essays in analysis russell

Russell’s “Essays in Analysis”

• John G. Slater
• Johns Hopkins University Press
• Number 12, Winter 1973-1974
• View Citation

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]t is always a pleasure to notice a new book by Bertrand Russell, and to be asked to review it for ~~ssell is an added pleasure. His latest title, Essays in Analysis, edited with introductions by Mr. Douglas Lackey, was published late in 1973 by George Allen &Unwin in Britain and by George Braziller in the U.S.A. As but the latest example of the dramatic reversal in book prices between Britain and the U.S.A. in the last few years, the price in Britain (5 pounds· and 50 pence or $13.75) is 53% higher than the price in the U.S.A. ($8.95). For those content with paperbacks, Braziller published one (at $3.95) simultaneously with the hardback. Canadian purchasers, I am sorry to have to report, unless they order a copy from abroad, must pay $21. 95 for a copy of the British edition. The price of books in England, and the fact that most of his philosophy titles are not published in paperback there, lead one to fear that his reading public in his own country will continue to shrink. The book contains fifteen papers by Russell grouped under four headings: "RUSSELL'S CRITIQUE OF ME:INaiG", "DESCRIPTICNS AND EXISTENCE", "CLASSES AND THE PARADOXES", and "PHIIDSOPHY OF I£X;IC AND MATHEMATICS". Russell's "Essays in Analysis" In addition, there is an Appendix, "FOUR PAPERS BY HUGH MACCOLL", reprinted to make intelligible Russell's essay called "The Existential Import of Propositions", which was critical of MacColl. Three of the essays are published here for the first time, and three more, originally published in French, receive their first publication in English. In his general introduction and his briefer introductions to the four sections, the editor tells us that he selected the essays he did because of their relevance to contemporary philosophical concerns, like presupposition-free logics, modal logics, and realism. The discussions linking the contents to these concerns are very brief and serve as little more than suggestions for further study. Of more value in these introductions is the context they provide for the genesis of the various essays; Mr. Lackey does an economical and good job of it. But the real value of the book is to be found in Russell's essays. It is especially good to have his work on Meinong available in book form. It seems incredible, but it is true, that this is their first reprinting. The other essays that I found especially welcome were those in the philosophy of mathematics in which Russell patiently takes up one theory after another, examines it as a possible solution to some difficult problem, and then discards it when it is found wanting. During the years covered by this book (1904-1913) this was his great strength -- an endlessly fertile mind able to judge its products with detachment -and the surest evidence of his genius. Three bibliographies of varying usefulness are included. The most useful, since it is both new and complete, is the one called "RUSSELL'S WRITINGS 00 I£X;IC". Compiled by Mr. Kenneth Blackwell, it lists Russell's unpublished as well as his published writings on logic. For the published articles Mr. Blackwell has noted those which were later reprinted in one of Russell's books. This will prove a boon to readers whose library facilities lack the journals in which the articles first appeared. The other two bibliographies are selective. One, entitled "HIS'IORICAL BACKGROUND", limits itself to books and articles published between 1847 and 1911, both inclusive. Most of the important works in formal logic and the foundations of mathematics are listed, although I noticed that De Morgan's Formal Logic (1847) is unaccountably omitted. This list is less useful to the reader than the one of Russell's writings, since only the briefest bibliographical details of the first edition are mentioned; thus, for instance , we learn of Frege's Begriffschrift only that it was pUblished in Halle in 1879 and nothing about later editions or translations. The bibliography called "SIDJNDARY Mll.TERIAL" is even more highly selective. The principle of selection, we are told, is to include only writing.:; on Russell's views which related to...

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Philosophical Essays

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First published in 1910, Philosophical Essays is one of Bertrand Russell’s earliest works and marks an important period in the evolution of thought of one of the world’s most influential thinkers. This selection of seven essays displays Russell's incisiveness and brilliance of exposition in the examination of ethical subjects and the nature of truth. Insightful and highly accessible, these essays are as illuminating today as they were on first publication.

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Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) was one of the most formidable thinkers of the modern era. A philosopher, mathematician, educational innovator, champion of intellectual, social and sexual freedom, and a campaigner for peace and human rights, he was also a prolific writer of popular and influential books, essays and lectures on an extensive range of subjects. Considered to be one of the most controversial figures of the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell is widely renowned for his provocative writings. These definitive works offer profound insights and forward-thinking perspectives on a changing western society progressively shaped, most significantly, by two world wars, the decline of British imperialism and an evolving moral landscape.

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Works by Bertrand Russell

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Bertrand Russell His Philosophy, Main Themes and Main Patterns

Bertrand Russell and his unpopular essays

Related Papers

José Reséndiz

Chad Trainer

Almost five decades after his death, there is still ample reason to pay attention to the life and legacy of Bertrand Russell. This is true not only because of his role as one of the founders of analytic philosophy, but also because of his important place in twentieth-century history as an educator, public intellectual, critic of organized religion, humanist, and peace activist. The papers in this anthology explore Russell’s life and legacy from a wide variety of perspectives. This is altogether fitting, given the many-sided nature of Russell, his life, and his work. The first section of the book considers Russell the man, and draws lessons from Russell’s complicated personal life. The second examines Russell the philosopher, and the philosophical world within which his work was embedded. The third scrutinizes Russell the atheist and critic of organized religion, inquiring which parts of his critical stance are worth emulating today. The final section revisits Russell the political a...

Journal of the History of Philosophy

Andrew Irvine

William Bruneau

Ayesha Tariq

isara solutions

International Res Jour Managt Socio Human

(1872-1970) turned out to be the torch bearer in the twentieth century. Russell did not think there should be separate methods for philosophy. He thought philosophers should strive to answer the most general of propositions about the world and this would help eliminate confusions. In particular, he wanted to end what he saw as the excesses of metaphysics. His influence remains strong in the distinction between two ways in which we can be familiar with objects: knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description. Russell was a believer in the scientific method, that science reaches only tentative answers, that scientific progress is piecemeal, and attempts to find organic unities were largely futile. He believed the same was true of philosophy. Russell held that the ultimate objective of both science and philosophy was to understand reality, not simply to make predictions. Moral Issues is one of the coinages of Bertrand Russell which gained great currency in our time. It is a fact that Moral Issues is much older than the label given to it by Bertrand Russell. As a philosophy comprising thoughts and reflections of the creative writer on his own art, it may be traced all the way through the Renaissance and even before to our times. Alfred North Whitehead, his teacher, colleague and in due course collaborator had recommended his scholarship. His many friends, such as the Trevelyan brothers and G. E. Moore, whose philosophy eventually influenced him profoundly. Here, it was that he heard Moore read a paper which began, 'In the beginning was matter, and matter begat the devil and the devil begat God'. 'The paper ended with the death first of God and then of the devil, leaving matter alone as in the beginning' (Autobiography) that influenced Russell the most. Bertrand Russell's dissent and doubt were to extend much further. He inherited a fearless individualism, and the texts which his grandmother inscribed in the fly-leaf of his Bible affected him profoundly: 'Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil' was precisely observed and 'Be strong, and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord Thy God is with Thee where so ever thou goest' was followed in what Russell saw as the cause of humanity rather than the Lord. Along with Moore, Russell then believed that moral facts were objective, but known only through intuition; that they were simple properties of objects, not equivalent (e.g., pleasure is good) to the natural objects to which they are often ascribed and that these simple, undefinable moral properties cannot be analysed using the non-moral properties with which they are associated. In time, however, he came to agree with his philosophical hero, David Hume, who

Merrill Ring

Essays in Philosophy

Steven Schroeder

Michael Foot's introduction to this new edition of Bertrand Russell's autobiography locates it in a controversy with Ray Monk's biographical study (the first volume of which appeared in 1996, the second in 2001). Foot takes note of Monk's claim to deal with "philosophical questions overlooked or bowdlerized by previous biographers or by Russell himself" (ix) but sees his study as an attack on Russell's reputation. He introduces the autobiography as evidence that Russell took "the precaution of speaking for himself" (x). Foot goes on to discuss some of the risks involved in autobiography, particularly the dual risk of falling victim to hubris or appearing to do so. It is a tribute to Russell that Foot believes the best response to Monk's attack is not to defend him but rather to let him speak for himself–not to publish another new biography but to republish Russell's account of his own life. Essays in Philosophy, Vol. 4 No. 2, June 2003

Umapati Nath

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Essays in Analysis Hardcover – January 1, 1973

• Print length 345 pages
• Language English
• Publisher George Braziller
• Publication date January 1, 1973
• ISBN-10 0807606987
• ISBN-13 978-0807606988
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ George Braziller; First Edition (January 1, 1973)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 345 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807606987
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807606988
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 pounds
• #9,609 in Modern Western Philosophy

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Bertrand russell.

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Born and raised in 1998, Aqib Junaid discovered their love for writing at a young age, using words as a means to express their imagination and explore the depths of human emotions. This early fascination with storytelling developed into a lifelong commitment to creating literary works that resonate with readers on a profound level.

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Reason and Meaning

Philosophical reflections on life, death, and the meaning of life, summary of bertrand russell’s “in praise of idleness”.

In 1932, at age 60, my exact age as I write this post, Bertrand Russell penned a provocative essay, “ In Praise of Idleness .” Russell begins,

… I was brought up on the saying: ‘Satan finds some mischief for idle hands to do.’ Being a highly virtuous child, I believed all that I was told, and acquired a conscience which has kept me working hard down to the present moment. But although my conscience has controlled my actions, my opinions have undergone a revolution. I think that there is far too much work done in the world, [and] that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous …

Russell divides work into: 1) physical labor; and 2) the work of those who manage laborers (those whose work allows them to buy what the laborer’s produce, essentially almost everyone else.) In addition, there are the idle rich, who “are able to make others pay for the privilege of being allowed to exist and to work.” Russell despises this type of idleness, dependent as it is on the labor of others. But how did this all come to be?

For all of human history until the Industrial Revolution, an individual could produce little more than was necessary for subsistence. Originally any surplus was taken forcefully from the peasants by warriors and priests, but gradually laborers were induced to believe that hard work was their duty, even though it supported the idleness of others. As a result, laborers worked for their masters, and the masters, in turn, convinced themselves that what was good for them was good for everyone. But is this true?

Sometimes this is true; Athenian slave-owners, for instance, employed part of their leisure in making a permanent contribution to civilization which would have been impossible under a just economic system. Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. But their labors were valuable, not because work is good, but because leisure is good. And with modern technique it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to civilization.

Russell saw that 1930s technology was already making more leisure time possible. (This is even more true with 21st-century technology .) Yet society had not changed in the sense that it was still a place where some work long hours, while others are unemployed. This is what he called “the morality of the Slave State …” He illustrates with a thought experiment. Suppose that a plant manufactures employs a certain number of people who work 8 hours a day and produce all the pins the world needs. Now suppose that an invention allows the same number of people to make twice as many pins.

In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacturing of pins would take to working four hours instead of eight, and everything else would go on as before. But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. In this way, it is insured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause misery all round instead of being a universal source of happiness. Can anything more insane be imagined?

Russell notes that the rich have always despised the idea of the poor having leisure time.

In England, in the early nineteenth century, fifteen hours was the ordinary day’s work for a man; children sometimes did as much, and very commonly did twelve hours a day. When meddlesome busybodies suggested that perhaps these hours were rather long, they were told that work kept adults from drink and children from mischief. When I was a child … certain public holidays were established by law, to the great indignation of the upper classes. I remember hearing an old Duchess say: ‘What do the poor want with holidays? They ought to work.’

Russell acknowledges that there is a duty to work in the sense that all human beings depend on labor for their existence. What follows from this is that we shouldn’t consume more than we produce, and we should give back to the world in labor or services for the sustenance we receive. But this is the only sense in which there is a duty to work. And while the idle rich are not virtuous, that is not “nearly so harmful as the fact that wage-earners are expected to overwork or starve.” Russell admits that some persons don’t use their leisure time wisely, but leisure time is essential for a good life. There is thus no good reason why most people should be deprived of it, and “only a foolish asceticism … makes us continue to insist on work in excessive quantities now that the need no longer exists.”

In the next few paragraphs Russell argues that in most societies the governing classes have always preached about the virtues of hard work. Working men are told they engage in honest labor, and unpaid women told to do their saintly duty. The rich praise honest toil, the simple life, motherhood, and domesticity because the ruling class wants to hoard their political power and leisure time. But “what will happen when the point has been reached where everybody could be comfortable without working long hours?”

Russell argues that what has happened in the West is that the rich simply grab more of what is produced and amass more leisure time—many don’t even work at all. Despite the effort of the rich to consume more—their yachts sit mostly unused—many things are produced that are not needed, and many people are unemployed. When all this fails to keep enough people working

we have a war: we cause a number of people to manufacture high explosives, and a number of others to explode them … By a combination of all these devices we manage … to keep alive the notion that a great deal of severe manual work must be the lot of the average man.”

It seems we are determined to be busy no matter what the cost.

The key philosophical idea for Russell is that physical labor, while sometimes necessary, is not the purpose of life. Why then do we so value work? First, because the rich preach that work is dignified in order to keep the workers content. Second, because we take a certain delight in how technology transforms the world. But the typical worker doesn’t think that physical or monotonous labor is meaningful. Rather “they consider work, as it should be considered, a necessary means to a livelihood, and it is from their leisure that they derive whatever happiness they may enjoy.”

Some object that people wouldn’t know what to do with more leisure time, but if this is true Russell thinks it “a condemnation of our civilization.” For why must everything be done for the sake of something else? What is wrong with deriving intrinsic pleasure from simply playing? It is tragic that we don’t value enjoyment, happiness, and pleasure as we should. Still, Russell argues that leisure time isn’t best spent on frivolity; leisure time should be used intelligently. By this, he doesn’t just mean highbrow intellectual activities, although he does favor active over passive activities as good uses of leisure time. He also believes that the preference of many people for passive rather than active pursuits reflects the fact that they are exhausted from too much work. Provide more time to enjoy life, and people will learn to enjoy it.

Consider how some of the idle rich has spent their time. Historically, Russell says, the small leisure class has enjoyed unjust advantages, and they have oppressed others. Yet that leisure class

… contributed nearly the whole of what we call civilization. It cultivated the arts and discovered the sciences; it wrote the books, invented the philosophies, and refined social relations. Even the liberation of the oppressed has usually been inaugurated from above. Without the leisure class, mankind would never have emerged from barbarism. The method of a leisure class without duties was, however, extraordinarily wasteful … and the class as a whole was not exceptionally intelligent. The class might produce one Darwin, but against him had to be set tens of thousands of country gentlemen who never thought of anything more intelligent than fox-hunting and punishing poachers.

Today “the universities are supposed to provide, in a more systematic way, what the leisure class provided accidentally and as a by-product.” This is better, but the university has drawbacks. For one thing, those in the ivory tower are often “unaware of the preoccupations and problems of ordinary men and women.” For another thing, scholars tend to write on esoteric topics in academic jargon. So academic institutions, while useful, “are not adequate guardians of the interests of civilization in a world where everyone outside their walls is too busy for unutilitarian pursuits.”

Instead Russell advocates for a world where no one is compelled to work more, but allowed to indulge their scientific, aesthetic, or literary tastes, or their interest in law, medicine, government, or any other interest. What will be the result of all this? Russell answers this question with his quintessentially beautiful prose:

Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life, instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia. The work exacted will be enough to make leisure delightful, but not enough to produce exhaustion. Since men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such amusements as are passive and vapid. At least one percent will probably devote the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance, and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the standards set by elderly pundits.

But it is not only in these exceptional cases that the advantages of leisure will appear. Ordinary men and women, having the opportunity of a happy life, will become more kindly and less persecuting and less inclined to view others with suspicion. The taste for war will die out, partly for this reason, and partly because it will involve long and severe work for all. Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of arduous struggle. Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of ease and security for all; we have chosen, instead, to have overwork for some and starvation for others. Hitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we were before there were machines; in this we have been foolish, but there is no reason to go on being foolish forever.

Reflections – The hopeful nature of this last paragraph nearly move me to tears. And these are not mere quixotic ideas. Open source code, Wikipedia, my own little blog and millions like them all attest to the desire of people to express themselves through their labor.

Moreover, recent research shows that more money is not what people want from work—people want autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their pursuits. This is consistent with what Russell is saying. Give people time, and many will produce good things. So much creativity is wasted in our current social and economic system, where people are forced to do what they don’t want to do, or when they are denied the minimal amount it takes to live a decent life. In my next post , I will look at the surprising scientific evidence about what motivates people to work. Spoiler alert. It is not what you think.

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6 thoughts on “ summary of bertrand russell’s “in praise of idleness” ”.

BR’s leisure includes work. Work that may not be paid but work that gives us joy. And, as in this blog, work that serves others.

Better to rethink our work, to know our gifts or strengths so we work to serve others while giving ourselves joy.

And, considering how much we hate capitalists, many of us still choose to work for one instead of finding and working for our own customers.

How radical and revolutionary these ideas are, not for the thinking person, but for the average Joe and Josephine who are locked into a worldview dictated to them by forces all around them in society. Culprits: government, political parties, schools, churches, the media. You never hear ideas such as the ones expressed in Russell’s essay expressed in wider society. Yet, I believe that a lot of us have had these ideas, those of us who’ve transcended to idiocy that has been inculcated in us throughout our developing years.

Thanks for the great comments. You might also look at my recent review of Aaron James’ book, “Surfing With Sartre.”

What Russell said in In Praise of Idleness sounds ideal but cannot be actualized if the present social system is not changed. Even an overworked worker cannot dream of such a situation. In fact he has been taught to think that hard toil is what God likes.

I read “In Praise of Idleness” while I was in high school at my father’s insistence who made me read classic essays and write their summaries. This work by Bertrand Russel created a great impact on my mind.

I never liked sitting in my cubicle for one-third of my adult life. I am 75 now and am enjoying my retired life to the fullest doing things that only leisure could provide. The post-Covid work culture that is evolving proves Russell’s point.

Thanks for the comment. JGM

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On the Value of Scepticism

On the value of scepticism by bertrand russel summary, paragraph 1.

In the first paragraph Russel says that he wants to talk about a doctrine which will be somewhat fearful in terms of repercussions. The doctrine is that a proposition of any nature shall be trusted unless proved by any supporting and logical argument.

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3.

When experts are agreed on some matter, so, the opposite matter cannot be held true. It has to be false then. When the experts are not agreed, so the non-experts must think about something as certain and true. When the experts says that there are no sufficient grounds for the proof of something, so, the ordinary man must not reject the stance of expert. He says that if these propositions are implemented, they can bring about a greater change.

Paragraph 4:

Paragraph 5:.

He talks about the unemployment in the years after 1920. He says the view of one party was that it was due to the wickedness of trade unions. The view of other party was that it was due to the confusion on the Continent. A third party, stated that it was due to the policy of the Bank of England in trying to increase the value of the pound sterling. This third party contained experts.

6th paragraph:

7th paragraph:, 8th paragraph:, 9th paragraph:, 10th paragraph:, 11th paragraph, 12th 13th paragraph, 14th paragraph.

In his home-life there will be much more involvement of the belief. At ordinary times, his behavior to his wife and children will be governed by habit. On great occasions like some serious decisions in life, he cannot be guided by habit. In proposing marriage, he may be helped more by instinct, or he may be influenced by the belief that the lady is rich. If he is guided by instinct, he will trust that the lady is the best partner for him then his course of action are fine enough. In choosing a school for his son, belief plays a greater role.

15th Paragraph

16th paragraph:.

He says that the ratio according to which beliefs are based on evidence is very less. Take the kind of action which is most nearly rational: the investment of money by a rich City man. He takes the example of rich man and says that his views on the rise in currency rate depend upon his political sympathies. He says, even, in bankruptcies the original cause of ruin is sentimental factor. Political opinions are hardly based upon evidence. He then tells the readers that they have got accustomed to Frued1s view of “rationalizing,” i.e. the process of inventing what seem to ourselves rational grounds for a decision or opinion that is in fact quite irrational. But, according to Russell, especially in English-speaking countries, a contrary process is in vogue which may be called “irrationalizing.” A shrewd man will sum up, more or less subconsciously, the advantages and disadvantages of a question from a selfish point of view. A man comes to a decision with the help of his unconscious, and invents a set of high-sounding phrase to manifest that he is concerned for public good. Anybody who believes that these phrases give his real reasons must suppose him quite incapable of judging evidence, because the public good he is talking about cannot be ascertained from his action as his action is in his own perspectives. In this case a man appears less rational than he is; what is still more curious, the irrational part of him is conscious and the rational part unconscious. It is this trait in our characters that has made the English and Americans so successful.

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He says, even, morality cannot be taught by present methods. He thinks that people should be made shrewd by intellectual means. He then says that he does not know how teach shrewdness but he knows to teach them to be rational. By rationality he means a scientific habit of mind in forecasting the effects of our actions.

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Statistical analysis can detect when ChatGPT is used to cheat on multiple-choice chemistry exams

by McKenzie Harris, Florida State University

As the use of generative artificial intelligence continues to extend into all reaches of education, much of the concern related to its impact on cheating has focused on essays, essay exam questions and other narrative assignments. Use of AI tools such as ChatGPT to cheat on multiple-choice exams has largely gone ignored.

A Florida State University chemist is half of a research partnership whose latest work is changing what we know about this type of cheating, and their findings have revealed how the use of ChatGPT to cheat on general chemistry multiple-choice exams can be detected through specific statistical methods. The work was published in Journal of Chemical Education .

"While many educators and researchers try to detect AI assisted cheating in essays and open-ended responses, such as Turnitin AI detection, as far as we know, this is the first time anyone has proposed detecting its use on multiple-choice exams," said Ken Hanson, an associate professor in the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "By evaluating differences in performances between student- and ChatGPT-based multiple-choice chemistry exams, we were able to identify ChatGPT instances across all exams with a false positive rate of almost zero."

Researchers collected previous FSU student responses from five semesters worth of exams, input nearly 1,000 questions into ChatGPT and compared the outcomes. Average score and raw statistics were not enough to identify ChatGPT-like behavior because there are certain questions that ChatGPT always answered correctly or always answered incorrectly resulting in an overall score that was indistinguishable from students.

"That's the thing about ChatGPT—it can generate content, but it doesn't necessarily generate correct content," Hanson said. "It's simply an answer generator. It's trying to look like it knows the answer, and to someone who doesn't understand the material, it probably does look like a correct answer."

By using fit statistics, researchers fixed the ability parameters and refit the outcomes, finding ChatGPT's response pattern was clearly different from that of the students.

On exams, high-performing students frequently answer difficult and easy questions correctly, while average students tend to answer some difficult questions and most easy questions correctly. Low-performing students typically only answer easy questions correctly. But on repeated attempts by ChatGPT to complete an exam, the AI tool sometimes answered every easier question incorrectly and every hard question correctly. Hanson and Sorenson used these behavior differences to detect the use of ChatGPT with almost 100-percent accuracy.

The duo's strategy of employing a technique known as Rasch modeling and fit statistics can be readily applied to any and all generative AI chat bots, which will exhibit their own unique patterns to help educators identify the use of these chat bots in completing multiple-choice exams.

The research is the latest publication in a seven-year collaboration between Hanson and machine learning engineer Ben Sorenson.

Hanson and Sorenson, who first met in third grade, both attended St. Cloud State University in Minnesota for their undergraduate degrees and stayed in touch after moving into their careers. As a faculty member at FSU, Hanson became curious about measuring how much knowledge his students retained from lectures, courses and lab work.

"This was a conversation that I brought to Ben, who's great with statistics, computer science and data processing ," said Hanson, who is part of a group of FSU faculty working to improve student success in gateway STEM courses such as general chemistry and college algebra. "He said we could use statistical tools to understand if my exams are good, and in 2017, we started analyzing exams."

The core of this Rasch model is that a student's probability of getting any test question correct is a function of two things: how difficult the question is and the student's ability to answer the question. In this case, a student 's ability refers to how much knowledge they have and how many of the necessary components are needed to answer the question they have. Viewing the outcomes of an exam in this way provides powerful insights, researchers said.

"The collaboration between Ken and I, though remote, has been a really seamless, smooth process," Sorenson said. "Our work is a great way to provide supporting evidence when educators might already suspect that cheating may be happening. What we didn't expect was that the patterns of artificial intelligence would be so easy to identify."

Journal information: Journal of Chemical Education

Provided by Florida State University

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Inside the First Year as a CEO

• Rebecca Davies

Lessons from 35 CEOs on planning, executing, and navigating the transition.

CEO performance reverberates well beyond the corner office, affecting everyone from employees to shareholders, governments to business partners. Getting a good start is critically important to medium- and long-term success, for both the CEO and the organization. But how can newly appointed CEOs succeed when the role is so different from any they’ve held before? Russell Reynolds Associates conducted a study to better understand this pivotal time in a CEO’s journey, looking closely at what new CEOs focus on, what surprises them during their transitions, and what regrets they have. CEOs who have gotten off to a good start offer plenty of lessons for successfully planning, executing, and navigating the transition.

Becoming a CEO is a transition unlike any other. After the pressure and excitement of the appointment process, the real work begins. Expectations are never higher, the learning curve is never steeper, and it doesn’t take long for people to form opinions of a CEO’s performance.

• TW Ty Wiggins leads the CEO & Executive Transitions Practice globally for Russell Reynolds Associates. He helps world-leading CEOs successfully transition into their roles. His book, The New CEO , is based on original research and candid conversations with world-leading CEOs.
• RD Rebecca Davies is a research consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates who specializes in working with global organizations on CEO and non-executive appointments. She has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from the University of Exeter, specializing in economic history.

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The Trump Campaign’s ‘Please Shut Up’ Phase

The former president’s interview with Elon Musk was a reminder that overfamiliarity with a candidate can breed contempt.

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That was a crazy public service provided by Elon Musk and X.

The X Spaces interview delivered Donald Trump without makeup or dress-up, talking unselfconsciously: manic, boastful, untruthful, aggrieved, abusive, obsessive, random, ignorant, tedious, bitchy—and ultimately, formless and endless. You might think a major-party presidential nominee would have other claims on his time, some sort of deadline, if only to get some sleep to ready himself for the next day’s campaigning. But no. At no point in the explosion of talk could one guess whether it would continue for another five minutes or another five hours.

Presidential campaigns typically struggle against the limits of time, especially as they enter the final autumn stretch. There are only so many days, so many hours, to reach so many millions of people across this vast country. The candidate’s minutes are a limited and precious resource, to be allocated by art and science to best effect. Yet Trump seemed to have no budget for his time, no plan of campaign, no message to drive—and nothing else to do, nowhere else to go.

Trump’s not running against President Joe Biden anymore, yet he talked about Biden at least as much as about his actual opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. He still lacked any clear or memorable critique of her, except for his derisive comments about her supposed inability to do the kind of interview that he, Trump, was making such a desperate hash of. Trump is the challenger and the topic should be the Biden-Harris record, but he preferred to reminisce about his own good old days.

Read: Elon Musk throws a Trump rally

There’s an old joke about the fool at the poker table: If you don’t know who it is, it’s you.

Musk had a rational plan for last night’s event. An interview with a major-party presidential candidate drives traffic. A fawning and flattering interview might well buy favor for Musk from a possible future Trump administration. Sure enough, Trump offered Musk a position on a hypothetical commission to purge waste from government spending. Musk enthusiastically accepted.

The interview also cast light on the discipline and strategy that has guided the reintroduction of Harris to the voting public. Harris ran for president in 2019–20 without igniting much enthusiasm. As vice president, she made little impact on governance. She campaigned hard in the 2022 midterms. Yet the groups she was supposed to excite—young people, Black Americans, women, and white female college graduates— posted generally lower turnout rates after her 2022 appeals than they did in the midterms of 2018. Before this summer, she was not widely regarded as a political star.

Then suddenly: Zing! The lights all went on. Huge crowds have gathered for her, sizzling with enthusiasm. How did that happen? Through the alchemy of politics, an alchemy that invites people to see themselves in a political champion, that depends heavily on selective availability. A champion who’s too invisible fades from mind, as Biden did during his presidency. Too visible, and the champion can become overdefined, in ways that may alienate reachable voters. This is Trump’s problem. For all his jibes at her intellect, Harris is managing the mystery appeal effectively. Whereas Trump, who endlessly congratulates himself on his MIT-professor uncle’s brains, is fast arriving at the “Will you please shut up?” phase of his political descent.

Meandering, solipsistic, and crushingly boring—the interview was an awful premonition of the rest of Trump’s life should he lose again, in November: wandering the corridors of his clubs, going from table to table, buttonholing the dwindling number of guests, monologuing relentlessly until they squirm away.

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The Dramatic Contrast of Biden’s Last Act

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Every boston celtics player appearance on 'shaqtin'a fool' since 2011, share this article.

While it might not be an honor to appear on former Boston Celtics big man Shaquille O’Neal ‘s “Shaqtin a Fool” segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” a fair number of Boston players making a guest appearance over the years. The segment, for the uninitiated, is effectively the blooper reel of the dumbest, funniest or weirdest things Shaq and company caught on video that week.

Now, YouTuber and Celtics fan videographer Danielle Hobeika put together an all-time compilation of when Celtics players made the show. The list includes Rajon Rondo, Mikael Pietrus, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce , Kris Humphries, Vitor Faverani, Kelly Olynyk, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Al Horford, Gerald Green, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

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