22. THE VALUE OF FREE - Why Are We So Distrustful of Getting Something For Nothing?

November 18, 2019 by DaN McKee in Education, Ethics, Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, School, Student Writing, Free, Gifts, Economics, Improv

“Imagine giving a friend a brand new MacBook for their birthday. It is highly likely they will assume the computer is somehow broken, secondhand, or stolen before they would simply accept that you have spent that much money on them and expect nothing in return. Because when something that good is given away for free, for no reason, it makes no sense in a world where everything has a price and where we have been socialised into a worldview that says money has ultimate value and should be collected, even hoarded, as much as possible. To give something of value away for free is the action of a crazy person. Sensible citizens only part with something of value if it will bring them something of more value in return. At least, that is the story we have been conditioned to tell ourselves.”

20. COULD THE PAST HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT? - A Student Grapples With The Futility of Historical Counterfactuals

November 04, 2019 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Student Writing, Time, History

“If we cannot change the past itself then why do we concern ourselves with the ‘what ifs’? Perhaps we may want to conceive that the grass would have been greener in the present if the past had been different...”

16. THE CHINESE ROOM THEORY OF LEARNING - Can We Avoid An Educational Imitation Game?

September 30, 2019 by DaN McKee in Epistemology, Meaning, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Work, Education, Qualia, Mind

“I think of the Chinese Room often as a teacher, especially around exam season, and wonder how much our obsession with testing has led to a Chinese Room approach to learning?”

9. WHAT EXACTLY IS MY OBLIGATION HERE? - Who Enforces A Promise We Make To Ourself?

July 01, 2019 by DaN McKee in Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Obligation

“The crucial thing here is that if I did not do any one of these things, nothing at all would happen. I am not doing them because I believe God told me to and the punishment for failure is hell. I am not doing it because I signed a legally binding contract and would be in breach if certain things aren’t done. There is no law compelling me and not even another human being to whom I have made my oath.”

6. IDENTITY CRISIS - On Immigration and Belonging

June 10, 2019 by DaN McKee in Meaning, Philosophy Unleashed, Identity, Immigration

“It is only in the last few years that I began to realise how much I had been affected by being the child of an immigrant. Growing up, because my skin was white, the idea that I was a second-generation immigrant didn’t even cross my mind, although the fact of my status acted constantly in the shadows without my recognition, and I remained completely aware of my non-British heritage even in my ignorance of living its consequences. “

5. BIG DATA - The Importance of Remembering there Can be a Data/Facts Disjunction

June 03, 2019 by DaN McKee in Meaning, Pop Culture, School, Data, Epistemology, Philosophy Unleashed

“Data, in theory, means measurability, tracking and accountability, and therefore is favoured and celebrated by those in the business of measuring education, tracking education, and holding education accountable. Every year teachers across the country collect spreadsheet after spreadsheet of meaningless data on their pupils. They analyse that data and discuss it endlessly with managers and leaders and make decisions about future planning based on what the data says. But the data gathered is, invariably, pure garbage.”

2. THEN CAME THE LAST DAYS OF MAY - How Do We Mark An Ending?

May 06, 2019 by DaN McKee in Philosophy Unleashed, Time, Death, School, Meaning

“To paraphrase Plato’s old Euthyphro dilemma: do we mark significant endings because they are special, or are endings made significant and special because we mark them?”