21 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2018
    1. hey base their education on sustaining principles of personal enrich- ment and civic responsibility. They are sensitive to beauty and aware of their cul- tural heritage. They can approach questions of value, no matter how complex, with intelligence and goodwill. T

      The humanities not only sustain the individual, it promotes the value of the individual

  2. Sep 2018
    1. If the presence of people with whom we disagree helps us to maintain common sense, then perhaps the first step to easing the polarization that grips this country is to seek those people out.

      The best thing you can do when attempting to have a dialogue is not to ask how can they believe in something - but why do they believe in something.

    2. Es estupenda, Luis said to me later that night: “Your mother is wonderful.” For decades I would have responded to this with ambivalence, with some deflection or qualification. Maybe I’ll feel the need for that again, but I didn’t feel it then. Yes, I said simply, wondering a little at the ease with which I said it: yes, she is.

      Personal Anecdotes can be just as convincing and moving to an audience.

    3. more fundamental problem in democratizing AI is the general lack of tech literacy.

      The modern Bible - many could understand it if it were translated to those that don't understand it's native language.

    4. Northpointe has refused to disclose how the algorithm works, but an assessment by ProPublica found that it is twice as likely to misclassify African Americans as high-risk compared with whites.

      the technology is reflective of those who create it

    5. the facile act of standing together with locked arms — a compromise gesture adopted by some NFL players to support him while maintaining their good standing among fans and owners.

      Trying to appeal to both camps - an example of other players who felt the way Kaepernick did but not enough to risk losing their jobs for standing up to the racial inequality in this country.

    6. In America, it is the job of the powerless to show the powerful that their moral authority is an illusion.

      It's a toxic power dynamic where those in power are so blinded by their ignorance it takes masses to even attempt to prove someone in power of their flaws.

    7. Despite empirical evidence of persistent racism within education, housing, criminal justice, government — within every institution in this country — Americans choose to ignore its continued influence.

      We fail to process facts that conflict with our own worldview

    8. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

      His reasoning has been misconstrued and forgotten as many feel that not kneeling is a sign of Anti-Americanism, but if he's saying America oppresses black people and other POC groups - it seems the two go hand in hand

    9. for the conservative, it is to strengthen our allegiance to a common past

      turning nostalgia into a tool to gain support - MAGA is an attempt at calling upon a time that many miss and wish to reinstate

    10. Government was a major source of the belief that American society was improving, that one’s children had a decent chance to be better off than oneself.

      Many could argue that now the government has created a society where one doesn't want to have children to save them from the mess that we're in

    11. f, without demagoguery, you want to bring national sentiment to your side, you must first demonstrate that you respect the citizens of the nation

      appeal to your audience - don't isolate them

    12. The most dangerous conservative demagogue is one who blames a vulnerable group for a reversal of fortune whose actual causes are complex. The most dangerous liberal is one who angrily invokes the sufferings of the oppressed while doing little to combat the forces of oppression.

      It's an interesting viewpoint brought up by an author who seems to not take a stance but rather points out what both sides need to avoid

    13. a song that aims not to take down the powerful but to lift up the weary — those who may be looking for a way to keep going when all seems lost.

      Music is definitely a tool used to boost morale; Artists can choose to take a stance - but in our society, not taking a stance is still a stance.

    14. As shameful as it is, this admission may be the best chance we have of ending the war.

      It's unfortunate that we've reached such a less of inhumanity but the lack of sympathy and compassion for people whose lives have been negatively affected by our nation's own actions is morally detrimental

    15. propaganda by an occupying power.

      You cannot possibly expect an audience to listen to you when you don't understand them - simply creating a channel of communication does not mean they have to be receptive.

    16. In college, I studied American history and the US Constitution as part of my major in English, and often used the library at Dar America, an embassy-sponsored cultural center in Rabat.

      The author attempts to solidify their argument by utilizing logos and explaining where their knowledge of the subject comes from

    17. United States had inadvertently portrayed itself, on its own leaflets, as a predator of all Muslims.

      Cultural ignorance is definitely not the smartest thing to do when the convincing you have to do really can determine the support for a war effort.

    18. Slowly, a view of the world that seems askew to others can settle into place.

      Conformity takes time - when the situation takes on that sense of necessity as it did for the members of Heaven's Gate the process becomes sped up. To someone from the outside the whole concept may seem ridiculous

    19. humans often fail to process facts that conflict with our preexisting worldviews.

      There exists an urge to resist facts that contradict with our view of the world - and it's backed by psychology. Failure to process is something that doesn't apply to only one group. IT's an interesting thing to state when most of the time TYFA wants us to persuade, but at some point you can't persuade falsehoods.

    20. Political segregation has made many Americans inaccessible, even unimaginable, to those on the other side of the partisan divide.

      The political climate in the United States has driven the population to find themselves isolated from each other - having conversations with those that don't fall on the same side of the aisle seems more difficult than ever.