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Random Thoughts Anew

Started by mamselle, May 27, 2019, 09:31:29 AM

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EdnaMode

Quote from: mamselle on April 18, 2022, 06:23:07 AM
Just a stray passing thought, might be an anniversary of sorts...

Sometimes your angel appears in the form of a big, weathered old Irish beat cop

...

Lifesaving heroes don't always wear capes or wings.

M.

Bless him. One of my heroes was a tow truck driver, must be 30 years ago now, who drove me home from the car dealership where he'd towed my car that had broken a tie rod as I turned a corner. It was a Saturday evening and I'd been out driving around exploring my new town. I walked to a hotel and used their front desk phone to call AAA. Since I had been in town only a couple of days, I had no friends yet, no family to call, no bus service to where I lived etc. He said that I reminded him of his daughter and he hoped someday someone would help her if she was in the same situation.
I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.

apl68

While in grad school in the 1990s I was on my way back from the Thanksgiving holiday when I got stuck in a 20-mile-long traffic jam near Memphis.  It was too much for my car's unreliable cooling system to handle.  I was stranded on the side of the road in that mess, 200 miles from either my home town or my current residence.  A student I barely knew from church, who was also heading back from the break, saw me there and picked me up.  He knew people in the area and was able to arrange to have the vehicle towed to a repair shop.  Then he carried me home.  Couldn't thank him enough.  I no longer even recall his name.  Some things are just not mere coincidence.
All we like sheep have gone astray
We have each turned to his own way
And the Lord has laid upon him the guilt of us all

AmLitHist

Life is too short to continue doing trivial things you dislike, just because you're "supposed to" do them.

mahagonny

#468
'How to enhance student response rates in course/instructor evaluations'

1. 'Remind them what evaluations are used for:

to help you figure out what the hell you should be doing from grade-grubbing 19 year-olds who were ill-equipped for admission to their program, because your years of training and real world success have been insufficient

to threaten the adjunct union

to decide who gets to teach the same course again next year for the same pay, no job security, regardless of my track record of accolades from the serious students'

No, I don't think you want me to remind them.

mamselle

I have so much to do I'm not sure I can afford the time for any random, un-focused thoughts for the next two weeks.

Except that one...

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

mamselle

Well, there is one stray thought that has surfaced...

I much prefer Middle French.

Thorns are for roses.

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

downer

I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."—Sinclair Lewis

mamselle

Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

Anon1787

#473
Quote from: downer on May 02, 2022, 04:11:03 PM
I was at the photocopier today and I saw the final test from someone else in a different department. I was struck by this question:

"God's existence can be proved." True or False.

Now I'm curious which response got the point.
Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 05:47:22 PM
Might depend on the department and the course.

And the instructor.

M.

Yes. I have trouble proving my own existence.


mamselle

#474
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

Anon1787

Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 08:17:29 PM
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

That's too difficult. A true-false question means a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, which is comparable to the odds in Pascal's wager.

mamselle

Fair enough.

   (...so to speak...)

M.
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Reprove not a scorner, lest they hate thee: rebuke the wise, and they will love thee.

Give instruction to the wise, and they will be yet wiser: teach the just, and they will increase in learning.

apl68

Quote from: mamselle on May 02, 2022, 08:17:29 PM
The more useful/usual question might be to ask, "Would Ockam say you could prove Gods's existence?...Would Aquinas? What about the Buddha? The Central American Twin Gods?

And then ask, 'In each case, "How,"?'...

M.

Don't forget Anselm's Ontological Argument!

This question reminds me of the Peanuts strip where Peppermint Patty had a test question that read:  "Explain World War II.  Use both sides of paper if necessary."
All we like sheep have gone astray
We have each turned to his own way
And the Lord has laid upon him the guilt of us all

downer

Entertainment Weekly stopped print publication last month. It's good that people are wasting less paper.

How long before printed books become a thing of the past?
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."—Sinclair Lewis

Langue_doc

I once had a student complain angrily and bitterly that I was giving them too many handouts and that I would be saving trees and by extension by not giving handouts. This was a very angry Stu who complained in every class.