PACTISS recommends
Where science meets art. The only necessary and sufficient book store in Melbourne.
Hope our friends enjoy the new look and feel – now optimised for mobile devices for access on the go.
PEOPLE
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Coordinator: Peter Ellerton
Web guy: Jason Etheridge RESOURCE COLLECTIONS
NEW RESOURCES
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- A nice Philosophy of Mind summary
- The power of categorical logic
- What exactly is the scientific method and why do so many people get it wrong?
- Paralympic athletes faster than olympic athletes — what does this tell us about difference?
- Logic: if + then = why? How can we understand the power of logic?
- How do we ensure we are exposed to new ideas? A parody with bite.
- A Life of Meaning (Reason Not Required) – What is the nature of our relationship with reason?
- Can you name this cognitive bias?
- By what measures can we value human life?
- Teaching philosophy improves standardised scores
- Are we in control of our own decisions?
- Neuroscience and education: myths and messages
- Free will is not as free as we think – and that’s ok.
- Where’s the Proof in Pseudoscience?
- Science in the lead?
RANDOM POSTS
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- Philosophy of Religion - Richard Dawkins' rejection of the argument from design
- More Dilbert magic - Argumentation
- Ghost in the Machine
- Justice
- Is there a difference between patriotism & jingoism?
- Is Mathematics Discovered or Invented?
- Philosophy Rationale
- Hypothesis forming excercise
- Argumentation booklet
- Should The Great Apes Have Rights?
USEFUL RSS FEEDS
Philosopher’s Zone
NYTimes – The Stone
Philosophy Now
RSA Animate
- The Green Corridors Initiative
- Governance governing government
- Why print money when we can print wealth?
- Building a resilient health and care system
- We'll always have Paris?
- Experimentation and equity in global cities
- Technology-enabled deliberative democracy
- Healthier placemaking
- Creating a sovereign wealth fund in Wolverhampton
- Economic recovery and climate action
Scientific American – Mind and Brain
- Asexuality Research Has Reached New Heights. What Are We Learning?
- Political Ads Can Target Your Personality. Here's What Could Go Wrong
- Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning
- People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome May Have an "Exhausted" Immune System
- How to Close the 'Orgasm Gap' for Heterosexual Couples
- Virtual Bar Scenes Are a New Tool to Study Why People Commit Crimes in the Heat of the Moment
- Anger Can Help You Meet Your Goals
- How Sleep Engineering Could Help Heal the Brain
- Dominatrices Are Showing People How to Have Rough Sex Safely
- Farmers in Crisis, Long Overlooked, Are Finally Getting Mental Health Support
TED talks
- War journalism should be rooted in empathy — not violence | Bel Trew
- The problem with food and climate — and how to fix it | Jonathan Foley
- How buildings can improve life — inside and out | Doris Sung
- The satellite helping slow climate change — right now | Millie Chu Baird
- What's possible when the arts belong to everybody | Lear deBessonet with Brian Stokes Mitchell
- “Cant de la Sibil·la” / "Quien Más Me Ama" | Maria Arnal
- Bravery, brilliance and RuPaul Charles | On the Spot | RuPaul Charles
- How to claim your leadership power | Michael Timms
- Why young people are worse off than their parents — and what to do about it | Scott Galloway
- Quantum computers aren't what you think — they're cooler | Hartmut Neven
THEMED RESOURCES
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Author Archives: Peter Ellerton
The value of subjective experience (or not)
From smbc
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Mind - Consciousness, Philosophy of Science
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Free will and mobile phones
Can you prove you have free will?
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Mind - Consciousness
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A Critical Thinking Matrix
Exploring the relationship between cognitive skills and the values of inquiry. Grey boxes describe student work. This can be used to generate rubrics. CT Matrix
Posted in Critical Thinking, Syllabus and Course Outlines
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The Skills, Values and Virtues of Inquiry
A model for understanding effective thinking through categorising key educational ideas and examining the relationships between them. Skills Values and Virtues of Inquiry
Posted in Critical Thinking, Syllabus and Course Outlines
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Science and art from Dilbert
Discuss.
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons
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Why would anyone believe the Earth is flat?
Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland Belief in a flat Earth seems a bit like the attempt to eradicate polio – just when you think it’s gone, a pocket of resistance appears. … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science
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Dilbert on Zeno
Zeno does it again.
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science
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We can’t trust common sense but we can trust science
Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland When a group of Australians was asked why they believed climate change was not happening, about one in three (36.5%) said it was “common sense”, according to a report published last year by the … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Science
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What does it mean to think and could a machine ever do it?
Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland The idea of a thinking machine is an amazing one. It would be like humans creating artificial life, only more impressive because we would be creating consciousness. Or would we? How can meat think? … Continue reading
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons
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Teaching how to think is just as important as teaching anything else
Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland A new paper on teaching critical thinking skills in science has pointed out, yet again, the value of giving students experiences that go beyond simple recall or learned procedures. It is a common lamentation … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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Some useful tips on how to raise an argumentative child
Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland The old adage that children should be seen and not heard is nothing but wishful thinking. Children are naturally inquisitive and they usually can’t help verbalising their curiosity. Asking “why?” is the most natural … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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Working together for critical thinking in schools
Working together for critical thinking in schools Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland One of the most desirable characteristics of school graduates is that they can think critically. This helps them individually and also helps the societies in which they … Continue reading
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons
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How to teach all students to think critically
How to teach all students to think critically Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland All first year students at the University of Technology Sydney could soon be required to take a compulsory maths course in an attempt to give them … Continue reading
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons
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Do we live in a simulation?
From SMBC
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Mind - Consciousness, Philosophy of Religion
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Digital Piracy
Is this a good analogy?
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons
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Privacy vs Security
Discuss.
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Social and Political Philosophy
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A causal nightmare
More from Dilbert
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
Tagged fallacies of reasoning
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If it’s not right to rape a rapist, how can it be OK to kill a killer?
Discuss (1) this analogy and the (2) image below. (1) Here is the source article for the analogy. “That’s the thing. The reason why we would be hesitant to endorse it is that – what normal person would be paid to do something so … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Social and Political Philosophy
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The Principle of Sufficient Reason
Form the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy “The Principle of Sufficient Reason is a powerful and controversial philosophical principle stipulating that everything must have a reason or cause. This simple demand for thoroughgoing intelligibility yields some of the boldest and most … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science, Web links
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The Anchoring Effect
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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