Know the Rules: You are Judged by Your Words: Prescriptive English as the Language of People in Power

At the New Yorker, Ryan Bloom at Language Wars in Inescapably, You're Judged by Your Language, tells us that prescriptive English is the language of people in power:

"Repugnant as it may be, the simple answer is that we need to learn prescriptive English because that’s the way the people in power communicate. As far as daily survival is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether the origins of this linguistic power structure are racist, classist, or élitist, or whether they’re based on the whims of dead white males. This is how the system works right now, today, and in order to best get the attention of those in power, to begin to effect change, we must be able to use their dialect. We must know their rules."

Read the rest of this fascinating article at The New Yorker.

What to Pin on Pinterest : Copyright Issues plus Self-promotion

Steve Eder at the Wall Street Journal discusses the legal and pragmatic issues involved in asking what should be pinned on Pinterest.

See In Shift, Pinterest Says to Pin Your Own Stuff.

David Bornstein Examines The Dawn of the Evidence-Based Budget

The "evidence movement" for examining academic, social, government and economic policies and ideas is beginning.

At NYTimes.com, David Bornstein examines the The Dawn of the Evidence-Based Budget, writing:

"There are reasons why the evidence movement may take root in government today — despite the fact that data is no match for emotion in an election year, and many lobbyists, campaign donors, party leaders, constituents and ideologues will ignore evidence that contradicts their interests or beliefs."

That is one major problem in our world today.

People believe a lot of things which simply are not supported by the evidence.

Rather, people in part fervently follow schools of thought, political ideas and parties, or religions and belief systems that their parents or "authorities" passed on to them, rather than thinking for themselves and examining what the evidence tells them.

Which sort of "thinker" are you?