1,263 Matching Annotations
  1. Jan 2019
    1. The We Defense argues that there are two kinds of rhetoric, good and bad. The good kind is used in good causes, the bad kind in bad causes. Our kind is the good kind; the bad kindjs used by our opponents

      Is Lanham suggesting that the "Weak Defense" argues that rhetoricians have an "us" vs. "them" mentality?

  2. Nov 2018
    1. Adult Graduate Student VoicesGood and Bad Learning Experiences

      This article reviews a longitudinal study of graduate students in a Master's degree program that collected both good and bad learning experiences. The comments collect from the participants resulted in themes that were repeated throughout all three years of comments. The comments were compiled to and reviewed to determine adult student perspectives on the learning process. The authors noted that their is a need to balance suppor of students with challenging students. This is a ground work of student perspective and requires further investigation to implement appropriate changes and then review student perspective after the changes.

      Rating: 7/10

  3. Oct 2018
    1. make great suggestions for how the authors could improve the articulation or organization of their work

      good review: 1) make great suggestions for how the authors could improve the articulation or organization of their work

    2. The Good Review will raise smart and tough questions which the authors can then address in their revisions, or it might raise fresh considerations or new aspects of a design space that the authors hadn't fully fleshed out.

      good review: 1) raise smart and tough questions which the authors can address in their revisions 2) raise fresh considerations or new aspects of a design space that the authors hadn't fully fleshed out

    3. how the author’s arguments, results, and demonstrations fit into closely related work as well as the field as a whole.

      argument + results + demonstration + related word + the field, all of them should tight together!

    4. raise whole new perspectives and angles of contribution that might be suggested by the work, or propose connections to areas of the literature that the author might not have thought of or even been aware of.

      good review: 1) raise whole new perspectives and angles of contributions 2) propose connections to literature that the author might not have been aware of

    5. The Good Review reflects on the contributions or possible contributions of the work, and discusses the weaknesses and limitations in a positive manner, but most particularly clearly calls out the strengths and utility of the work as well.

      Good Review 1) reflect on the contributions of the work 2) discuss the weaknesses and limitations in a positive manner 3) clearly call out the strengths and utility of the work

    1. While one might call into question the social norms that legitimize and valorize such practices, these are not persuasive reasons to forbid access to such technologies and, one may argue, their need is sincere and crucial to the individuals wellbeing.

      Author talks that even though people use technology for their personal interest, it is till not strong enough to prevent people from using technology. Previously, the author talked about the fact that technology helps people to get mental health such as obtaining confidence by doing cosmetic surgery. In this annotated sentence, author claims that people will also have cosmetic surgeries for some other intentions; however, he says, "their need is sincere and crucial to the individual wellbeing." It shows that everyone matters in this society, and technology is born to be used for people who need no matter for inner or outer needs. Technology should be access to people as long as it is in good purposes for individuals.

  4. Sep 2018
    1. promuoverne
    2. Appare necessario, per quell’indispensabile ripristino delle condizioni della fiducia, avere la massima attenzione alle diversità di ogni tipologia di amministrazione, dal piccolo comune al grande ente centrale, mettendo in evidenza sempre le tante eccellenze presenti, nate spesso dell’impegno di una unità organizzativa e dei suoi dirigenti, che devono trovare pubblicità, apprezzamento dell’opinione pubblica, effettivi riconoscimenti da parte del governo centrale. Anche appoggiandosi a agenzie indipendenti, il governo dovrebbe curare un catalogo ricco e aggiornato di “buoni esempi”, che porti con sé anche la strumentazione amministrativa utile per replicarlo.

      … Valorizzare le buone pratiche realizzate dagli enti italiani e promuoverne la diffusione dovrebbe essere un obiettivo prioritario utilizzando il bando Horizon 2020 "Blockchains for Social Good", links: [https://ec.europa.eu/research/eic/index.cfm?pg=prizes_blockchains] [https://ec.europa.eu/research/eic/pdf/infographics/eic_horizon-prize-blockchains.pdf] Il bando ha il seguente Timetable aggiornato a maggio 2018:<br> 16 May 2018 – contest opens ; 2 April 2019 – deadline for registration of interest ; 3 September 2019 – deadline to submit applications.<br> This prize aims to develop solutions to social innovation challenges using distribute ledger technology. The contest is open to individuals, groups, organisations and companies.

  5. Jun 2018
    1. WHERE TO FIND FLOWFlow tends to occur when a person faces a clear set of goals that require appropriate responses. It is easy to enter flow in games such as chess, tennis, or poker, because they have goals and rules that make it possible for the player to act without questioning what should be done, and how. For the duration of the game the player lives in a self-contained universe where everything is black and white. The same clarity of goals is present if you perform a religious ritual, play a musical piece, weave a rug, write a computer program, climb a mountain, or perform surgery. In contrast to normal life, these "flow activities" allow a person to focus on goals that are clear and compatible, and provide immediate feedback.article continues after advertisementgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1404853927369-9'); });Flow also happens when a person's skills are fully involved in overcoming a challenge that is just about manageable, so it acts as a magnet for learning new skills and increasing challenges. If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them. If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills.How often do people experience flow? If you ask a sample of typical Americans, "Do you ever get involved in something so deeply that nothing else seems to matter and you lose track of time?" roughly one in five will say that this happens to them as much as several times a day, whereas about 15 percent will say that this never happens to them. These frequencies seem to he quite stable and universal. For instance, in a recent survey of 6,469 Germans, the same question was answered in the following way: Often, 23 percent; Sometimes, 40 percent; Rarely, 25 percent; Never or Don't Know, 12 percent.A more precise way to study flow is the Experience Sampling Method, or ESM, which I developed at the University of Chicago in the early 1970s. This method provides a virtual filmstrip of a person's daily activities and experiences. At the signal of a pager or watch, which goes off at random times within each two-hour segment of the day, a person writes down in a booklet where she is, what she is doing, what she is thinking about, and whom she is with, then she rates her state of consciousness on various numerical scales. At our Chicago laboratory, we have collected over the years a total of 70,000 pages from about 2,300 respondents. Investigators in other parts of the world have more than tripled these figures.article continues after advertisementgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1456244145486-0'); });The ESM has found that flow generally occurs when a person is doing his or her favorite activity--gardening, listening to music, bowling, cooking a good meal. It also occurs when driving, talking to friends, and surprisingly often at work. Very rarely do people report flow in passive leisure activities, such as watching television or relaxing.Almost any activity can produce flow provided the relevant elements are present, so it is possible to improve the quality of life by making sure that the conditions of flow are a constant part of everyday life.FLOW AT WORKAlthough adults tend to be less happy than average while working, and their motivation is considerably below normal, ESM studies find more occasions of flow on the job than in free time. This finding is not that surprising: Work is much more like a game than most other things we do during the day. It usually has clear goals and rules of performance. It provides feedback either in the form of knowing that one has finished a job well done, in terms of measurable sales or through an evaluation by one's supervisor. A job tends to encourage concentration and prevent distractions, and ideally, its difficulties match the worker's skills.Nevertheless, if we had the chance most of us would like to work less. One reason is the historical disrepute of work, which each of us learn as we grow up.Yet we can't blame family, society, or history if our work is meaningless, dull, or stressful. Admittedly, there are few options when we realize that our job is useless or actually harmful. Perhaps the only choice is to quit as quickly as possible, even at the cost of severe financial hardship. In terms of the bottom line of one's life, it is always better to do something one feels good about than something that may make us materially comfortable but emotionally miserable. Such decisions are notoriously difficult and require great honesty with oneself.article continues after advertisementgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1468856734952-0'); });Short of making such a dramatic switch, there are many ways to make one's job produce flow. A supermarket clerk who pays genuine attention to customers, a physician concerned about the total well-being of patients, or a news reporter who considers truth at least as important as sensational interest when writing a story, can transform a routine job into one that makes a difference. Turning a dull jot into one that satisfies our need for novelty and achievement involves paying close attention to each step involved, and then asking: Is this step necessary? Can it be done better, faster, more efficiently? What additional steps could make my contribution more valuable? If, instead of spending a lot of effort trying to cut corners, one spent the same amount of attention trying to find ways to accomplish more on the job, one would enjoy working--more and probably be more successful. When approached without too many cultural prejudices and with a determination to make it personally meaningful, even the most mundane job can produce flow.The same type of approach is needed for solving the problem of stress at work. First, establish priorities among the demands that crowd into consciousness. Successful people often make lists or flowcharts of all the things they have to do, and quickly decide which tasks they can delegate or forget, and which ones they have to tackle personally, and in what order. The next step is to match one's skills with whatever challenges have been identified. There will be tasks we feel incompetent to deal with. Can you learn the skills required in time? Can you get help? Can the task be transformed, or broken into simpler parts? Usually the answer to one of these questions will provide a solution;that transforms a potentially stressful situation into a flow experience.
    1. But it’s the second part of that definition that has proven the most helpful for me: ‘recognising that one’s own experience is part of the common human experience’. It’s the idea of taking a zoomed-out look at yourself, and realising that you are more similar to others than you are different, even (maybe especially) considering how ridiculous you often are. As Neff herself said in an interview with The Atlantic in 2016: ‘[W]hen we fail, it’s not “poor me,” it’s “well, everyone fails.” Everyone struggles. This is what it means to be human.’In fact, it’s this part of the definition of self-compassion that makes me question whether it should be called self-compassion at all. Neff’s concept isn’t really about adoring yourself, or not entirely, anyway; this piece of it isn’t actually about you. Rather, it’s about the importance of recalling that you are but one small part of an interconnected whole.
    1. must keep the focus first on best practices

      Good practices? Here are a couple of critiques of the phrase best practices.

      1. When “Best Practice” is Bad Practice

      1. Best Practices Are the Worst

      Not trying to nitpick here, but as a teacher I find it more important to be able to look at any writing practice (digital or otherwise) and see how it fits my learners and our learning niche. I am always surprised at what works and what doesn't and how the trifling-est practice sometimes works. I understand, too, that the reason we propose 'best practice' and do research to determine what is best practice is to pare down on the universe of options available to us as teachers and learners. As an experiment ask a student what they might consider best practice for learning a particular thing and I think you might be surprised. Oh, right, students don't enter into best practice except as we practice it upon them.

  6. May 2018
    1. 上海合作组织成员国元首理事会第十八次会议将于6月9日至10日在山东省青岛市举行。中国国家主席习近平将主持会议并举行相关活动。

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  7. Apr 2018
    1. an effective marginal cost of zero

      This aspect of information goods is oft quoted as a distinguishing feature whose existence supports a radically different approach from previous publishing methods.

      It's true that the marginal cost is dramatically decreased with digital publishing. But there's a big difference between "closer to zero than before" and actually zero. The marginal cost of digital information goods is not actually zero. That people are willing to trade their privacy in exchange for someone else bearing the costs of managing information is one piece of evidence of this.

  8. Mar 2018
    1. Second positive effect of television among children is that they acquire basic languages on it. Studies shows that if they watch educational programs, their tendency is to learn basic shapes, numbers, letters, etc. if their parents guided them (Lemish and Rice, 1986). However, Naigles and Mayeux (2001) found that in certain circumstances children learn words and their meanings from educational programs that are specifically design for them (age, content etc.)
    2. Television has a great benefit among children as they get easily aware and connect about the physical happenings in their modern-faced society (Gunter and McAleer, 1997: xii-xiii).They also stated that television is not ‘one-eyed monster’ who waits to spread evil over the young members of the household. This is an implication that when a child watches a significant program that is – educational, informative, and values-promoted shows will increase their intellectual growth
    1. There are a lot of educational shows which air on TV. It is a proven fact that children learn better using audio-video method instead of the traditional teaching via books. Many research studies have shown that children who watch TV are less violent and perform well in tests and studies as compared to the ones who don’t watch TV. Children who watch educational and informative TV shows develop their brain skills faster and learn things easily as compared to the ones who don’t watch TV. The kids who are going to start their school life get better grades, value their studies when they reach high school and become less aggressive. TV is a great way to remove tiredness and fatigue. We all know kids love cartoons and according to studies, cartoons have a soothing and painkilling effect on children. It helps in removing all the tiredness and all the stress your kid is having from daily school work. We know that there are both pros and cons of everything. We already have listed the positive points of TV and now we will share some negative points of TV with you
  9. Feb 2018
    1. Let older kids see things you don't agree with. But then discuss exactly what you don't like with them. Since we won't always be around, we need to make sure to instill critical-thinking skills in our kids.
    2. Kids will be inspired by great historical figures, athletes, or TV stars. Take advantage of that adoration by pointing out their good traits, as in, "George Washington was honest. Honesty is an important quality." Not: "Lying is bad. Children who lie get in trouble."
  10. Jan 2018
    1. Speakingofpictures,forwhichwemightSubstituteobjects,MichaelBaxandallhasnoted:“Wedonotexplainpictures:weexplainremarksaboutpictures-orrather,weexplainpicturesonlyinsofaraswehaveconsideredthemundersomeverbaldescriptionorspecification...Everyevolvedexplanationofapictureincludesorimpliesanelaboratedescriptionofthatpicture.”Descriptionprovidesthebridgebetweentherealmofthematerialandthatofconceptsandideas

      Haltman explains the importance description in essays and the ways we phrase them. This compares to the supplemental text phrase " Something you can drop on your foot" As a way to describe an object to not seem too abstract.

    1. Dude, you broke the future!
    2. (Of course, there were plenty of other things happening between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries that changed the shape of the world we live in. I've skipped changes in agricultural productivity due to energy economics, which finally broke the Malthusian trap our predecessors lived in. This in turn broke the long term cap on economic growth of around 0.1% per year in the absence of famine, plagues, and wars depopulating territories and making way for colonial invaders. I've skipped the germ theory of diseases, and the development of trade empires in the age of sail and gunpowder that were made possible by advances in accurate time-measurement. I've skipped the rise and—hopefully—decline of the pernicious theory of scientific racism that underpinned western colonialism and the slave trade. I've skipped the rise of feminism, the ideological position that women are human beings rather than property, and the decline of patriarchy. I've skipped the whole of the Enlightenment and the age of revolutions! But this is a technocentric congress, so I want to frame this talk in terms of AI, which we all like to think we understand.)
  11. Aug 2017
  12. Jul 2017
    1. At the heart of good teaching with technology are three core components: content, pedagogy, and technology, plus the relationships among and between them. The interactions between and among the three components, playing out differently across diverse contexts, account for the wide variations seen in the extent and quality of educational technology integration.
  13. Jun 2017
    1. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar; And in the spirit of men there is no blood: O, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit, And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends, Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds;

      In this scene, Brutus is introduced to his fellow conspirators for the first time. Cassius suggests in this scene for the conspirators to all swear oath to kill Caesar, but Brutus rejects it, convinced that their murder of Caesar was honourable and just, and that an oath would lessen their standing and decorum. In truth, Brutus was the only conspirator who acted for the greater good of the Roman Republic, yet in his naivety, believed that all the conspirators did so to “stand up against the spirit of Caesar”.

      Brutus maintained that since they were doing the right thing, that meant that “there was no blood” on the conspirators’ hands. This raises a question that Shakespeare clearly intended for the audience to consider; One that was relevant during the Roman times, one that was relevant during the Elizabethan era, and one that is still relevant today:

      Is it ever okay to pre-emptively murder someone?

      This question has had many forms and variations throughout the eras, with the most well known being: Would you go back in time to kill Hitler?

      Would it ever be appropriate to murder someone? In this case, Caesar had the potential to be dictator, but was that enough for the conspirators to murder him? Under what circumstances would pre-emptive murder be okay, if ever?

  14. Jan 2017
    1. If they are found I I to please, they cannot be faults; let the pleasure, which they produce, be ever so unexpected and unaccountable

      Echoes of Plato and debates about the relation of the pleasurable to the good.

  15. Nov 2016
    1. Finding tutors can be a really tiring job if not taken in a proper direction. Also, it is equally important to find a competent and knowledgeable tutor, who can provide a proper direction and guidance in your studies rather than just basic teaching. As a student, you should always keep in mind that before hiring a tutor you should have a complete idea of his knowledge about that particular subject.

    2. Now days finding a job are not an easy task or it could be said that there are vast opportunities available for people to get work. In the era of internet there are lots of work opportunities. People just need to grab them and get paid for their skills and competencies. Out of all the jobs online tutoring is something which is very popular and highly respectable job.

  16. Sep 2016
    1. - Last week, the White House invited me to a signing ceremony overturning the Bush (43) executive order on stem cell research.

      I already know that the topic is based on the stem cell research and will have to do with the government

  17. Jul 2016
    1. Page 35

      open science has been subjected to rigorous economic analysis and found to meet the needs of modern, market-based societies. As an economic framework open Science is based on the premise that scholarly information is a "public good." Public goods have two defining elements. One is that they can be shared without lessening their value; the economic term is non rival. Call David quotes Thomas Jefferson's eloquent statement in 1813 on this point: he who receives an idea from me comma receives instruction himself without lessening mine: as he who lights his paper at mine receives light without dark getting me. The second characteristic of public goods is that they are difficult and costly to hold exclusively while putting them to use semicolon the economic term is non-excludable.

    1. Your calculations become even more complex because you must anticipate the number of marijuana plants you’re growing, and the diameter and height of your marijuana plants when they’re in bloom phase.

      Your calculations become even more complex because you must anticipate the number of marijuana plants you’re growing, and the diameter and height of your marijuana plants when they’re in bloom phase

      this matters because if u think that a small bulb will grow all your weed in a big room your wrong.

      this don't connect to me because i never had my own grow weed room.

    2. The generic rule is you want at least 35-40 watts of light for every square foot of plant space.

      The generic rule is you want at least 35-40 watts of light for every square foot of plant space.

      this matters because u need the right watts to grow your weed to stay strong.

      this connects to me because i seen how many light/watts u need.

  18. Jun 2016
    1. It is important to note, however, that throughout all of this, we have always had the best intentions.

      Will sound like a rhetorical question, but still: why is it important to note this? Or, more specifically, who is this important for? People from this project have been heard clinging to their intentions, before this (as Courtney Martin notes, very candid) update. In some ways, the “best intentions” are the very problem to be solved. The project wasn’t something which happened from the ground up. It was based on some people’s best intentions. As Martin also noted, those on the other side of the equation probably didn’t receive the same kind of apology. But they’re the real victims, here. In this kind of work, doing something is often much much worse than doing nothing. This update, while candid, resonates with Negroponte’s attitude:

      people really don't want to criticize this, because it is a humanitarian effort, a nonprofit effort and to criticize it is a little bit stupid, actually.

      As Tiny Spark is showing, time and time again, humanitarianism is precisely what requires deep and broad critical thinking. Not merely “best intentions”.

    1. Two images of the same message. America is the way, the truth and the how. The first image shows how nurturing the United States can be, giving the people who are defenseless and feeble creatures a new take on life and feeding them some well deserve knowledge and information while their former way of living will lead to death. Quite arrogant of America to have this way of thinking but it was completely normal in this setting and time period. To the right is America being stern showing that we can offer a more sophisticated way to be. As you see what is presumed to be the european students learning, you see the african, native american and asian counterparts all in lesser positions in relation to their current living arrangements. Two extreme interpretations and only time can tell what is best for those individuals. The way that the world has evolved, it is hard to argue if that it was best for those countries to conform but as America has grown and become political aware, we are one of the better countries for anyone to be apart of.

    1. Annie Sauter says: May 28, 2016 at 9:28 am

      Susan, did you read this comment. Kinda captured my own lostness but not quite. I get the feeling that I need to give up some of my...contextity? That's like saying "Hoist anchor" in a storm. And that really is a way of breaking smart if it saves your damned life. Our political life is exactly like this now. The contextity is killing us. Hoist the fucking anchor or be dragged down with it when the storm batters hell out of you. Here I am again trying to put down the meaning anchor. This is hard to do when you have spent your whole life trying to understand and do and drive uncertainty and ambiguity to ground. I think maybe the key for me to is to feel my way with a new set of antennae, nascent and emergent antennae.

  19. Mar 2016
    1. Hochberg, M. E., Chase, J. M., Gotelli, N. J., Hastings, A., & Naeem, S. (2009). The tragedy of the reviewercommons.Ecology Letters, 12, 2–4
    1. What about extensions for other browsers? We’re working on that. The next supported browser is likely to be Firefox.

      I'm writing this note in... Safari!

      I thought hypothes.is could only work with the Chrome applet.

      Still looking for a way to use hypothes.is from a tablet.

  20. Dec 2015
    1. And instead of a nice dish of minnows—they had a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!
  21. Sep 2015
    1. THE INTERFACE CULTURE

      "The Interface Culture" section of "In the begining was the command line" stands on it's own as an insightful essay on contemporary global culutre.

  22. Jun 2015
    1. When it comes to writing code, the number one most important skill is how to keep a tangle of features from collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. I’ve worked on large telecommunications systems, console games, blogging software, a bunch of personal tools, and very rarely is there some tricky data structure or algorithm that casts a looming shadow over everything else. But there’s always lots of state to keep track of, rearranging of values, handling special cases, and carefully working out how all the pieces of a system interact. To a great extent the act of coding is one of organization. Refactoring. Simplifying. Figuring out how to remove extraneous manipulations here and there.
  23. Feb 2014
    1. Property Status Conclusions and Implications Intellectual property is neither ‘scarce,’ nor does the taking of it leave “enough, and as good, left in comm on for others” (the Lockean proviso) (Long, 1995, n. pag.; Locke, 1690, Chap. V, Sect. 27).

      Intellectual property is neither scarce nor leaves enough for the common good. It is not property in the Lockean sense.

  24. Dec 2013
  25. Oct 2013
    1. We may define a good thing as that which ought to be chosen for its own sake; or as that for the sake of which we choose something else; or as that which is sought after by all things, or by all things that have sensation or reason, or which will be sought after by any things that acquire reason; or as that which must be prescribed for a given individual by reason generally, or is prescribed for him by his individual reason, this being his individual good; or as that whose presence brings anything into a satisfactory and self-sufficing condition; or as self-sufficiency; or as what produces, maintains, or entails characteristics of this kind, while preventing and destroying their opposites.

      The definition of a good thing.

  26. Sep 2013
    1. Again, that is good which has been distinguished by the favour of a discerning or virtuous man or woman, as Odysseus was distinguished by Athena, Helen by Theseus, Paris by the goddesses, and Achilles by Homer. And, generally speaking, all things are good which men deliberately choose to do; this will include the things already mentioned, and also whatever may be bad for their enemies or good for their friends, and at the same time practicable. Things are "practicable" in two senses: (1) it is possible to do them, (2) it is easy to do them.

      Good is virtuous, deliberate, practicable.

    2. We may define a good thing as that which ought to be chosen for its own sake; or as that for the sake of which we choose something else; or as that which is sought after by all things, or by all things that have sensation or reason, or which will be sought after by any things that acquire reason; or as that which must be prescribed for a given individual by reason generally, or is prescribed for him by his individual reason, this being his individual good; or as that whose presence brings anything into a satisfactory and self-sufficing condition; or as self-sufficiency; or as what produces, maintains, or entails characteristics of this kind, while preventing and destroying their opposites.
    3. and those in which no worthless man can succeed, for such things bring greater praise:

      Things of value and worth

    4. Good also are the things by which we shall gratify our friends or annoy our enemies;

      Things that are admirable and coveted.

    5. Good, too, are things that are a man's very own, possessed by no one else, exceptional; for this increases the credit of having them.

      Good through virtue of their scarcity.

    6. The acquisition of a greater in place of a lesser good, or of a lesser in place of a greater evil, is also good, [1362b] for in proportion as the greater exceeds the lesser there is acquisition of good or removal of evil.

      Regarding Goodness and Utility: All things being in proportion to greater and lesser Good or Evil.

    1. Comparison of "good" things. Of two "good" things, which is the better? This entails a consideration of degree -- the lore of "less or more."

      "good" by degree

    2. The political speaker will also appeal to the interest of his hearers, and this involves a knowledge of what is good. Definition and analysis of things "good."

      Political appeal to interests. Things "good"

    1. But I do hold that people can become better and worthier if they conceive an ambition to speak well,137 if they become possessed of the desire to be able to persuade their hearers, and, finally, if they set their hearts on seizing their advantage—I do not mean “advantage” in the sense given to that word by the empty-minded, but advantage in the true meaning of that term;138 and that this is so I think I shall presently make clear.
    2. We ought, therefore, to think of the art of discourse just as we think of the other arts, and not to form opposite judgements about similar things, nor show ourselves intolerant toward that power which, of all the faculties which belong to the nature of man, is the source of most of our blessings. For in the other powers which we possess, as I have already said on a former occasion,125 we are in no respect superior to other living creatures; nay, we are inferior to many in swiftness and in strength and in other resources; but, because there has been implanted in us the power to persuade each other and to make clear to each other whatever we desire, not only have we escaped the life of wild beasts, but we have come together and founded cities and made laws and invented arts; and, generally speaking, there is no institution devised by man which the power of speech has not helped us to establish. For this it is which has laid down laws concerning things just and unjust, and things honorable and base; and if it were not for these ordinances we should not be able to live with one another. It is by this also that we confute the bad and extol the good. Through this we educate the ignorant and appraise the wise

      The good of rhetoric, a blessing which enables society and creates possibility

    1. Socrates defines good and evil: just and unjust.

    2. Suppose a man to have been trained in the palestra and to be a skilful boxer,—he in the fulness of his strength goes and strikes his father or mother or one of his familiars or friends; but that is no reason why the trainers or fencing-masters should be held in detestation or banished from the city;—surely not. For they taught their art for a good purpose, to be used against enemies and evil-doers, in self-defence not in aggression, and others have perverted their instructions, and turned to a bad use their own strength and skill. But not on this account are the teachers bad, neither is the art in fault, or bad in itself; I should rather say that those who make a bad use of the art are to blame

      An interesting argument in defense of rhetoric.