Mortimer Adler on Active Reading: 4 Questions You Need to Ask a Book (Plus an Age-Old Recipe for a Good Night’s Sleep)

“Get into bed in a comfortable position, make sure the light is inadequate enough to cause a slight eyestrain, choose a book that is either terribly difficult or terribly boring … and you will be asleep in a few minutes,” writes Mortimer Adler (December 28, 1902-June 28, 2001) in his famous manual How to Read … Read more

Van Gogh on the Essence of True Love

Rarely are we invited as intimately into the creation of spellbinding art as we are through Van Gogh’s Letters. It’s because of their accessibility that Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853–July 29, 1890), among all the fathers of modern art, has become the most universally loved. That his range of ideas is not seen as … Read more

What Are the Four Main Tasks of Journalism?

The press no longer plays the role of a gatekeeper. It doesn’t decide what information the public should know and what it should not. “If the New York Times decides not to publish something, one of countless other websites, talk radio hosts, social media networks, blogs, or partisans will,” write Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel … Read more

Can AI Really Write?

. Can AI really write? An article published in The Conversation argues that AI can’t really write because it simply “communicates information,” which does not originate from conscious thoughts and lived experiences that characterize human writing. Human writing, the article goes on to assert, is different because it stems from emotions born of genuine suffering, … Read more