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Posts tagged as “Thinking West”

The Uncommon Act, the Moral Arc, and How We Should Consider Historical Figures

The Uncommon Act, the Moral Arc, and How We Should Consider Historical Figures

By Guest Post on March 7, 2023

by ThinkingWest

In recent years angry protesters across the United States have toppled several statues depicting historical figures from America’s past. Much of this anger is driven by outrage at the atrocities in which these historical figures were involved.  Unfortunately, much of this anger has been targeted at individuals whose contribution to American history isn’t completely negative in the eyes of the majority of Americans. Even several likenesses of the Founding Fathers have been toppled at the whim of some vehement mob1,2.

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Dangers of Democracy

Dangers of Democracy

By Guest Post on October 19, 2022

by ThinkingWest

The word “democracy” appears exactly zero times in the United States Constitution. And yet, no form of government is celebrated with the same fervency as democracy. Recently, the phrase “Our Democracy” has been co-opted by nearly every politician as an attempt to appeal to the populace’s supposedly unshakeable faith in the voting process. Appeals to the fragility of “Our Democracy” are commonly made by political figures hoping to discredit rivals; rivals they unhesitatingly accuse of threatening that ancient Athenian inheritance. A keen extraterrestrial might conclude that many of the developed nations of the world embrace democracy as religion.

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The Importance of Fairy Tales for Children

The Importance of Fairy Tales for Children

By Guest Post on June 6, 2022

by ThinkingWest

For the past year, I’ve been reading stories from classic children’s anthologies (many printed in the 1940s – 1960s era) to my kids before bed. One such collection of stories is from a series called Childcraft, which I find so aptly named since reading good stories is so critical in “crafting” children to be virtuous, imaginative, and courageous. Such stories include those iconic tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm to early 20th century folk legends.

Good stories develop important mechanical aspects of language, memory, and comprehension skills, but this is only one small part of the impact reading a story has on the malleable minds of children. The reading of fairy tales is an underrated force in the development of children and accomplishes so much more than the mere mechanical aspects of reading and listening.

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