Resources about “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts”
Guardian: New Fake News Dilemma Karl Bergstrom Guardian: 10 Alternative Facts for a Post-truth World critical reasoning Sonoma State Calling bullshit in the age of big data #11
Area: Science
Are We Living in a Simulation?
Are We Living in a Simulation, and What Would it Mean if the Answer is Yes? The purpose of this lesson is to explore the nature of reality and how we know whether or not anything is real Begin the lesson with the two short embedded videos to get the students thinking and engaged in … Are We Living in a Simulation?
Mind Games
This lesson can be used either in a classroom or online. Plot Summary: In Jiaqi Emily Yan’s animated short “Mind Games,” a child sits bored at a school desk, trying to focus on classwork. Their brain jumps out of their head, stuffs it with books, and heads outside to play while the child robotically regurgitates … Mind Games
Conflicting Values in Environmental Ethics – The Mountain Goat Dilemma
Mountain goats are not native to Olympic National Park. They were introduced into Olympic Peninsula in the 1930s to encourage an increase of tourism via hunting. Shortly after, Olympic National Park was established. Under Park jurisdiction, hunting of any kind is forbidden, so the mountain goats placed there were protected. Olympic National Park is now … Conflicting Values in Environmental Ethics – The Mountain Goat Dilemma
Truth, Lies and Bullshit
Part 1: What is the difference between Truth, a Lie and Bullshit? Students should begin by writing brief definitions of these words –> WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? TRUTH, LIE, SATIRE/ JOKE, FICTION, MISTAKE, BULLSHIT (or, politely, BS) After 10 minutes, discuss how these concepts overlap and differ from each other. It is important to get to the point where the … Truth, Lies and Bullshit
Animal Minds: puzzling over Puppies and Parrots
For much of modern science, since the Enlightenment, animals were generally thought to be automatons: materialist robots programmed to behave in certain ways. Rene Descartes drew a sharp distinction between thinking beings, humans, and everything else, matter. 20th Century behaviorism continued to think of animals in this way but added humans to the mix. “Mind” … Animal Minds: puzzling over Puppies and Parrots
The Matrix & The Experience Machine
The Matrix In the film, the humans trapped in the Matrix are like the people in Plato’s cave. They see only what the machines want them to see, but they believe they see reality as it really is. They accept what their senses tell them as all that exists. Neo suspects that this is all … The Matrix & The Experience Machine
How Do We Decide Who Should Decide?
Medical Ethics and the State The role of the state (government) in Medical Ethics can be quite complex. In these two articles (see links below), two perspectives are explored. The famous Baby Theresa case involves a situation where the state prevents parents from acting to share their dying daughter’s organs. The second case concerns a … How Do We Decide Who Should Decide?
Should Driverless Cars Kill Their Passengers?
The new technology of driverless cards has opened up a real-world corollary to the 65 year old tradition of Trolley Problems. The basic question here involved how the cars should be programmed: to protect their passengers or others out on the road? Read these the two articles and watch the video dealing with issues arising from … Should Driverless Cars Kill Their Passengers?
What is the world really made of?
In this high school philosophy lesson plan, students will engage with Gottfried Leibniz’s The Monadology.
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