Motivated reasoning

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Motivated reasoning is thinking through a topic with the aim, conscious or unconscious, of reaching a particular kind of conclusion. In a football game, we see the fouls committed by the other team but overlook the sins of our own side. We are more likely to notice what we want to notice. Experts are not immune to motivated reasoning. Under some circumstances their expertise can even become a disadvantage. 

People with deeper expertise are better equipped to spot deception, but if they fall into the trap of motivated reasoning, they are able to muster more reasons to believe whatever they really wish to believe.

Tim Harford, How to Make the World Add Up

Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy

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The implicit assumption behind any goal is this: “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy.” The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone.  

Furthermore, goals create an “either-or” conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a disappointment. You mentally box yourself into a narrow version of happiness. This is misguided. It is unlikely that your actual path through life will match the exact journey you had in mind when you set out.  

James Clear, Atomic Habits

Acting The Part

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The late Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack once told me that he was at a loss when he first moved behind the camera, so he simply acted like a director. 

 The feeling of not being up to the job, the belief that the role is too big, is something every leader has felt. It is evidence that the role is greater than the individual—and thus worth taking on. Pollack made the leader's requisite leap into the unknown, accepting the risk of failure that is the first step in becoming a leader—and he excelled. 

That adaptive capacity is the most important attribute in determining who will become a leader. It's also the defining trait of the best actors. Inhabiting roles other than the one most of us think of as self is essential to both. So is the empathy needed to project yourself into someone else's skin.

Like great actors, great leaders create and sell an alternative vision of the world, a better one in which we are an essential part. Philosopher Isaiah Berlin wrote that Churchill idealized his countrymen with such intensity that in the end they rose to his ideal. Mahatma Gandhi made India proud of herself. Washington and the other Founding-Fathers shared that great leader's gift of making people believe they could be—and were—part of a great nation. Martin Luther King Jr. had that same genius. 

When you consider such towering and theatrical leaders, you realize leadership may be the greatest performing art of all—the only one that creates institutions of lasting value, institutions that can endure long after the stars who envisioned them have left the theater. 

Warren Bennis, The Essential Bennis

Articles of Interest about Higher Ed - Oct 6

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***THE VIRUS 

CDC revises coronavirus guidance to acknowledge that it spreads through airborne transmission

Most hospitalized Covid patients have neurological symptoms, study says 

As cold weather arrives, U.S. states see record increases in COVID-19 cases

***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS

Under the cloud of the coronavirus, fall U.S. college enrollment takes a hit ($)

Partying frustrates colleges’ work to keep campuses safe ($) 

***THE VIRUS AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS

Brown University, Providence College Begin Reopening Process 

19-year-old Appalachian State University dies from COVID-19 complications

Merrimack College temporarily moves to remote learning after COVID-19 outbreak

Few UC San Diego students test positive for COVID-19, but many shun campus housing

University of Tennessee to hold in-person graduation ceremonies in November

A Student Dies, and a Campus Gets Serious About Coronavirus ($)

***VIRUS TESTING ON CAMPUS

Many Colleges Aren't Aggressively Testing Students For Coronavirus

CDC Issues New Testing Guidance for Colleges

Colleges Learn How to Suppress Coronavirus: Extensive Testing

***K-12 

The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning 

What We Know About Coronavirus Cases in K-12 Schools So Far

5 ways parents can help kids thrive amid remote learning

Student Discipline Rates Show Black Girls Are Disproportionally At Risk ($)

***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS

Marquette Professors disheartened by potential layoffs

Staff cuts, furloughs announced amid $107 million Ohio State athletics budget deficit

Pandemic spurs more layoffs at Dartmouth College

Mass Layoffs Typically Boost Enrollment at Community Colleges

Erie Community College lays off 3 executive staff, along with undisclosed number of employees

Lack of trust and fear of long-term damages loom after University of Akron faculty layoffs

Pandemic prompts Ball State to cut 128 jobs

Western Oregon University announces layoffs

University of Florida's Board of Trustees approves furlough policy

Arizona University Professors Struggling After Layoffs, Pay Cuts During COVID

Miami University votes on President's pay raise, furloughs 115 members of athletics department

***COLLEGE FINANCES

'Budget Crisis' At Connecticut  Community Colleges, State Universities   

Colleges: Financial Toll of Coronavirus Worse Than Anticipated

 ***HIGHER ED 

The Enrollment Cliff, Mega-Universities, COVID-19, and the Changing Landscape of U.S. Colleges

Study: The majority of college recreation programs do not have ADA compliant websites

More Doctoral Programs Suspend Admissions. That Could Have Lasting Effects on Graduate Education 

Universities continue to block athletes from talking to the media. That's got to stop (opinion)

Why Colleges and Universities Should Update Their Codes of Conduct

***HUMANITIES 

An Illinois university got major pushback for cutting religion, French and anthropology. But other colleges are dropping the humanities too 

The Crowding out of a Humanities Education

Committee Assesses Possible Merge of School of Liberal Arts and School of Science at Manhattan College

***ONLINE CLASSES  

The Hidden Expenses of Remote Teaching

Microsoft Teams and OneNote bring these new features for remote learning

Make video presentations more interesting with filters, polls and live animals

Professor Teaches Class While Stuck in an Elevator

***ONLINE CHEATING  

Distance Learning, With Shades of Big Brother

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing how students cheat – and get caught

Academic fraud spikes as students study from home

Students Are Rebelling Against Eye-Tracking Exam Surveillance Tools

AI proctoring won’t stop students from cheating, it is just added stress for students  (opinion)

***ACADEMIC LIFE 

Professors union to investigate Keuka College

The Virus Moved Female Faculty to the Brink. Will Universities Help? ($)

White male New Hampshire professor allegedly posed as woman of color on Twitter

How remote learning’s flaws pushed me to leave my university teaching job

Midwestern State University investigates controversial social media comment by professor

CMU professor fired for ‘hostile learning environment’ after using racial slur, reports show 

***ADMINISTRATORS

The Three Lessons That 2020 Has Taught Every University President

Retirement Wave Hits College Presidents 

Notre Dame president faces heat for not wearing mask or distancing at Barrett event

Less than a year on the job Wichita State president resigns 

Four resign from Beloit College board of trustees 

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 

Pandemic leads to faculty layoffs at Anderson University

Seattle Pacific University will cut tuition 25% in fall 2021

Notre Dame president tests positive for COVID-19

Lubbock Christian University sees drop in enrollment amid pandemic

Forced resignation of Milligan University professor heightens calls for change, dialogue regarding LGBTQ community

***PLNU 

The Metaphysics of Modern (Same-As-The-Old) Media (interview with Dean Nelson)

***LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

Liberty University enrollment spikes, despite statewide drop in new college students

Liberty University pays Jerry Falwell Jr.

Ex-Liberty student sentenced in sexual battery case involving Liberty Instructor

***RESEARCH 

5 ways to improve the quality and credibility of preprint

What do you do if you suspect research misconduct?

Could Einstein Get Published Today? ($) 

5 ways to increase peer review transparency to foster greater trust in the process

***COVID RESEARCH 

The rush to research COVID-19 risks compromising research integrity and impact 

The carnage of substandard research during the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for quality

***RESEARCH IN CHINA

China Uses Social Credit System to Punish Academic Misconduct 

Chinese graduate students’ perceptions of plagiarism: A mixed-methods study

***RETRACTIONS

How language in retraction notices obscures culpability

A look at retractions for failure to disclose conflicts of interest 

***STUDENT LIFE

Police kick out SMU's entire student section for not wearing masks, adhering to social distancing rules

Campus police in Texas entered a sleeping student's dorm room with a gun and taser after a false report was filed, university says

Boulder, seeking to stop coronavirus surge, bans all gatherings among 18 to 22 year olds until Oct. 8

A significant majority of college students in Generation Z said they are registered to vote or are planning to register

2 college students plummet four floors while taking selfie at rooftop party

***RANSOMWARE

Treasury Department warns against paying hackers involved in ransomware attacks 

How School Districts Should Respond to Ransomware Attacks 

Tech company which provides software to schools, cities and states across US, hit by ransomware attack 

New Details on Cyberattack on Montgomery College 

Surge in ransomware attacks threatens student data

***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT

Notre Dame Provost creates committee to alter Title IX procedures to comply with federal law

Hundreds of stories of sexual assault at colleges shared on Instagram

A better option than giving advice

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Giving advice feels good, but it doesn’t empower other people. Experts suggest that instead of telling others what to do, we coach them to find their own solutions. This approach is more motivating and helps others grow. While it takes more time asking questions to guide others into their own answers, doing so lets other people develop independence, increasing their productivity. This also frees you to accomplish more.

Articles of interest about religion - Oct 1

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***THE VIRUS 

This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic

Scientists warn of airborne coronavirus spread

The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Changing Our Dreams

90% of US adults vulnerable to COVID-19, study says

Study Finds ‘Single Largest Driver’ of Coronavirus Misinformation: Trump

***RELIGION & THE VIRUS

What Pastors See as the ‘New Normal’ for Preaching After the Pandemic

***RELIGION  

Sign Language Bible Complete After 39 Years

Making Your Church Manlier Won’t Make It Bigger

China Is Erasing Mosques and Precious Shrines in Xinjiang ($)

***RELIGION AND TRUMP

Former aides: Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters   

Election 2020: Trump's support from Catholics and evangelicals is dropping. They fault his unkindness

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

Hillsong Church Accidentally Posts Political Opinion During Debate

Alabama governor apologizes to '63 church bombing survivor

How a Sean Feucht worship service convinced me I am no longer an evangelical (opinion)

Young evangelicals are defying their elders' politics (Opinion)

***RELIGION & THE SUPREME COURT 

Religious group tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, sought to erase all mentions of her from its website

For Conservative Christian Women, Amy Coney Barrett’s Success Is Personal (opinion) 

As U.S. Supreme Court nomination looms, a religious community draws fresh interest 

The false link between Amy Coney Barrett and The Handmaid’s Tale, explained

***RELIGION & THE LAW 

Judge Denies Christian Group’s Challenge To Limits On Religious Gatherings In Colorado

Southern Baptist publishing arm, LifeWay, sues former president Thom Rainer

Megahurch Sues D.C. Over COVID-19 Mass Gathering Restrictions

***DENOMINATIONS

Texas United Methodists take up call to replace denomination’s logo over association with racist imagery

***CATHOLIC 

Pope Francis refused to meet with Mike Pompeo so as not to boost Trump

Powerful Vatican Cardinal Becciu resigns amid scandal

***MEGACHURCHES

Louisiana Megachurch pastor won't wear a mask in courthouse and misses hearing; lawyer enters his plea 

***PARACHURCH MINISTRIES

After the Allegations Against Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias’s Ministry Investigates Claims of Sexual Misconduct at Spas

How you thought your life would turn out

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You are constantly letting go of who you thought you were and how you thought life would be. You find yourself constantly in the neural zone, unable to recover your old life but equally unable to embrace your new one comfortably. To the extent that you can let go of who you used to be and honor the experience of being in-between lives, you discover a rich and wonderful way of living. There is no beginning that doesn’t require an ending, and no ending that doesn’t make possible a new beginning.

William Bridges, The Way of Transition