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.”

21. WHAT MUST WE REMEMBER? - On The Worth of Remembrance Day

November 10, 2019 by DaN McKee in Ethics, Philosophy Unleashed, Philosophy, Politics, School, War, Militarisation

“as long as we have had Remembrance Day and worn our red poppies, we have continued to have wars. If we truly want to honour those whose lives were lost saving the lives of others we ought to put every effort we can into ensuring the sorts of wars which cost them their lives are never fought again.”

17. WHY I CLIMATE STRIKE - A Student Striker Gives Us Their Thoughts From The Frontlines.

October 07, 2019 by DaN McKee in Animal Rights, Ethics, Obligation, Philosophy Unleashed, School, Student Writing, Environment

'“Since when did kids have the right to get annoyed at adults, break rules and even participate in Non Violent Direct Action? It happened when you, the generations above me, chose not to act seriously on the climate crisis. The science has been around for 30 years, that’s 30 years of allowing emissions to rise uncontrollably. If people had acted back then, we wouldn’t need to strike now. But they didn’t. You didn’t.”

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?”

10. IN DEFENCE OF WASTE - On the Essential Inessential

July 15, 2019 by DaN McKee in Philosophy Unleashed, School, Time, Work, Philosophy

“It is now my belief that the inessential, the waste, may be the most important thing in life for ensuring our true wellbeing. Furthermore, it may also ultimately have a knock-on effect of improving the productivity and efficacy of the essential.”

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.”

3. DO THE RIGHT THING - The Logic of Using Non-specialists to Deal with Mental Health

May 13, 2019 by DaN McKee in Ethics, School, Mental Health, Philosophy Unleashed

“In society at large, as in their microcosm, the humble school, although imperfect, overall, our collective efforts to try and help add more good to the world than would exist in their absence, and so the continued struggle should be supported.”

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?”