James Randi TED Talk and pseudo science

Respond to the James Randi TED Talk we watched at the end of class below.  Remember keep your comments in a discussion format.  Disagreement is necessary, inevitable and encouraged, but keep it civil and impersonal.  You're disagreeing with ideas, not people.  Boom.

Ai Wei Wei - Never Sorry

Continue the conversation here!
Here are the questions I posed in class:

1.       Which piece of art/installation/action/moment was most impactful to you? Why?

2.       How does this film shed light on the relationship between art and the human sciences (more specifically political science)?  Explain.

3.       How does emotion and imagination play a role in political activism?  Do they help or hinder the process of activism?  What are some other WoKs featured/used in this documentary and how are they used?

4.       What are some ethical implications of the artistic knowledge Ai Wei Wei is trying to produce?  Is Ai Wei Wei trying to produce artistic knowledge or knowledge in some other AoK?  Explain.

5.       Is there another AoK that would be more useful to Ai Wei Wei (and Chinese citizens with similar motives) to achieve his goals?  Why would it be more useful?  Why would it not?

6.       How does the role of political authority inhibit the creation of artistic knowledge?

7.       What is more important, the message he is sending to the Chinese government, or the way in which he is doing it?  Why?

Deductive Reasoning game

Give block, name, color, and number of people for some bonus points! (e.g. Z, Fir, Orange, 50)

TED Talk battle : Mark Pagel v Patricia Ryan

Here are the questions, you know what to do! (for those that forgot, I need to see one post and one reply to a post from everybody, THIS IS REQUIRED)

1. Is one language inevitable? Is one language common to the whole world a defensible project? Why or why not?
2. Can we afford to have all these languages? Why or why not?
3. Does language divide us or bring us together? Why?
4. Do we use language as a barrier (Pagel) or as a door (Ryan) to understanding?
5. Does language promote cooperation or act as a barrier to it?

Atheists Feel Awe, Too article KIs

Post your knowledge issues in the comments section below so we can go over them first thing next class.

Indians and Pakistanis rewriting shared history article KIs

Post your knowledge issues in the comments section below so we can go over them first thing next class.

Eyewitness to Icier Arctic article KIs

Post your knowledge issues in the comments section below so we can go over them first thing next class.