Category Archives: education

Why posh boys and girls run the Arts

Posted on December 13, 2018 by

Not long ago, my wife, a composer, asked me if I would ever advise a student from a low-income family to pursue a career in the arts. “What do you mean? Of course.” “Really?” “If that’s what they wanted to … Continue reading →

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A plumbing lesson at Sir Philip Magnus School in 1960

Posted on October 10, 2018 by

I attended this school from the age of eleven until sixteen (1955–1960). It was a very good school with its students split into two streams: a) for academics and b) for building trades). I was in the ‘b’ stream. My … Continue reading →

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Two idiots talk about hurricanes

Posted on October 4, 2018 by

First Idiot: Donald Trump, President of the United States Ray H.   Second Idiot: a gay hating Texan fundamentalist “Just last week the state of Texas failed to pass a bill patterned after the North Carolina bathroom bill that would … Continue reading →

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G E Moore on Wittgenstein

Posted on September 20, 2018 by

When Wittgenstein submitted the Tractatus as his doctoral dissertation, G. E. Moore is reputed to have sent in an examiner’s report including the words, “It is my personal opinion that Mr. Wittgenstein’s thesis is a work of genius; but, be … Continue reading →

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The Isle of Wight

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Up by six, out by seven A two hour drive South Though the ‘New Forest’ It’s verdant green, still seems pristine Hedge-row flowers Created as nature’s, florist. We meet the others at the ferry The children, bright eyed Impatient to … Continue reading →

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Who’d have thought it?

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

The IQ scores of young people have begun to fall after rising steadily since the Second World War, according to the first authoritative study of the phenomenon. The decline, which is equivalent to at least seven points per generation, is … Continue reading →

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Educational discrimination at Harvard University

Posted on July 10, 2018 by

University officials did concede that its 2013 internal review found that if Harvard considered only1 [my emphasis] academic achievement, the Asian-American share of the class would rise to 43 percent from the actual 19 percent. What they value more than … Continue reading →

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