Tag Archives: critical thinking

Intelligence Squared U.S. Begins Season Debating Saudi Arabia, Iran & Turkey – In NYC & Online September 12

Saudi Arabia and Iran are vying for regional dominance, as the latter pursues nuclear weapons. Turkey is cozying up to Russia and China. Instability, conflict, and proxy wars have engulfed Syria, Yemen, and beyond. How should the United States respond to changing power, proxy wars, terrorism, and human rights issues in the Middle East? On Thursday, September 12, America’s debate series Intelligence Squared U.S. launches their fall season with a debate not one, but three motions, all investigating 
“Shifting Power in the Middle East”:

Motion 1: Is Trump right on Saudi Arabia?
Motion 2: Is the world safer without the Iran Nuclear Deal?
Motion 3: Is Turkey an asset to NATO?

In this latest installment in Intelligence Squared U.S.’s new “Unresolved”
series, debaters must declare their “yes” or “no” stance on each separate motion, allowing for both sharp disagreements and unexpected
alliances. The debaters will be:
* Michael Doran, senior director on the National Security Council under
President Bush* Reuel Marc Gerecht, former CIA case officer* Bernard
Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton* Brett McGurk, the State Department’s former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global
Coalition to Defeat ISIS* Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative

The debate will be held at NYC’s Symphony Space and stream live online, then air soon after as part of the syndicated public radio show and podcast “Intelligence Squared U.S.” On September 12, online viewers can tune in at IQ2US’s website: https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/unresolved-shifting-power-middle-east

 WHAT: Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates “Unresolved: Shifting Power in the Middle East”
WHEN: Thursday, September 12 / 7:00-8:45 PM EDT
WHERE: Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY
TICKETS: $40 ($12 for students w/ ID). To purchase, visit http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/  

Debaters Bios: * Michael Doran, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Michael Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in Middle East security issues. Doran served as a senior director on the National Security Council under President Bush and was responsible for helping to devise and coordinate U.S. strategy on a variety of Middle East issues, including Arab-Israeli relations and U.S.
efforts to contain Iran and Syria. He also served in the Bush
administration as a senior adviser in the State Department and a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Pentagon. 

* Reuel Marc Gerecht, Senior Fellow, The Foundation for Defense of
Democracies & Fmr. CIA Case OfficerReuel Marc Gerecht is a former
case officer for the CIA, where he served as a Middle Eastern targets
officer with the CIA’s directorate of operations. He is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan organization
centering on national security, where he focuses on Iran, sanctions,
terrorism, and the Middle East. He is the author of “Know Thine Enemy: A Spy’s Journey into Revolutionary Iran” and “The Islamic Paradox: Shiite Clerics, Sunni Fundamentalists, and the Coming of Arab Democracy,”
among others.  

* Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies and the
director of the Institute for Transregional Study of the Contemporary
Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia at Princeton University. After working as a post-doctoral research fellow at Oxford University in
Islamic Studies, he joined New York University in 1998 as associate
professor before taking up his post at Princeton. He became a
Guggenheim fellow in 2010 and is co-editor of the book, “Saudi Arabia in Transition; Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change.” 

* Brett McGurk, Fmr. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISISBrett McGurk served as Special Presidential Envoy for
the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS at the U.S. Department of State, where he helped build and then lead the coalition of 75 countries and four
international organizations in the global campaign against ISIS. He served in senior positions in the Bush and Obama administrations and has led some of the most sensitive diplomatic missions in the Middle East over
the last decade. McGurk is currently the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne
distinguished lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute and Center for
Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. 

* Barbara Slavin, Director, The Future of Iran Initiative, The Atlantic CouncilBarbara Slavin is the director of the Future of Iran Initiative and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. The author of
“Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the US and the Twisted Path to
Confrontation,” she is a regular commentator on U.S. foreign policy and
Iran on NPR, PBS, and C-SPAN. Previously, Slavin served as a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Slavin
is a career journalist, and currently writes as columnist for
Al-Monitor.com, a website devoted to news from and about the Middle
East.   

ABOUT INTELLIGENCE SQUARED U.S. DEBATES (IQ2US)
A non-partisan, non-profit organization, Intelligence Squared U.S. was
founded in 2006 to address a fundamental problem in America: the
extreme polarization of our nation and our politics. Their mission is to
restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public
discourse. The award-winning debate series reaches over 30 million
American households through multi-platform distribution, including
radio, television, live streaming, podcasts, interactive digital content, and on-demand apps on Roku and Apple TV. With over 160 debates and
counting, Intelligence Squared U.S. has encouraged the public to “think
twice” on a wide range of provocative topics. Author and ABC News
correspondent John Donvan has moderated IQ2US since 2008.

Peter Robinson On Job Obsolescence- Government Should Not Protect Jobs

A recent OECD report finds that low and middle income earners have seen their wages stagnate and that the income share of middle-skilled jobs has fallen. Rising inequality has led to concerns that top earners are getting a disproportionate share of the gains from global “openness and interconnection”. During a Summer 2017 meeting of OECD, employment outlook revealed that job polarization has been “driven by pervasive and skill-biased technological changes.

Founded in 1945, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) builds awareness among business executives, educators and policy makers around issues related to employment, workforce training and skills enhancement. CMRubinWorld spoke with USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson, who serves as a co-chair of the B20 Employment and Education Task Force, through which he helped develop recommendations to the G20 leaders on training for the jobs of the future. Robinson also serves on the board of the International Organization of Employers, which represents the views of the business community in the International Labor Organization.

“I think the guiding principle for government should be to protect and enable/retrain the worker, not protect the job. Policy makers and educators should focus on making sure that workers are as equipped as possible to transition to new opportunities” Peter Robinson.

Peter, welcome. How severe do you believe jobsolescence will be over the next 20 years? How big will the challenge be to offset it and maintain a growing workforce?

I really don’t think the overall effect will be as dramatic as some people fear, at least for the medium-term as far as we can tell. There is an over-hype factor at play, but the consequences still deserve serious attention. For one thing, so many of the jobs in the United States, Canada and other advanced economies are in the service sector, and involve interacting with other people. Despite all the advances in AI, we are still a long way off from robotic nurses or home health aides. Overall, history tells us that at least as many new jobs are created as are displaced by technological innovation, even though transitions can be difficult in some sectors and localities, and as long as upskilling takes place.

“The biggest threat is that our educational institutions won’t be able to keep pace with new skills demands.” — Peter Robinson

What do you think are the biggest obstacles facing college grads today trying to enter the workforce?

I actually think the greatest obstacles are faced by those who don’t make it to university or some form of higher education beyond high school (a four-year degree is not the right path for everyone). A 2014 Pew survey found that among workers age 25 to 32, median annual earnings of those with a college degree were $17,500 greater than for those with high school diplomas only. Obviously, everyone at whatever educational level needs to keep their skills sharp, and governments should join with employers and educators to instill better life-long learning. But there are far fewer established paths toward long-term employment at a middle-class level of income for those who don’t graduate from college. A greater emphasis on vocational education and apprenticeships would help. We strongly support the work being done by United States Secretary of Labor Acosta to promote apprenticeships.

Given that machines are in the process of stripping white collar workers from their jobs, what kind of skills are key manufacturing and service industries going to need from new employees?

I think the premise of your question is overstated. We’re all being told that our jobs are doomed by robots and automation. But the OECD estimates that only nine percent of jobs across the 35 OECD nations are at high risk of being automated, although of course even 9% can be generative of social difficulties. But there is an established track record across history of new technologies creating at least as many new jobs as they displace. Usually these new jobs demand higher skills and provide higher pay. The biggest threat is that our educational institutions won’t be able to keep pace with new skills demands.

“It is becoming clear that Versatility matters, in a constantly changing world, so Jim Spohrer’s IBM model of a “T-shaped” person holds true: broad and deep individuals capable of adapting and going where the demand lies.” — Peter Robinson

In an economy with a significant on-demand labor force, what competencies will these workers need to compete?

There are two types of competencies that will be needed: “technical” – or in other words, related to deep knowledge of a specific domain, whether welding or optogenetics; and “transversal,” which applies to all occupations. Those are described by the Center for Curriculum Redesign as skills (creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration), character (mindfulness, curiosity, courage, resilience, ethics, leadership) and meta-learning (growth mindset, metacognition).

How will managerial skill requirements change as a result of major structural changes that are likely, including human replacement by machines and growth of the on-demand economy?

OECD’s BIAC surveys of 50 employer organizations worldwide has shown that employers value not just Skills as described above, but also Character qualities as well. Further, it is becoming clear that Versatility matters, in a constantly changing world, so Jim Spohrer’s IBM model of a “T-shaped” person holds true: broad and deep individuals capable of adapting and going where the demand lies.

Canada Unemployment Rate By Provinces and Territories

“We often hear about the need for more STEM education. But I think there is an equal need for a greater emphasis on the humanities and the arts, for their intrinsic value as well as for developing skills and character qualities.” — Peter Robinson

What central changes in school curricula do you envision, both at the secondary school and college levels?

We often hear about the need for more STEM education. But I think there is an equal need for a greater emphasis on the humanities and the arts for their intrinsic value as well as for developing skills and character qualities as described above. As David Barnes of IBM wrote recently, these skills are more durable and are also a very good indicator of long-term success in employment.

How can the evolving changes in competencies required for employment be effectively translated into school curricula? Where are the main opportunities to enable this? e.g. Assessment systems? Business/Education collaboration? Curriculum change?

I’d go back to something else David Barnes said: We need much stronger connections between education and the job market, in the form of more partnerships among employers, governments and education institutions. Everyone needs to step up and create true partnerships. No one sector of society can address this alone. OECD’s BIAC has also documented employers’ wishes for deep curricular reforms to modernize content and embed competencies in order to meet today’s market needs.

What role should government play in ensuring citizens receive a quality and relevant education given the challenges that lie ahead?

I think the guiding principle for government should be to protect and enable/retrain the worker, not protect the job. Policy makers and educators should focus on making sure that workers are as equipped as possible to transition to new opportunities as these develop, and on ensuring that businesses have the freedom to pivot and adopt new technologies and business processes.

CMRubinWorld For the Silo, C.M. Rubin.  C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorld and is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.

Elementary Forces By Timothy deVries

Apocalypse, Timothy deVries (2015) Acrylic on Panel, 30 x 30 inches
Apocalypse, Timothy deVries (2015) Acrylic on Panel, 30 x 30 inches

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Click to buy

What is a corner? The corner represents a symbolic value. Children are told to stand in the corner when they are disobedient. The corner is a place where one meditates on one’s shortcomings. One can be ‘backed into a corner’ and left with few options or one can retreat into a corner for safety. Animals corner their prey. Corners are places where things get lost and are found. Corners are neglected and swept in the spring. Unfortunate artists can paint themselves into a corner if they are not aware of the space around them and the area beneath their feet. Corners are forgotten with the bustle of activity in the centre of the room.

Gilles Deleuze’s book on Francis Bacon contains a short chapter in which he describes some of the possible reasons for why Bacon consistently displayed his figures against a “round area or ring.”1 Deleuze asserts that the main reason for utilizing this “simple technique” is to create a “place” and to isolate the Figure.2 There is a progression and fatefulness in assigning the Figure to this place. Deleuze claims that the round area or ring relates the Figure to the setting and, in so doing, posits the Figure or painting as a kind of fact or isolated reality.3

Bird on a Wire, Timothy deVries (2015) Acrylic on Panel, 18 x 18 inches
Bird on a Wire, Timothy deVries (2015) Acrylic on Panel, 18 x 18 inches

The horizon, ring, corner or wall is a painterly convention frequently revisited by contemporary artists. Although many painters have excluded these settings in favour of fields (e.g. a field of pure colour, or a field of refuse), such settings are useful constructs for displaying objects of value or inducing value within objects. Fields are distinct from settings in that they form a systematic or total (rather than operative or local) context for objects. Conversely, settings function by separating the object from its context so that the viewer can have an unmediated experience of that object. The setting recedes ‘into the background’ as a decorative relief or incidental support.

Jesus Bids Us Shine LyricsCorners are specific settings that feature the intersection of three planes (i.e. two walls and a floor). The intersection forms a point. The corner can function simply as the intersection of three planes or as a construct that creates depth and dimensionality. This bivalent nature hints at its duplicity as a setting. It creates a false depth. In this respect, the play of surfaces conspires to become a point of convergence or vanishing point. As a convergence of three surfaces it is a point of ‘agreement’, or perhaps a type of foreclosure; three colours and three lines converge to form a dimensional whole. The duplicity of the corner consists of its character as both a play of surfaces and as a convergence of three lines. The duplicity consists in the fact that the corner realizes both the idea of form and the Form itself through both a convergence (of surface and line) and a construction (of dimensionality).

Two of the most significant questions a painter may ask is, “What must I paint?” and “What is the painting about?” The idea of form contained in a painting is inevitably ‘about’ a sensation or perception. The painter’s nervous system is trained not only to recognize particular sensations and perceptions but to actualize them in the materiality of paint.4 Painters practice their art as a way of learning to live with a given set of perceptions and sensations. The act of representation in painting is therefore second to the sensations and perceptions which inaugurate it.

Black Cat and the Jawbone of an Ass, Timothy deVries (2007) Acrylic on Canvas, 46 x 59 inches
Black Cat and the Jawbone of an Ass, Timothy deVries (2007) Acrylic on Canvas, 46 x 59 inches

The critic’s judgment (i.e. the critique) is the genesis of painterly sensations and perceptions. Critique is the limit of art and limits art to what it alone can do. It functions as a form of violence that is inflicted, observed or endured and occurs when one form overcomes another or when a form is ‘deformed’ by a superior consciousness. The deformation heralds a new and hitherto unappreciated beauty. It is the beauty of a projection or displacement of the painter’s subjective point of view into the materiality of paint. The transformation of sensations and perceptions through the pure and practical reason of the painter reflects the painter’s critique of power. What power? The power of judgment. The critique is therefore absorbed into the very colour of the picture.

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s picture theory holds great explanatory appeal in these cases because it contains propositions regarding the logic and structure of a picture. The painter labels the painting with a title because it represents a state of affairs. There is a close correspondence between the fact represented by the title and the pictorial content of the painting. It is in this sense that the picture functions as a relation between the physical or material world and the thoughts of the painter. Within this context, pictures are criticological constructs. Their titles are statements or propositions that are endowed with sense. As a function of these statements the painting’s pictorial components correspond almost identically with a set of defined elementary forces.

The corner can therefore play several conscious roles within a painting. They are the place of an encounter between a convergence and a defined space. These corners embody a perception. Moreover, corners function as a limit. As the limit of pictorial space they set up a picture plane that functions as a limit to logical thought. By using corners in this way, painters can represent unusual objects with a degree of normative ‘factuality’ – even if they are only representations. Finally, corners function as a place or setting. These corners are settings in which something can take place as well as a destination for various ideas. They instantiate and materialize Form in unanticipated ways. For the Silo, Timothy deVries http://www.timothydevries.ca/

 

  1. Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation (New York: Continuum, 2003), 1
  2. Deleuze, Francis Bacon, 2
  3. Deleuze, Francis Bacon, 2
  4. Deleuze, Francis Bacon, 52

 

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