| World Citizenship (5) | Fuller Life (3) | |
|---|---|---|
| Aim | Habit of sustained , collaborative, research-based quantitative and non quantitative analytical thought | To reach a deep appreciation for at least three of the following life joys: Music, art, drama, dance, athletics |
| How -1
Number and nature of courses |
Five courses on each of the most important issues facing mankind – peace/security, sustainable prosperity,
Justice, freedom, and truth. To understand any one of the 5 demands studying all 5. |
Three courses in the
three areas in which the student is least proficient. Deep appreciation requires practice. The goal will be to reach a basic level of proficiency that brings a deep joy and perhaps a life long hobby. |
| How – 2
Capstones |
Each class of each course structured around preparing a capstone project incorporating
the seven disciplines: economics, politics, history, ethics, science, statistics, rhetoric. |
Capstone projects could include a 12 bar blues composed and performed,
a self-portrait drawing, a film, a balanced fitness program designed, executed, logged |
| How – 3
Elements of capstone |
The capstone project should incorporate an oral presentation, a written essay, and a three-by-three posterboard. | Each capstone would include a portfolio of each stage of skill development
as well as journal entries explaining each stage. |
| How – 4
Ideology and Models |
The courses should be co-taught by professors from
opposite ends of the political spectrum. |
Great models for how to do this already exist:
The work of Betty Edwards, Scott Houston |
| How – 5
Toolkit and Hiring |
The course toolkit should include: the thematic journal, before and after test, checklist, matrix,
and calendar, setting a foundation for disciplined civic life after graduation. |
Colleges will have to hire many more practicing musicians, artists, dramatists, dancers, and coaches to accomplish this. Funding options are many. |
Category Archives: Matrices
Social Studies: US Constitutional Law
| Principle | Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cases are hard because principles conflict, precedents send mixed messages, and facts and circumstances are complicated. |
Property is a fundamental constitutional value but its weight relative to community interests has waxed and waned. From Fletcher v Peck to
Charles River Bridge and Munn to Lochner to West Coast Hotel. |
A constitutional right to privacy postulated by Brandeis in 1895 did not become law until the 1960s and has since been interpreted in many different ways from
Socity of Sisters to Griswold to Rowe to Akron to Casey to Romer to…. |
The establishment and free exercises clauses are at war with each other as demonstrated in a long line of cases from Eversen to
Yoder to Employment division |
|
The choice of interpretive method, Doctrine or stance on the judicial restraint spectrum is can be driven by partisan bias rather Than legal analysis.
|
The left was all for judicial restraint during the early New Deal, but all for judicial activism in the 1950s and 1960s. |
The right is all for judicial restraint when it comes to interfering with legislation enshrining traditional moral values and all for judicial activism when legislation incorporates modern sensibilities.
|
Currently, Left is for judicial restraint when it comes to comes to property rights And judicial activism when it comes to Cultural freedoms..The Right is the opposite. |
|
The Constitution Says very little about the judiciary.
Utterly absent is the idea of 3 co-equal branches.
|
Judicial review was invented by John Marshall in the controversial case of Marbury v Madison, held by Thomas Jefferson and many others to be bad law. |
The rule of 9 and the rule of 5 are nowhere to be found.
Judicial supremacy Is a Supreme Court Invention.
|
No age limit or qualifications to be a Supreme Court judge.
A 24 year old Used car salesman would qualify. |
The Basic Laws of Economics
| Principle | Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Tax it get less of it, Subsidize it, get more of it.
Aka “humans are rational utility maximizers” Aka “incentives matter” Aka Demand curve slopes downward and to the right. And supply curve upward to the right. |
Tax work, get less work. Subsidize non-work get more non-work. No wonder our labor force participation rate is so low. Tax marriage, get less marriage. Subsidize non-marriage get more of it. No wonder single parenthood has skyrocketed. | Tax savings with negative real interest rates, get less savings. Subsidize speculation with negative real interest, get more speculation. Surprise, surprise.
Look at our Savings rate! Look at a pattern of rotating bubbles. |
The minimum wage is a tax on hiring, raise it get less hiring. Rent control is a tax on housing. Rent control leads to housing shortages.
Regulation is a tax on business, reduces number of businesses, favors big companies versus small. |
| #2 The Paradox of the Invisible Hand,
aka the miracle of the equilibrium point in the supply demand curve, aka the free exchange of ideas, goods, and services, tends to to maximize prosperity for all. Minimize state interference. |
This explains the relative prosperity of North versus South Korea.
Ever seen a satellite photo the Asia at night? The more free an economy, the more prosperous the society. Selfishness is paradoxically good for all. |
The relative success of the Soviet Union and Maoist China versus the United States and post-Maoist China.
Communism is great in theory, in practice a nightmare. |
The relative success of Brazil, Mexico, after free market reforms relative to Cuba, Zimbabwe,
and other command and control economies. After all, the way to maximize profits is to meet the needs of others. |
| #3 Government is necessary to prevent monopolies, to provide public goods, and make sure that externalities are priced in. | The cost of pollution made life in many US cities unlivable in the 1970s. Every time I take a deep breath on the street, I thank God for regulation. | Without safe streets and law and order, life would be poor, lonely, nasty, brutish and short.
As it is in certain zip codes where these public goods are not provided. |
The key to prosperity long term is productivity growth – the key to which is maximizing human capital through public education. |
Ethics: what does it mean to do the right thing?
| #1 | #2 | #3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical Core of
All Great Religions |
Piety, aka
Gratitude, aka Humility |
Charity, aka love,aka kindness,
Mercy |
Self-Control,
Discipline, aka desire control |
| Political virtues | Equality before the law, aka universality | Reciprocity —no rights without duties, duties without rights | Proportionality of punishments to crimes, rewards to merit |
| Economic virtues | Diligence, hard work, first do no harm (eg. do not be a burden on others) | Frugality – postponement of gratification
(marshmallow experiment) |
Pursuit of Excellence, self-improvement
(eg. kaizen) |
| Classical
Virtues and Vices |
Courage,
Temperance, Prudence Justice – 4 Cardinal Virtues |
Seven Vices:
Pride, wrath,envy, sloth, lust, gluttony, greed |
Right thought, right speech, right action, right mindfulness, right concentration, right livelihood |
| Ethics by profession, sphere of life, and stage of life
|
Warrior versus Priestly ethics
Versus Business ethics |
Physician versus
fiduciary codes of ethics; dharma, artha, kama, moksha.
|
The student stage versus the householder versus the wandering holy man |
Justice
| Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universality
(Blind Fold) |
Not one law for blacks another white | Not one law for women another for men | Not one law for rich another for poor |
| Proportionality
(Scales) |
Proportionality of punishments to crime | Decision a function of the evidence not whim of judge | Rewards a function of productivity not coercion. |
| Timeliness
(the sword) |
Punishment must be swift and certain | Justice delayed is justice denied | |
| Restraint
(sword pointed down) |
The more law,
the less justice |
C | |
| Particularity | Facts of case must be respected | Situations differ. | |
| Reciprocity | No rights without duty to respect the rights of others. | No duties without rights. | Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. |
| Sufficiency | First comes food, then morality | Starting gate | 40 acres and a mule |
| Equality of Opportunity | Starting gate | Ladder | Level playing field |
World Citizenship Quilt
| Texts | Images | Songs | Events | Hero | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hindu
|
Gayatri Mantra/ Bagavad Ghita |
Aum Symbol |
Jana Mana Ganna |
Sacred Thread Ceremony |
Gandhi |
|
Chinese
|
Li Bai’s Night Thoughts/ Analects |
Tao Symbol |
Moon represents My heart |
Moon Festival |
Confucius |
|
Islamic
|
Al Fatiha/ Koran |
Bismillah (calligraphy) |
Call to prayer |
Ramadan |
Muhammed |
|
Christian
|
Our Father/ Bible |
Cross |
Messiah |
Easter |
Jesus |
|
Marxist
|
Communist Manifesto |
Hammer And Cycle |
Interna- tinoale |
May 1 |
Marx |
|
Libertarian
|
Atlas Shrugged/
Wealth of Nations/ Friedman |
Statue of Liberty |
Imagine/ Spangled Banner |
July 4 |
Edison
Carnegie Newton Einstein |
|
Humanist
|
Bill of UN |
Golden
Rule Poster (Rockwell)/ Coexist Bumper S |
This is my song
(Sibelius/ Stone) Ode to Joy |
Gandhi Mandela MLK |
All texts are not of equal importance. All reading list algorithms are not created equal. Syllabi should reflect the best importance algorithms. Default algorithm:
the texts that are the most important are the ones that mean the most to the most people.
Mathematics: Curricular Overview
| Concept | Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geometry: power of deductive reasoning | Thales and pyramid of Giza | Eratosthenes and circumference of earth | Chinese proof of Pythagorean theorem |
| Statistics: chance | Birthday Problem | Odds of rolling a 3 versus a 7 | Simpson’s Paradox
Bayes Rule Base Rate Problem |
| Exponential Growth | The rice on the chess board | Paper folding | Inflation |
| Calculus: optimization | The optimal size of a can | The camel problem,
Dido’s problem |
The pipeline problem |
| Magic Numbers | Pi – what is so special? | The mystery of e
|
Can you visualize i? |
| Scaling | First power- lengths | Second power–areas | Third power
volumes |
| Counting | Taxes + virtues +
Income + |
Cooking ingredients | Good deeds per day; smiles; kind words |
| Calculating | Ratios: santa/Grinch
Real versus reported earnings |
Real versus nominal returns, pre tax versus after tax returns | Discounted versus non discounted cash flows or reported debt
And real debt |
| Ethics of mathematics | Is economic inequality a measure of injustice? | How to distinguish between factors behind ethnic disparities? | How to measure factors behind gender disparities?
What is a fair interest rate to charge a sibling? |
What is the biggest hole you can cut into an 8 by 11 piece of paper?
How many piano tuners in Chicago?
How does Social Security work?
How does the welfare system work? (EITC, minimum wage, TANF, Medicaid)
What is the difference between the Federal budget deficit, the Federal debt, and the real debt of the federal government?
What is the difference between real and nominal interest rates and return?
What is bracket creep? Why are benefit payments inflation-adjusted and tax brackets are not?
Which numbers are highlighted and which ignored by proponents of a flat tax?
Physics – Curricular Overview
| Key Concept | Example A | Example B | Example C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leverage | See Saw, pulley | Baseball | Debt |
| Gravity | Aristotle and
Galileo’s Pisa Experiment; three ramps where does each ball end up? |
How gravity dictates how to stand, walk, sit,
|
Galileo’s inclined plane and measuring gravity |
| Temperature
And Pressure Differentials |
The Sea Breeze
Global atmostpheric circulation |
Phase Diagrams:
Water, carbon (sweaty soda can) Mountains make rain and deserts |
The human body: pleasure, pain, deep sea diving,
airplanes |
| Angles matter | Flight | The seasons
Eclipses |
Photography |
| Action and Reaction | The astronaut cut off from space ship | Flight – not just about Bernouilli | The balloon |
| Inertia | Why we need seat belts | Newton’s Apple and the Moon | Why seats in troop transport planes face backwards |
| Entropy | The dorm room | The broken egg | Car crash |
| Free Body Diagram | bridge | Airplane in flight | Gravity defying straw |
| Fundamental Units | length | mass | time |
| Shapes matter | wheels | Triangles | Arches |
Agenda for Physics Teachers:
Identify the best three museum exhibits from anywhere in the world for each concept worth remembering.
Identify most productive science teacher by subject and three best experiments she uses to demonstrate it.
Identify the minimum number of around the house items needed to illustrate each concept.
How few items can you carry around in a backpack to teach the lion’s share of the physics curriculum?
Identify the physics experiments that usually fail and stop doing them.
Identify the physics experiments that work and make sure each student can teach them.
How much does the earth weigh? How far is the sun? What is the circumference of the earth? Geometry and the power of deductive reasoning.
The miracle of the circle, the miracle of the triangle—the math of the universe.
Music – Basic Elements
| Simple | Advanced | More Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Unsyncopated | Syncopated | Quarter and half note triplets |
| Melody | Three notes | Five notes | Ten notes |
| Harmony | Tonic, Dominant,
Subdominant |
Minor and Major
7ths |
Sub 5s, 9ths, 13ths |
| Dynamics | 3 levels | 5 levels | 10 levels |
| Timbre | Piano, guitar, recorder, voice | Quartets, quintets,
octet |
Full orchestra |
| Form | Folk ballad | 12 bar blues | 32 bar jazz
Sonata Symphony Opera |
| Tempo | Largo, andante,
allegro |
Lento, adagio,
vivace |
Larghetto,
Allegretto, prestiissimo |
| Phrasing | 1 bar | 3 bars | 5 bars |
Chemistry: case study in analysis, synthesis, precision of measurement, meticulous recording
| Example #1 | Example #2 | Example #3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Nutrients
And why we Need them |
Amino Acids |
Calcium |
Iron |
| Essential drugs and how they work |
Penicillin |
Excedrin |
Zantac |
| Dangerous drugs
why people use them and why we should avoid them |
Alcohol |
Heroin |
Cocaine |
| Dangers of Household Chemicals |
Ammonia and Bleach
|
Sulfuric Acid In car Batteries |
Insecticides |
|
Chemistry of the Earth
|
Oxygen —
|
Iron — Key to magnetic field that protects life |
Nitrogen |
|
Assessing “scientific studies” of dangers or advantages of diet, drugs
|
Tobacco: when did the evidence cross significant threasholds? |
Fat: why was fat considered bad and then that finding rejected? |
Sugar and Gluten: what is the evivdence? What does it mean? |
|
How to control your own body’s Production of chemicals
|
Cortisol / Testosterone |
Dopamine Endorphins Oxytocin Serotonin
|
Nitric Oxide Leptin |
|
Making Bread
|
Yeast | Baking Soda | Gluten |