Interesting debate on the earliest evidence of mathematics: “Like everything in human development, aspects of mathematics also developed in an evolutionary way from the simple to the more complex,” he said. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/16/s...

Truly amazing and deserving of praise. marktwainhouse.org/2026/01/16/t...

I'm coming home today from the hospital after suffering two heart attacks on Christmas. I may write about this in one way or another, I think. An elusive "Type 3C" diabetes was part of the problem.

Jesus.

WTF? I was discussing a possible webinar about how we learn for an educational publisher with an LMS that uses AI. Everything OK until I said that I'd also discuss the downside of AI. I was told that this was not an option. Needless to say, I'm not giving the webinar!

Neurodiversity, Indigenous knowledges and learning I gave a talk on why understanding Indigenous ways of memorising vast amounts of information shows the value of a neurodiverse population - why evolution favoured neurodiversity for every human population. www.lynnekelly.com.au?page_id=6643

One of our colleagues recently traveled to Antarctica. ❄️ We’ve seen 48 instances of JSTOR being accessed from the continent, and while we can’t say for sure who those #researchers were, we’re choosing to believe at least a few had flippers. Photo credit: Aparna Bankston

NEW The freedom trap open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

On St Knut’s Day, January 13th, Finns take to the streets dressed as “nuuttipukit” (draped in goat skins and horns) to procure beer and leftovers after Christmas. Photos from 1928 of the folk tradition here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/nuuttipukki/ #onthisday

America needs more nurses, electricians, welders…but this isn’t reflected in the labor market because these jobs pay less…which is why many people prefer to go to college…so the plan is to…allow more people to enter these professions without having to go to college which will…depress wages further?

I wrote this and some people liked it: The buttery shuffle And cold steaming of morning’s mute gloaming. Perhaps we will fish And drink coffee We are free to do as we wish. Perhaps we will again fish.

Cultures without writing store vast amounts of pragmatic information through song, story, dance - essential for survival. Memory devices (such as skulls) are involved. Why is the role of knowledge systems not included when interpreting performance sites? www.iflscience.com/neanderthals...?

Amid the images of swordplay, jousting, and wrestling, some 15th-century “fight books” (Fechtbücher) depict scenes of fierce combat between women and men, the latter stood waist-high in holes or barrels. What was going on? https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/fechtbucher

Happy to recommend Simon Winchester site unseen as it were: www.amazon.com/Breath-Gods-...

Amen. To all of this. I totally understand how we got to this place and why tech seemed so promising. Yet it’s time to stop and reflect on the last … like … three decades and consider wtf we’ve done to ourselves in education and how to stop it.

Winter counts - Native American brilliance I have researched and written about non-literate memory devices for two decades now. One of my favourites is the winter count. Good stuff starts after the asterisk * www.sapiens.org/culture/cult... #MemoryCraft #TheKnowledgeGene #TheMemoryCode

This statement means nothing until we know what was taught.

My favourite non-fiction of 2025 open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

www.amazon.com/History-Prog... "The study of the human character opens at once a beautiful and a deformed picture of the soul. We there find a noble principle implanted in the nature of man, that pants for distinction."

How does #poetry emerge as a political, democratic tool? ✍️ A new article from @jstordaily.bsky.social#poetryexamines the poet's role and potential in the American political process. Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4joiAPT

We're into the last few hours of our fundraiser! — https://publicdomainreview.org/support/. If you like what we do, and would like to see it continue, then please do consider donating. We are a not-for-profit endeavour and rely on your donations to keep the project alive.

If someone says, "What about X?" and you've forgotten about X, just say, "I'm thinking about X and Y and Z." This avoids the admission of forgetting, punishable (in your head) by hanging, and makes the questioner feel behind instead. Since all is power and positioning.

New episode with John Mighton and Barbara Oakley coming December 19! Subscribe on any podcast app or on YouTube to listen/watch when it drops! Chalk & Talk YouTube channel: youtube.com/@chalktalk-s...

A fascinating article by one of Australia's leading archaeologists, Iain Davidson. First Nations knowledge and archaeology go hand in hand - up close and personal! Stories from traditional knowledge combined with archaeological work trace 2,300km of Songlines theconversation.com/stories-from...

The great Ariana Huffington has weighed in on education, y'all. And her offering is the pyramid of myth. How delightful.

When you deny ostensive reference, grammar has no choice but to become politics. Everything must be explained as struggle, positioning, or control, because there is no longer any place for simple mutual seeing, naming, and understanding.

If you think you notice and wonder about more things than the average person, it might be because a lot of what you notice and wonder isn't functionally real to anyone except you.

Thrilled to be quoted and see Chalk & Talk mentioned in this Norwegian NRK media article about the math curriculum. Encouraging to see a national public broadcaster questioning whether current curricular trends are driven more by ideology than by evidence. www.nrk.no/trondelag/vi...

In 1849, Dostoyevsky was sentenced to death and lined up to be shot. At the very last second, his sentence was commuted. He went back to his cell and wrote a letter to his brother that's one of the most powerful things I've ever read. A powerful reminder to stop sleepwalking through life.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d... @henkvanhoutum.bsky.social

Knowledge as "justified true belief" should just be over at this point--in the face of the alternative "shared meaning."

A discussion of the essay collection, The Value of a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum. Knowledge is not about status or nostalgia but access. Access to disciplines, to shared reference points, to the long human conversation that too many children are excluded from. open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

The 'internet' says that New Formalism: Retains historical and cultural awareness, but refuses to let those swallow the text; treats form as an active agent—form does things, creates constraints, produces meaning; resists the idea that texts are merely symptoms of ideology or power structures.

(www.amazon.com/Survival-Fri...)

When remembering to grant each other 'agency' we are not forced to believe that others' agency can't go in reverse.

We've nominated "Tah-Da, Presenting Carla Rose!" by Tucker Leighty-Phillips and "Stupid Wolves" by Michael Pershan for Best Small Fictions!

It should be obvious that only relevant prior knowledge informs learning but somehow this isn’t on tot a great many very smart people. If we can’t see the underlying structure we end up mistaking not being able to see the wood for all the trees. . open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

I'm sure folks have been told this before, but don't ever--EVER--believe publishers' research claims. Ask for the specific studies AND the parts of the program that they are asserting are covered by those studies.

A few things about this (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV3i...) : (1) It was Roberts who changed the way oral argument proceeded--to turn-taking questioning in order of seniority. (2) This made oral argument more accessible. (3) 'Brutally' is a lie. It's there because people like display, not 'violence'.

"Earliest evidence of making fire" - full-text view-only version of the Nature paper, using the link below. rdcu.be/eT4WI

huh

Weird question, but do you sell, like, powdered . . . caffeine.