Daily Stuff--9/6/2012

Languages--Chinese

I watched episode 50 of Travel in Chinese. This was another review on topics like going to the hospital and getting into a car accident.

Articles:

I read two articles in the Wall Street Journal. The first article was about the European debt crisis. Right now, Germany is on shaky ground, even though it's managed fairly well in the current economy. But with the rising debt crisis, Germany will most likely stop lending money to countries in the South and right now, Germany is one of the only things keeping Europe from falling into an even deeper recession. Also, the crisis is so bad that anything the European Central Bank does isn't likely to help much.

The second one is about the fact that people are having "eureka" moments later and later in life. Einstein had his breakthrough at age 26, but since then, the age when these discoveries take place has increased. The reason for this is simply because there's more to learn, and the student phase of life is longer now. When an industry or field is new, a complete education isn't as important and people can get out in the field faster. This is why people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg were as successful as they are at such a young age without completing college. The problem, however, is that this has caused a threat to prosperity. It's not the fact that these eureka moments are happening later in life. It's the fact that apparently scientists aren't working productively later in life. If that is the case, and I really don't know, then yes, I would agree that prosperity is being threatened because if these eureka moments are coming later in life and scientists aren't being productive later in life, how is anyone having these moments anymore to begin with?

Philosophy:

I read about Dewey's thoughts on classical liberalism in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Going back to his moral philosophy, he believed that every experience can have a value placed upon it, and when it's relevant, it helps people. But when that value becomes outdated, it can become a hindrance, and that's what Dewey thought about classical liberalism. It was a hindrance rather than anything helpful.

Internships:

I contacted my former linguistics professor about a research position involving a Uto-Aztecan language.