Numbers Don't Lie. That's the title of the book I'm reading by Vaclav Smil. Smil is Bill Gates's scientist; "He’s a slayer of bullshit”...

The status of truth in America is inextricably linked to our means of inquiry. Most common among those means is "Googling it." As the...

The current post is a part of the Thematic Quotes section of the Pragmatic Means blog. The purpose of this Thematic Quotes section is to...

One of John Dewey's major insights was this: If we cannot perceive one another's actions for what they actually mean, then we cannot get...

There are countless things we take for granted: Timepieces, location services, and weather forecasts to name a few. They coordinate our...

"Wanna Zoom?" "How about FaceTime?" "Skype is outdated, right?" In any case, videoconferencing is the new norm. It is how we maintain...

As of this writing, COVID-19 has infected all 50 of the United States. Mitigation strategies––as simple as hand-washing and as complex as...

In his seminal article called The Fixation of Belief, C.S. Peirce (1877) identified four methods of fixing one's own belief: The method...

Inquiry comes in many forms; not just in science, but in civilian life too. Scientists and civilians observe phenomena, manipulate...

All engagement is good engagement, for Facebook at least. Engagement is when our attention is seized upon, not by our Facebook "friends"...

The purpose of education––its means, its subject-matter, and its ends––depends upon its society. In Democracy and Education, John Dewey...

According to Charles Sanders Peirce, science is not defined by knowing or organized knowledge. Instead, science is defined by the actions...

Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of natural selection and its significant influence on the biological sciences. Perhaps lesser...

The truth of a matter lags when we reflect upon events after the fact. For instance, the harmful effects of CFCs were discovered in 1974,...

The current post is a part of the Thematic Quotes section of the Pragmatic Means blog. The purpose of this Thematic Quotes section is to...

If you've ever been told "it's just a matter of semantics," then you know what it is like to be dismissed. The only difference between...

The current post is a part of the Thematic Quotes section of the Pragmatic Means blog. The purpose of this Thematic Quotes section is to...

Pragmatic truths are beliefs with value––to you and not just me. The belief that "smoking kills" is an example. There is value in the...

Pragmatic Means is a play on words. When we call someone pragmatic, we have to ask ourselves what pragmatic means? Pragmatic has many...