In Michael Young’s 1958 satire The Rise of the Meritocracy, he speaks of men with “poor ability but rich connexions”. One such man, his son Toby, has found the new year particularly arduous, with news of his appointment to the board of the Office for Students garnering vociferous criticism on the grounds he is unsuited to such an elevated position. More...
06 janvier 2018
Free speech works both ways – as Toby Young is finding out
The history of empire isn’t about pride – or guilt
There is something ironic about an Oxford theologian being portrayed as persecuted for arguing that Britain should be proud of its imperial past, when 59% of the population agree with him. But it’s no laughing matter. More...
Cambridge University professor at centre of row over Giulio Regeni death
Murder of Italian student in Egypt has pitted calls for academic freedom against demands of investigators.
To his friends, there was never much doubt that Giulio Regeni was profoundly happy to be a student at Cambridge University, which seemed to be a perfect fit for the gifted and ambitious young Italian researcher. More...
Que doit-on craindre davantage : l’intelligence artificielle ou la bêtise humaine ?
L’intelligence artificielle (IA) a le vent en poupe. À tel point que ses succès, et ses conquêtes, pourraient faire d’elle une grande menace pour l’humanité. L’homme, équipé de sa modeste intelligence naturelle, doit-il donc avoir peur d’une concurrence (déloyale ?) de l’IA ? Se pencher sur cette question expose à quelques surprises. Plus...Dix autres idées fausses sur la vulgarisation scientifique
Les idées fausses répertoriées par Julien Bobroff dans un article publié par 1/2The Conversation1/2 sont importants à combattre pour engager les chercheurs dans une démarche de vulgarisation qui ne leur est pas toujours naturelle. Restent cependant à traiter quelques questions épineuses de la diffusion des savoirs : pourquoi ? pour qui ? comment ? Questions toujours débattues, mais sur lesquelles nous éclairent les meilleurs spécialistes des études des sciences, et que je traite depuis 2006 sur mon blog. En voici une sélection. Plus...Le tact, vertu du pédagogue
Le tact est primitivement le sens du toucher. Il n’est pas seulement ce par quoi nous découvrons les propriétés tangibles d’une chose (sa fluidité, sa mollesse, sa dureté, sa forme, sa température, sa sécheresse ou encore son humidité), il est aussi sensibilité, c’est-à-dire ce que l’on éprouve en touchant ladite chose. A la différence de la vue qui est un sens de la distance, il requiert le contact. Plus...How perfectionism became a hidden epidemic among young people
In our roles as academics, young people knock on our doors almost every day. They are typically ambitious, bright and hard-working. They have a broad network of friends, and most come from supportive families. Yet no matter how well-adjusted they can appear, we are finding that our students are increasingly likely to seek our support for mental health issues, as well as academic ones. More...What Toby Young outcry means for the new university regulator
It’s been quite the week for the UK journalist turned champion of free schools, Toby Young, whose appointment to the new universities regulatory board – The Office for Students (OfS) – has sparked outrage. More...Toby Young: what is ‘progressive eugenics’ and what does it have to do with meritocracy?
Since Toby Young’s appointment to the government’s new higher education watchdog – the Office for Students – critics have trawled through his past for evidence of unsuitability for the role. More...Bagaimana mendeteksi berita bohong—panduan ahli untuk anak muda
Setiap kali Anda online, orang berlomba-lomba merebut perhatian Anda. Teman-teman, orang asing, bisnis, organisasi politik, lembaga amal, dan situs web berita menyajikan arus konstan gambar-gambar, video dan artikel-artikel yang memikat pandangan, ke mana pun Anda mencari informasi—Google, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, atau YouTube. More...
