Columns

Why mixed messaging can erode trust in institutions

October 28, 2020

Deborah Perron Tollefsen University of Memphis (THE CONVERSATION) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised its guidance to acknowledge that COVID-19 can be spread through tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols. It had earlier ...

The Conversation: If a robot is conscious, is it OK to turn it off? The moral implications of building true AIs

October 28, 2020

By Anand Vaidya San José State University (THE CONVERSATION) — In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “The Measure of a Man,” Data, an android crew member of the Enterprise, is to be dismantled for research purposes ...

Sufficient affluence/sustainable economy: (continued...)

October 28, 2020

The Ballad of Casey Jones An illustrative example of the interconnection among history, legend, and myth is a story that has survived in American folklore in many permutations for more than a century, that of Casey Jones (1863 –1900). The tale of Casey ...

Sufficient affluence/sustainable economy: Economics for everyone (episode eighteen)--History, legend, and myth

October 28, 2020

By John F. Sase, Ph.D. Gerard J. Senick, senior editor Julie G. Sase, copyeditor William A. Gross, researcher “Driving that train /high on cocaine / Casey Jones / you’d better watch your speed / Trouble ahead / trouble behind / And you know that ...

Assessing Trump's immigration crackdown

October 28, 2020

Miranda Cady Hallett University of Dayton (THE CONVERSATION) Donald Trump was on the defensive about his immigration policies in the final presidential debate, with a question about 545 migrant children taken by the U.S. government who may never be reunited ...

What is originalism? Debunking the myths

October 28, 2020

Ilan Wurman Arizona State University (THE CONVERSATION) Originalism has featured prominently in each of the last three Supreme Court confirmation battles – those of Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and now Amy Coney Barrett. Each time, ...