor Jon Morey’s career in the health sciences began in January 1988 when he stepped into the Korean Hapkido Academy. Hapkido, he quickly discovered, differed from most other martial arts, em...

Nick Burroughs (PT, MSPT) and Dr. Phil Lombardo (PT, DPT, SCS), each a MovNat Level 2 Certified Fitness Trainer, join us to discuss -our fitness culture, its pros and cons -principles of good training -how to avoid overspecializing (i.e., setting oneself up for injury) -how to be strong and functional, and not to strengthen dysfunction -the importance of balance and control to strength and power -...

Nick Burroughs (PT, MSPT) and Dr. Phil Lombardo (PT, DPT, SCS), each a MovNat Level 2 Certified Fitness Trainer, join us to discuss -their professional backgrounds -their fitness backgrounds -our fitness culture -principles of good programming and training -the importance of fitness goals -MovNat and how it's helped them and their clients -the fun of movement and fitness -the new MovNat Medical co...

Assistant Scoutmaster Hans Schantz joins us to discuss ways to better teach, educate, and manage children and teens. We discuss: -Hans' experience and background with the Scouts -the history of the Scouts -the founder, Robert Baden-Powell -the Patrol Method -how Scouting is structured and how it works -successes Hans has seen with Scouts -the connection between Baden-Powell and Maria Montessori (j...

In this episode, James Lennox, PhD Philosophy, joins us to discuss: -running and fitness -Dr. Lennox's academic background -why you should study science from a historical perspective -his study of the history and philosophy of science -the nature of science -the nature of philosophy -the dependence of science on philosophy -specific examples, through history, of science and its dependence on philo...

In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss: -current events and recent public letters to some private high schools -some ideas about racism and attempts to deal with it today: the good and the bad -racism (all bad, no good to it) -the philosophic and historical roots of some of these bad attempts -the social vs. the metaphysical -the practicality of some of these attempts -how they affects our chi...

In this episode, Scott and Michael discuss, in this COVID quarantine: -what we each did today and yesterday, just saying hi -sports and athletics -teaching -the importance of longer-term assignments as opposed to 40-minute worksheets -the CDC, government, Lysenkoism, and science -why to get outdoors -fitness and movement -the importance of thinking of things holistically; thinking of things in iso...

In this episode, we discuss logic — but couched in writing an essay about William Blake's poem The Tyger, which I actually helped a student with years ago, way back in 2006 or 2012 or thereabouts. So this episode is about what I remember doing with that student to correct mistakes he had about the assignment and to help him write an A paper. We had to use some logic and thinking skills like defini...

In this episode, we discuss some essentials of teacher training and hence provide a guide to teacher education reform. Education is the systematic training of the conceptual faculty of the young in order to instill in them the knowledge and methods they each need to be a good, independent, adult human animal. "A teacher (also called a schoolteacher or formally, an educator) is a person who helps s...

In this episode, we discuss what logic really is so we can stick to the real, and so we can dismiss the misconceptions and misunderstandings of logic that are common today and avoid the disasters that come with them. We need to know what logic really is so we can better structure and sequence curriculum, as well as education overall, and we need to know what it really is so we can teach more effec...

Experienced engineer Hannes Hacker joins us to discuss: -the importance of logic and thinking skills to engineering -what induction is -some examples of using induction in engineering -how induction is related to deduction -the importance of clear, defined language and concepts -some tragic examples of what happens without clearly defined language -how engineering education could and should improv...

In this episode, Brad joins us to discuss: -his background -human nature and human health -why exercise is important -his experience in athletics and what he learned from it -how to train smart -overcoming your fears, and being real and pure -and more About Brad: "Decades removed from the pro triathlon circuit, where I was 2x national champion and ranked #3 in the world in 1991, I've turned my att...