Our Time:
1950 to current issues.
We inherit the past, interpret the present, and shape the future by learning how to think well and live well.
Wisdom Mix.
Here are 10 random key ideas and takeaways.
1.
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Historians and political scientists rank presidents for the history books, and they already rank Trump as the worst president.
Subject: Trump Administration.
It’s historians with the skill and knowledge that decide the rankings of presidential terms for all eternity. And they have already spoken with regard to Trump.
2.
Quote.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
- 1755.
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Five Thought Tools < TST Framework < Critical Thinking
Subject: Social Constructs.
A Social Construct is a shared non-natural belief; created and maintained by groups; and they shape reality.
3.
From History: 1903 to 1950, aged 46..
Orwellian Thought.
George Orwell wrote about how corruption starts when language is twisted, facts are manipulated, and authority demands loyalty over reality.
Subject: Orwellian Thought.
Born Eric Arthur Blair in British India, George Orwell wrote in English about how corruption starts when language is twisted, facts are manipulated, and authority demands loyalty over reality.
4.
Article summary.
.
Impeachment is not a normal criminal trial. It is a constitutional political process designed to protect the public trust when federal officials abuse power, show corrupt character, or become unfit for office.
Subject: Impeachment.
Think well by slowing down before choosing sides. Impeachment was designed as a serious civic tool, not a partisan weapon or a team sport. The Federalist Papers remind us that public trust, character, corruption, and abuse of power matter—but so does caution against party passion replacing honest judgment.
5.
From History: 6 Dec 1865.
.
After the Civil War, the 13th Amendment ended slavery as a legal institution in the United States.
Subject: Constitution.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, but it left one major exception: forced labor could still be used as punishment for a crime after conviction. That exception mattered. It ended chattel slavery, yet it also left a legal opening that shaped prison labor and later systems of coercion. Today we sill have forced prison labor including chain gangs.
6.
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Orwellian thought grew out of Orwell’s early experience with empire, poverty, and class. It sharpened dramatically in Spain when he saw propaganda and betrayal inside his own side.
Subject: Orwellian Thought.
Orwellian thought is knowledge your own side can betray its ideals too. It’s the idea that corruption starts the moment when language is twisted, facts are manipulated, and power begins demanding loyalty over reality.
7.
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By tradition, quantum theory was born on December 14, 1900, when Max Planck cracked classical physics with the strange idea that energy comes in discrete packets.
Subject: Epistemology.
Before Newton, we observed falling things, weight, and the heavens. Newton unified those observations into the universal force of gravity. Einstein came along and broke Newton’s law and redefined gravity as the fabric of space-time, but his idea of smooth space failed at the sub-atomic. Quantum mechanics, a collection of our best ideas about the small-realm, came along and quantized space. It says space comes in small packets.
8.
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About 50% worldwide identify with one of the Abrahamic religions. Christians about 31%, Muslims about 24%, and Jews a tiny .2%.
Subject: Hasty Generalization.
Hasty generalizations extend evidence beyond the reasonable. Nearly 60% of humanity today identifies with one of the three Abrahamic religions. Also, about one in five humans accepts the story of Noah’s Ark as literal history. That God brought wrath upon the Earth, killed everyone except Noah and a few to make a point. They believe God killed ordinary people simply living their lives, and that all modern humans are descended from a single surviving family.
9.
Article summary.
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Anonymous practice tests help teachers spot knowledge gaps and teach more effectively.
Subject: Education.
In addition to regular testing used to grade and rank students, schools should embrace surprise anonymous practice tests to identify knowledge gaps. That understanding helps teachers focus classroom time on weaker areas, improving learning for everyone. As an added benefit, it can also give teachers a greater sense of satisfaction in each class.
10.
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The Founding Fathers inherited a morally charged colonial world, but their political genius was in trying to build a framework wide enough to hold deep differences without letting one religious mold rule them all.
Subject: Politics.
The Founding generation lived in a complicated time. Older Protestant moral instincts were still in the air, but they also pulled from Enlightenment reason, political realism, and growing pluralism. Their great achievement was not perfection. It was building a republic broad enough to soften older extremes and hold disagreement together.
Done. Refresh for another set.
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(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
