Don’t Expect to Be Spoon-Fed: Why Critical Thinking Can’t Come With Instructions
A listener asked for step-by-step critical thinking instructions. Eli Amdur explains why spoon-feeding would sabotage the whole point of independent thought.
Becoming Great Is a Decision, Not Happenstance
Sandy Koufax spent six losing years before greatness. Eli Amdur on why becoming great is a decision, not happenstance, and how to apply it.
How to Become a Writer: Start Writing, and Don’t Stop
Wondering how to become a writer? Eli Amdur’s answer is simple: start writing without delay, and don’t stop. On craft, discipline, and paying your dues.
Jevons Paradox: Perhaps Not a Paradox After All
The Jevons Paradox says efficiency makes us use more, not less. Eli Amdur asks whether it’s a paradox at all, and what it means for AI.
Nicolaus Copernicus: Father of the Scientific Revolution
Nicolaus Copernicus, father of the scientific revolution, proved heliocentrism and held his book hours before he died. A Vantage Point episode.
Alliances Are More Important Than Ever: From the Hanseatic League to NATO and BRICS
From the Hanseatic League to NATO and BRICS, Eli Amdur makes the case for why alliances matter more than ever. Strength in numbers, by the numbers.
Dialogue Deficiency: The World’s Most Insidious Disease
Eli Amdur argues dialogue deficiency may be the most dangerous global crisis. From Plato to Gingrich, here’s why real dialogue is vanishing.
How the Ancient Greeks Educated Me
Ancient Greek education and its three pillars shaped a 1950s American classroom. Eli Amdur on holistic learning and the decline of critical thinking.
The Critical Decline of Critical Thinking (and the 10 Forms Every Thinker Should Know)
Eli Amdur on what critical thinking really is, why it’s declining in the age of AI, and the question we keep skipping: not could we, but should we.
AI: The Rock-Solid Case For Oversight and Accountability
By Eli Amdur Sometimes, all you have to see is one small event, example, or case, and the big picture comes into compelling focus. A report by Kashmir Hill and Tiffany Hsu (New York Times, 6/9/24) is convincingly about one of those times. According to the account by Hill and Hsu, “a fly-by-night journalism outlet…