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(03/06/96 11:00am)
It is a fact that some men are more intellectually able than others. Some men are quicker than others, some are wittier, some remember more with less prompting than their peers. This is the case regardless of the society one chooses to look at. Differences in ability also exist in other arenas, such as athletics, sports, and even making money. The strange thing is that, while we find it perfectly respectable for sportsmen and politicians to take pride in their achievements, we consider it the height of hubris for the intellectually gifted to act in the same fashion. Why should this be so?
(02/20/96 11:00am)
Last Sunday saw the conclusion of the historic Chess match between Garry Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue computer, in which for the first time the world chess champion lost to a machine under normal competition game rules. Deep Blue eventually lost the match, but not without honor. The media are hailing this event as a turning point in human-machine relations, but it diminishes in significance if we consider how much we have yet to achieve in the field of artificial intelligence.
(02/07/96 11:00am)
The past two weeks have been ones of drama for our small college, with outrages being committed and outrage being expressed in reply. Speeches and posters and sundry feel-good activities have resulted -- I myself went to the march on Friday. Despite my attendance, however, I felt then as I do now that such responses were too facile to deal with a problem as deeply rooted as racism. Oh, sure, there'd be a fuss for a while, but in the long run nothing would really have changed. As long as different groups tend to go their separate ways, there will always be misunderstanding and fear.
(02/01/96 11:00am)
There are few trends more idiotic in our times than the need by so many people to identify with political platforms. It seems that nowadays one can't take two breaths in succession without some yokel running by proclaiming himself a conservative or a liberal. This development is especially pronounced at this dear school of ours, and this makes things all the more sad: what hope is there when the so-called "best and brightest" are the most vocal adherents to stupid ideas?
(01/24/96 11:00am)
The things we hear others say can be a source of amusement if only we know how to properly examine them. So many of the arguments in our daily lives are based literally on semantics, and we are all usually so busy trying to convince ourselves that our opinions are right that we do not stop to analyze just what it is exactly we are arguing about. Often it is not so much that the other party's thinking is logically flawed, as that we are arguing about quite different things.
(01/09/96 11:00am)
Americans work hard, and are proud of it. So fond are Americans of work that work hours are on the rise in this country, in marked contrast to most other industrialized nations. It is not my intention here to discuss the merits and demerits of this attitude towards work. I mention the matter only to bring out the contrast with another, equally important facet of American life -- education, and in particular, elementary and secondary education.
(11/22/95 11:00am)
Important discoveries in the field of human relations have come to light, so important that I cannot in good conscience keep them from the readership of The Dartmouth, nearly all of whom are dear to me.
(11/13/95 11:00am)
An interesting editorial by Won Joon Choe appeared in The Dartmouth last Friday about the irrelevance of the science distributive to a liberal arts education. Not being particularly enthusiastic about the distributive system myself, I was hesitant to criticize what I read, but the manner in which the column dealt with the topic left me feeling great unease.
(10/31/95 11:00am)
On my arrival at this college as a freshman, I was struck by a particular aspect of the culture of Dartmouth, namely, the emphasis on tradition. I was especially struck by the line in the Alma Mater that goes "Dear old Dartmouth give a rouse/Lest the old traditions fail." Being more impressionable then than I am now about the College, it seemed to be quite a fine thing that so great an emphasis was placed on tradition here. It made me feel as if I had joined some great and noble family, which with time and achievement had earned the right to its own peculiar customs and eccentricities.
(10/24/95 10:00am)
For as long as records have been kept, men have wandered about the cosmos. What is out there? Where does it all come from? How did the universe come about? Such inquiries have served as roots for many of our dearest myths. The announcement last week of the discovery of a planet outside our solar system, and the attendant apathy which accompanied it, prompted this writer into investigating the question of why men should care about the heavens at all.
(10/09/95 10:00am)
What is the meaning of life? What is our time on this earth good for? How can we spend our lives so that, as we reach the end, we each can say "Mine was a life well spent?"
(10/02/95 10:00am)
Chris Houpt's column, "The Merits of a Diverse Education" (Sept. 28, 1995) so misses the point that it almost seems humorous. Not only does Houpt put words into my mouth, but when he does have his facts right, the conclusions he draws from them are based on flimsy reasoning.
(09/25/95 10:00am)
It is always interesting to hear public figures wrangling over the content, or supposed lack thereof, of the courses offered in colleges today. Almost never does one hear the same figures discuss just what it is a college education is intended for. This is not a matter of little importance, for if two people start from different axioms, it should come as no surprise to them if they reach irreconcilable positions on what should be taught, and how it should be taught.
(05/24/95 9:00am)
OnMay 21, 1921, at 10:22pm French time, in a plane called "The Spirit of St. Louis," Charles A. Lindbergh completed his groundbreaking flight across the Atlantic. It seems fitting that while we recall Lindbergh's achievement, we also reminisce on the age in which it was carried out.
(05/17/95 9:00am)
Thepast few weeks have seen the marking of the end of the Second World War. Thus it seems timely to examine one of the chief causes of this war, as well as of the Great War which preceded it: The creed of militarism.
(05/09/95 9:00am)
Thesigns which herald spring are all around us: the trees send out new leaves, the grass on the green grows increasingly verdant and the days of sunshine grow longer.
(04/28/95 9:00am)
Ona wall of the Bartlett Language Resource Center hangs a reproduction of the Rosetta Stone. As we blithely go about our respective affairs, it is difficult to remember the story that this black piece of basalt has to tell, and the exertions men have made to decipher it.
(04/17/95 9:00am)
Awar rages in the academies of our daybetween the supporters and decriers of multiculturalism, its opponents claiming that it detracts from the study of the western heritage. While it is good that we, as westerners in the main, should learn about the glories and shortcomings of western civilization, it is equally important that we realize that not all that is worth knowing about lies in the West.
(04/12/95 9:00am)
Anotable feature ofDartmouth culture isthe tendency tosqueeze all manners ofviews and opinions into a restrictive set of categories, namely left, right or (least often) center.Speaking out for or against anything is enough to get one branded a "conservative" or (more often) a "liberal." Quite apart from whether these terms are as deserving of scorn as they are made out to be, are such terms of reference the only ones there are?