such psycholo- gists as B. F. Skinner) that "making moral judgments" is a distasteful practice that should be avoided at all costs. Yet proponents of this "self- righteous preoccupation with putting down self-righteousness" have not found a suitable substitute for the moral judgments they condemn.
Philosophers, Midgley concludes, should once again discuss "how we need to think and live." But in resuming philosophy's traditional task, they should reject attitudes that...
many circuits operating together rather than as linked chains. Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Bell Laboratories, and
C.I.T. have fabricated collective-decision circuits, the largest being 54 amplifiers. However, it will take a network of hundreds or thousands of "neurons," with thousands or millions of connections, for a circuit "to be useful" as a research tool.
Collective-decision circuits could be used in many ways. A C.I.T. team led Carver Mead, for example,...
providing continuing education and add- ing special programs on legal issues at their annual conventions. Saks concludes that "expert witnesses" need to learn the details of a case and their role in it. They should "learn to give accurate, two-sided presenta- tions in court, recognizing that they are witnesses, not advocates."
"Learning at the Sub-Neural Level" Robert Kanigel, in Mosaic (Fall 1987), National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. 20550.
Brain biologists...
local politicians and the press.
"Blackout at Bonnede Power" Andrew N. Kleit and Richard L. Stroup, in Regulation (No. 2, 1987), American Enterprise Institute, 1150 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C.20036.
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which supplies low-cost elec- tric power to the Pacific Northwest, is theoretically a self-supporting gov- ernment agency that requires no federal funding.
In fact, argue Kleit, a research associate, and Stroup, a senior asso- ciate, both at...
law from building new plants, BPA bureaucrats persuaded the Washington Pacific Power Supply System (WPPSS, or "Whoops") in 1970 to build three nuclear plants and allow BPA to keep most of the power generated. BPA then forced its customers to pay for the WPPSS plants "net-billing" contracts, which required participating utilities to pass costs on to the consumer. Cost overruns and incompetence caused WPPSS to default on $2.25 billion worth of bonds in 1983. BPA customers are now...
Yvonne Korshak, in
Smithsonian Studies in American Art (Fall
1987), 16-00 Pollitt Dr., Fair Lawn, N.J. 07410.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee com- posed of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to design a seal for the new United States. The three men differed in their ideas. Franklin suggested a depiction of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, Adams proposed Hercules poised between Vice and Virtue, and Jefferson argued for the Israelites in the w...
Yvonne Korshak, in
Smithsonian Studies in American Art (Fall
1987), 16-00 Pollitt Dr., Fair Lawn, N.J. 07410.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee com- posed of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to design a seal for the new United States. The three men differed in their ideas. Franklin suggested a depiction of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, Adams proposed Hercules poised between Vice and Virtue, and Jefferson argued for the Israelites in the w...
French workingmen, writes Korshak, became the "quintessential French liberty cap." During the Revolution the symbol proliferated-on plaques, furniture, tea sets, and atop the Declara- tion of the Rights of Man.
Unlike the first American coins, which eliminated the cap, the French versions maintained it. Today it remains a powerful symbol for the state on French coins and postage stamps. In the United States, says Korshak, the cap's "radical meaning" faded simply being forgotten....
wi Success "New Zealand's Economy: Learning to Fly" in
The Economist (Nov. 21, 1987), 25 St. James
St., London SWlA lHG, United Kingdom.
New Zealand's economy has been failing ever since 1950, when the British Empire began to recede. But the market-oriented policies of Labour Prime Minister David Lange, argues a staff-written Economist report, may be halting New Zealand's long economic decline.
During the early 1980s, New Zealand was "one of the most regulated and distorted...