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The ReasonRx Podcast: A Rational Perspective on Education

The ReasonRx Podcast: A Rational Perspective on Education

By: Michael Gold
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In this podcast, we will discuss all things education. The ReasonRx Podcast benefits not only the student, teacher, and parent, but also all adults and business professionals. After all, education is for everyone: we all have to teach, and learn, and think.

Education is the systematic training of the mind. More technically and in more depth, education is “the systematic training of the conceptual faculty by means of supplying in essentials both its content and its method.” (Dr. Leonard Peikoff)

Of course, in the primary sense, it is the systematic training of the young to prepare them for adult life. Its purpose is to prepare a child for the total depth and range of surviving and thriving as an adult human in the broad world -- social and material, physical and biological/ecological.

So your host and co-hosts will interview guests and offer in-depth discussion of topics like study skills, biology, philosophy of education, epistemology, math pedagogy, music pedagogy, art, the role of art in education and human life, nutrition, exercise, sleep, the nature of science, and more -- everything involved in education and needed for an optimally functioning human.

The show will strive to help us think deep so we can live large and live well:
"A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again."
--Alexander Pope (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierian_Spring)

To support the show and help us grow our audience -- so we have more of an impact on education and the culture -- please help us with a donation:
1. https://www.patreon.com/reasonrxpodcast
2. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SP6QPQKJU4XSS&source=url

Also, please consider liking us on your podcast app, and leaving a rational review.

Email us at ReasonRxPodcast@aol.com, michael@goldams.com, or goldmj@aol.com.

Host.
Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/
Gold Academy: https://goldams.com
Total Human Fitness: https://total-human-fitness.com

Gold Academy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpistemeRx/
YouTube Gold Academy: https://www.youtube.com/@goldacademy
YouTube Total Human Fitness: https://www.youtube.com/@totalhumanfitness

Co-host.
Melanie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-katragadda-nctm-9b14522aCopyright Michael Gold Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 72 Grades vs Understanding

    72 Grades vs Understanding
    May 14 2026
    It is a big mistake to focus on grades over understanding. Doing so involves all sorts of errors and fallacies -- such as the idea that you cannot focus on both, or the idea that understanidng does not lead to high grades, or the idea that going after grades without developing the capacity to think critically will have no deleterious affects that outweigh the good grades got through impoverished thinking.Good grades are needed to achieve some goals, but should not be chased at the expense of harming and injuring one's ability to think and reason. In this context: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36)Notes.1. "Why Focusing on Grades Is a Barrier to Learning" (Harvard, 25 April 2022) by Gerald E. KnesekLink: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/why-focusing-on-grades-is-a-barrier-to-learning"What’s apparent in all this focus on grades is that there’s no real emphasis on learning—the true purpose of education. It is a rare occurrence that students come to talk with me about concepts or new material presented, and even in learning-focused discussions, the topic of grades almost always arises."Yeah, that was a big disappointment to me, too: no discussion or interest in anything deep, in any understanding, in any "how" or "why," in any connection of a topic or concept to anything else. 2. "Nearly 60% of grades don’t match student test scores" (K-12Dive, 5 Aug 2024) by Kara ArundelLink: https://www.k12dive.com/news/equitable-grades-tests-teachers-students/723258/"The study of about 33,000 middle school and high school grades found that almost 60% of the students’ grades did not match the course knowledge they showed according to standardized test scores....″Each year, millions of high school students are receiving grades that don’t represent what they actually know and have learned. … Yet, they are presented as the truth and set expectations about what that student can accomplish,” said Guadalupe Guerrero, CEO of Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and former superintendent of Oregon’s Portland Public Schools, in a foreword to the study...."The study noted that teachers should not be blamed for grading variability and inaccuracy because they typically don’t receive training in grading practices. To improve this, the study recommends state and district education leaders support teacher professional development for equitable grading practices. The study also advocates for more research on the impact of accurate and fair grading practices."3. "Gen Z grads are right: Degrees don’t matter to top employers anymore, CEO who has studied thousands of companies confirms" (Fortune, 29 April 2025) by Orianna Rosa RoyleLink: https://fortune.com/article/great-place-to-work-ceo-warns-degrees-really-are-irrelevant-gen-z-millennials-college-waste-of-money/" 'The overwhelming focus of the last five years—and among companies on our list—is around skills and skills development,' he adds. 'They’re not even talking about degrees now. They’re talking about skills. What skills do you have and what skills are going to be needed in the future? Lot of activity there.'"The CEO adds that the shift to skill-based hiring has caught on globally because ultimately, degrees only highlight a person’s knowledge in a subject matter—not whether they have the skills to actually do the task at hand.“ 'When you want to start doing matching between complex problems and the people needed to solve them, a degree doesn’t help,' Bush explains. “ 'What helps is whether or not people have perseverance and passion and the actual skills required to bring innovative solutions to the work and AI is being used now to match people to challenges and complex problems and companies. They’re going to do that using the skills database, not degrees. Degrees are irrelevant in that analysis.' ”4. "Reason: Why Students - and Often Teachers - Don't Reason Well" (55 min 6 sec)Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3YvC7U1zfI5. "Write: How to Teach Students to Write Well" (58 min 19 sec)Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDlrN3DfZ_M6. The Foundation For Critical ThinkingLink: https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/46th-critical-thinking-conference-main/17187. “But educators at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health assert that memorization alone does not a scientist make — above all, students must be critical, creative thinkers who are honest and responsible with data. In order to train scientists as critical thinkers, the R3 Graduate Science Initiative was recently created in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI), led by director Gundula Bosch, Ph.D.“More recently, Bosch’s training as an educator showed her the importance of critical thinking, a skill she realized is rarely formally taught." —Revolutionizing with R3: A New Ph.D. Program Seeks To Train Scientists As Critical ThinkersLink: https://...
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • 71 Science Should Be Taught Historically and Inductively

    71 Science Should Be Taught Historically and Inductively
    May 5 2026
    Science should be taught by following how it developed historically. There are all sorts of reasons why -- most importantly because that method fits with the nature and aims of education.The historical and inductive essence needs to be there, but how that is achieved could vary -- and should, by age, intellectual level, power of patience, etc. You could go into more or less depth and breadth, depending on the student(s). You could use some topic to capture interest, then start asking "how do you/we know???" You could start with an absraction and "reverse engineer" some inductions and theories. As long as the root in perceptual experience and the steps of abstraction are respected, and as long as principles of logic and reasoing are learned (in their practice).Notes.1. Introductory physics: An Historical Approach by Hebert Priestley https://archive.org/details/introductoryphys0000prie/page/6/mode/2up2. "For their part, Casadevall and Bosch write that science education reform should resultin scientists who are: (1) broadly interested, creative and self-directed, as were somescientists in the era of Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and Linus Pauling; (2)versed in epistemology, sound research conduct and error analysis, according to the‘3R’ norms of good scientific practice—rigor, responsibility and reproducibility; (3)skilled in reasoning using mathematical, statistical and programming methods and ableto tackle logical fallacies.”—From "Biomedical science education needs a newphilosophy, Johns Hopkins researchers say"https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/01/03/biomedical-science-education-reform-casadevall-bosch/3. “Teaching Heat: the Rise and Fall of the Caloric Theory” by Dr. Michael Fowler (Professor of Physics, University ofVirginia, retired)http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/TeachingHeat.htm More of his work here: https://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/~mf1i/4. Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Dr. Eric Rogers (Professor ofPhysics, Princeton University, 1942-1971). Quotes from p. 205 and from the book descriptoin on the back jacket.https://archive.org/details/PhysicsForTheInquiringMind-Rogers/page/n217/mode/2up Available for purchase on Amazon, but free pdfs can be found on the Internet. 5. “The Purpose of Education,” by Martin Luther King, Jr., published in 1947 in the the Morehouse College campus newspaper The Maroon Tiger.https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/purpose-education6. "I fully agree with you about the significance and educational value of methodology as well as history and philosophy of science. So many people today—and evenprofessional scientists—seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of treesbut has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical backgroundgives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which mostscientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is—in myopinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seekerafter truth."—Albert Einstein (Letter to Robert A. Thorton, Physics Professor atUniversity of Puerto Rico (7 December 1944) [EA-674, Einstein Archive, HebrewUniversity, Jerusalem]. Thorton had written to Einstein on persuading colleagues of theimportance of philosophy of science to scientists (empiricists) and science.https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein 7. The very well-done physics lectures by Dr. Walter Lewin.https://www.youtube.com/@lecturesbywalterlewin.they92598. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”--Robert Heinlien (quote from the 1973 sci-fi novel Time Enough For Love)https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Time_Enough_for_Love9. Range: Why Generalist Triump In a Specialized World by David Epstienhttps://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/073521448410. “Few [scientists] are philosophers. Most are intellectual journeyman, exploring locally, hoping for a strike, living for the present."--E.O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge  https://www.amazon.com/Consilience-Unity-Knowledge-Wilson-ebook/dp/B00P5557DK/11. “The seeker after truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and,following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspectshis faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits toarguments and demonstration and not the sayings of human beings whose nature isfraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency. Thus the duty of the man whoinvestigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his ...
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • 70 How To Improve Education? Impose Critical Thinking and Root-Cause Analysis on Administrators

    70 How To Improve Education? Impose Critical Thinking and Root-Cause Analysis on Administrators
    Apr 29 2026
    Thanks for the good administrators out there! But the less-than-good need to be "controlled" and "managed" by checks and balances of critical thinking, logic, root-cause analysis, and "Extreme Ownership." And sone outside oversight.“Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction."The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals...."We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living."If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, 'brethren!' Be careful, teachers!" [And, I'd add, "Be careful, Administratorts!")--Martin Luther King, Jr. (From MLK’s 1947 article “The Purpose of Education,” published in the Morehouse College campus newspaper The Maroon Tiger. See: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/purpose-education )Some solutoins.1. Extreme Ownwership by Jocko Willinck and Leif Babinhttps://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-audiobook/dp/B015TM0RM4/2. Companies and organizations that teach critical thinkig. 3. Companies and organizations that teach root-cause analysis.I can help with the critical thinking and root-cause analsys. Just get in touch. I'd be glad to helip.And here, as promised:1. "Awful School Admins" (13 min 6 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwxQ0xD80PM2. "Teacher Story Time: How I Was Fired in Front of My Class" (4 min 13 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke4kJMkV1dY3. "Bad Principals Make Teachers Quit: Dealing w/Administration, Instructional Coaches & School Boards" (17 min 52 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc1wsE5kNak4. "Norwich school board places superintendent on administrative leave following personnel complaints" (2 min 37 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20xB5Eugu45. "About 1 in 8 senior leaders have psychopathic traits. Here’s how to spot an abusive boss" by Lindsey Leake. (Fortune, 26Apr2025)https://fortune.com/well/2025/04/26/psychopath-senior-leaders-abusive-boss/6. "The Truth About Corporate PsychopathsWhat research does—and does not say about psychopathy in the office." by Emilia Bunea (Psychology Today, 12May2023).https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/to-manage-is-human/202305/the-truth-about-corporate-psychopaths7. "How To Survive A Toxic Manager In Any Workplace" by Caroline Castrillo (Forbes, 5Mar2025)https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2025/03/05/how-to-recognize-and-survive-a-toxic-manager-in-any-workplace/8. "7 signs that your boss could be a toxic manager — and what you can do about it" by Julia Sullivan (USA Today, 24Jun2025)https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/06/24/signs-of-a-toxic-boss/84323544007/9. " 'I was fired because my principal did not like me.' SCS Teacher Challenges School System" (9 min 13 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjq_ukpJ_bY10. "When Teachers Are Bullied (Why More Don't Speak Up)" (4 min 3 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDLION3_0s11. "4 Powerful Strategies for Teachers with Unsupportive Admin" (7 min 55 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3NWkPDnL812. "I Quit Teaching After 18 Years - Some Advice for Teachers" (9 min 27 sec)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31qp-9_nTWEEtc., Etc., Etc.Image of scales from Wikipedia.Image from Wikipedia Entry "Pscyopathy."Please consider liking us on your podcast app, and leaving a rational review.Email us at ReasonRxPodcast@aol.com, michael@goldams.com, or goldmj@aol.com.Host.Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/Gold Academy: https://goldams.comTotal Human Fitness: https://total-human-fitness.com
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    49 mins
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