OLDaily

Argumentation, cognition, and the epistemic benefits of cognitive diversity
Renne Pesonen, PhilSci Archive, 2022/07/01

This is a good paper that looks at the phenomenon of 'social information processing' and suggests that a study of the role of argumentation between proponents of diverse perspectives may be more important than is currently believed. Diversity, writes Renne Pesonen, is an important element of social knowledge and scientific progress. "When reasoners congregate in argumentative exchanges, the participants do their best to produce supporting arguments for their opinions and, crucially, a critical feedback mechanism emerges as they actively seek the faults in arguments presented by others." Too much diversity, however, "erodes trust and mutual understandings and prevents the convergence of opinion." Argumentation provides that crucial glue that "affects how we think, make decisions, and solve problems, as well as how cognitive biases may facilitate an efficient division of cognitive labor."

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Is VR Really Mainstream? What Learning Leaders Need to Know
Pamela Hogle, Learning Solutions, 2022/07/01

The answer to the question is "no". Even though Bersin shows that more than a million people "have experienced virtual reality training developed by STRIVR," Pamela Hogle notes, these are very large companies focusing specifically on physical tasks. "Before VR can be considered mainstream, it must be feasible for a broader range of organizations to use it for the types of training they need," she writes. And I agree. Virtual Reality (VR) is interesting and worth watching, but it's not yet mainstream. "Learning leaders in smaller to mid-sized companies may want to watch developments in virtual reality training for a while longer before committing budget or personnel to bringing VR-based training to their learners."

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Don’t look up: Ignoring the looming crisis in public education
Mark Innes, et al., BERA Blog, 2022/07/01

The authors point to what they consider to be four crises in education:

• "a 40-year ideological experiment in marketisation and neoconservatism."
• "teacher recruitment and retention are in a downward spiral."
• "the glaring lack of a... curricular policy to teach about climate change"
• "the ways in which Covid has increased educational inequalities"

It seems a bit like an odd selection, somewhat specific to the U.K. context, yet not completely so - I see similar issues, for example, in the United States and Australia. I think they're also based in a specific philosophy of education, one that sees it not only as a public good, but also as an instrument for projecting public policy. Not saying any of this is wrong, but I don't think people outside the system would see the issues in exactly the same way.

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Why I Left Social Media
Helen Blunden, YouTube, 2022/07/01

"Getting off social media for me has been a way to reclaim my sanity, my time, my creativity, and my reflection," says Helen Blunden in this YouTube video reflection. "I got off social media simply because it wasn't providing me any value any more." That's not to say it never had value, she says. "Social media has opened up doorways to me," she says. But stopped providing any more value, and she got tired of being "sold to". And the way she responded to people was changing, but not for the better. "I don't want to follow the pack, and I felt at times Twitter was becoming too packish." The cons? "You become completely disconnected from people." People don't know about RSS or blogs; it's so much easier to just get on a platform. But this means she has been commenting more on blogs.

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