Thought and Industry

Join us for episode 15 of The Torch of Progress with Michael Strong Key Discussion Points: - Academy of Thought and Industry and other schools he has founded - How Progress Studies fits into the curriculum - Guest Speaker Michael Strong: Michael Strong is one of the most experienced creators of small, innovative, high-performance schools in the world. His projects include Moreno Valley High School, which was ranked the 36th best public high school in the U.S.; KoSchool, a lab school based on entrepreneurship and intellectual development; Winston Academy, a school at which middle school students passed Advanced Placement courses; and middle school programs for HeadsUp!, a multi-campus Montessori organization. One of Michael’s innovations at his schools is Socratic Practice, a form of text-based intellectual dialogue designed to increase SAT verbal scores and increase intellectual sophistication. He is the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice and has consulted for hundreds of schools and universities across world. Michael’s work as an educational entrepreneur led to a partnership with John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. John and Michael co-founded a non-profit, Freedom Lights Our World (FLOW, Inc.), dedicated to promoting entrepreneurial solutions to world problems. FLOW gave birth to Conscious Capitalism, Peace through Commerce, Radical Social Entrepreneurs, and the Startup Cities Institute. Michael is the lead author of Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalism Can Solve All the World’s Problems.

Join us for episode 14 of The Torch of Progress with Manjari Narayan Key Discussion Points: - How statistics evolved through applications in agriculture, medicine, and manufacturing - The “replication crisis” in science today Guest Speaker Manjari Narayan: Manjari Narayan is a statistical data scientist interested in when and how the measurement of human brain function can inform diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and developmental disorders. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford School of Medicine. Her research broadly focuses on three areas i) interrogating methods for inferring causal mechanisms from imperfect measurements of biological systems, ii) developing methods to evaluate whether brain imaging derived biomarkers are actionable in terms of informing treatment iii) evaluating and mitigating bias in applying statistical machine learning for biomedicine. Previously, she received a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in 2016. Her dissertation work has been recognized by numerous student paper awards including the 2016 ENAR Distinguished Student Paper Award from the International Biometrics Society.

Join us for episode 13 of The Torch of Progress with Adam Wiggins Key Discussion Points: Thomas Edison, Bell Labs, ARPA, and Xerox PARC: what do all of these people and groups have in common? They are all pioneers of the industrial research model. Basic science concerns itself with the search for truth, without any focus on how its findings may impact human existence. Business (even innovation ones like Silicon Valley startups) tend to put existing technology into practice, rather than inventing something new. Industrial research sits in the middle of this spectrum, seeking to find breakthrough ideas that have commercial applications on a five- to ten-year time horizon. Adam walks through this history, which was a big influence for his independent research lab, Ink & Switch (www.inkandswitch.com). Guest Speaker Adam Wiggins: Hi, I’m Adam, and my mission is to improve computers and the internet in the service of human prosperity. Right now I’m building Muse, which turns your iPad into a tool for thought. In the past, I founded the Ink & Switch research lab and Heroku. I design products, build teams, write, podcast, and occasionally invest. I’m from California but have settled in Berlin. Follow me on Twitter: @hirodusk

We sit down with Adam Mossoff, Professor of Law at George Mason University, to discuss the history of intellectual property. Key Discussion Points: The history of intellectual property The relation of patents to invention and progress What reforms the patent system needs today Adam Mossoff is a Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. He has published extensively on intellectual property rights and innovation policy. His scholarship has been relied on by the U.S. Supreme Court and by federal agencies, and he has been invited five times to testify before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on intellectual property legislation. He has been invited to speak at the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Department of Justice, among other public and private institutions. In addition to his academic articles, his writings on intellectual property policy have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Washington Times, Newsweek, and in other media outlets. In addition to his position at Scalia Law, Professor Mossoff is Co-Chair of the Technology, Innovation, and Intellectual Property program of the Classical Liberal Institute at NYU School of Law. He also holds numerous positions at research and policy organizations, including serving as Chair of the Intellectual Property Working Group of the Regulatory Transparency Project at the Federalist Society, Senior Fellow and Chair of the Forum for Intellectual Property at the Hudson Institute, Visiting Intellectual Property Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding. He is also a member of the Intellectual Property Rights Advisory Committee of ANSI and he has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the IEEE-USA. Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: https://progressstudies.school The Academy of Thought and Industry: https://thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: https://rootsofprogress.org Higher Ground Education: https://tohigherground.org

We sit down with Jerry Neumann, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Founder of Neu Venture Capital. Key Discussion Points: - The funding, organization, and management of research - Linear and non-linear models of innovation - Uncertainty vs. risk in progress Guest Speaker: Jerry Neumann A veteran in the world of venture capital, Jerry Neumann has been investing in internet startups for more than 20 years. He presently runs Neu Venture Capital, a firm he founded in 2008 that invests in early-­stage internet companies. Neu has been among the first investors in groundbreaking enterprise software companies including Datadog, The Trade Desk, and Flurry. The companies Neu has helped seed-fund have created more than $50 billion in market value and more than 3,000 jobs. He has been called one of New York’s top early-stage investors by Business Insider. Jerry also teaches entrepreneurship and innovation at Columbia University. Before Neu, Jerry co-founded Root Markets, a pioneer in programmatic marketing. He ran the venture capital division of Omnicom Group, the world’s leading marketing services company, where he was involved with the seed financing of many of the earliest internet marketing firms. Prior to that he was at Prodigy Services and Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group. He started his career at IBM as an engineer on the design team of the ES/9000 family of mainframes. He graduated from Columbia University with a BS and MS in electrical engineering and from NYU with a MBA. He writes at http://reactionwheel.net. Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: https://progressstudies.school The Academy of Thought and Industry: https://thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: https://rootsofprogress.org Higher Ground Education: https://tohigherground.org

Join us for episode 10 with Laura Mazer, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, University of Michigan. Key Discussion Points: – The history and future of surgery – How we can improve surgical practice Guest Speaker: Dr. Laura Mazer is a faculty member in the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery. Her surgical training was completed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Stanford University, where she also completed a fellowship in Surgical Education and a Master’s in Health Professions Education. She completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center prior to joining the faculty at the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of multiple local and national teaching awards, including the Association for Surgical Education Outstanding Resident Teacher Award in 2016 and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching in 2018.

Danica Remy is the President of B612 Foundation and leads the organization’s global efforts to protect earth from asteroid impacts. She co-founded Asteroid Day, a United Nations day of education and awareness. She is a recognized expert in information technology, facilities, human resources, finance, and government relations.

Dr. Anton Howes is a historian-in-residence at The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. His recent book, "Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation," tells the story of Britain's subscription-funded national improvement agency, the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Anton is now writing a book on the causes of the British Industrial Revolution, focusing on the hundreds of individual inventors and innovators who made it possible, and the institutions they created to keep it going.

n our 7th episode of The Torch of Progress, we talk with Noor Siddiqui, Founder and CEO of Orchid Bioscience. Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: https://progressstudies.school The Academy of Thought and Industry: https://thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: https://rootsofprogress.org Higher Ground Education: https://tohigherground.org Guidepost Montessori: https://guidepostmontessori.com

In the sixth episode of The Torch of Progress, we sit down with Joel Mokyr, the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Economics & History at Northwestern University. Mokyr explores the shifting attitudes on progress and its causes throughout history. Guest Speaker: Joel Mokyr - Economist and Historian Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: progressstudies.school The Academy of Thought and Industry: thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: rootsofprogress.org/ Higher Ground Education: tohigherground.org Guidepost Montessori: guidepostmontessori.com

In this fifth episode of The Torch of Progress, we talk with Deirdre N. McCloskey. She has been since 2000 UIC Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Trained at Harvard as an economist, she has written twenty books, edited seven more, and published some four hundred articles on economic theory, economic history, philosophy, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, and law. She taught for twelve years in Economics at the University of Chicago, and describes herself now as a “postmodern free-market quantitative Episcopalian feminist Aristotelian.” Her scientific work has been on economic history, especially British. Her recent book Bourgeois Equality is a study of Dutch and British economic and social history. She has written on British economic "failure" in the 19th century, trade and growth in the 19th century, open field agriculture in the middle ages, the Gold Standard, and the Industrial Revolution.

In the fourth episode of The Torch of Progress, we talk with Dr. Max Roser, the researcher and editor behind ourworldindata.org. Key Topics: - Our World in Data - Global Development and its relations to progress studies - What people get wrong about data In This Episode We Discuss: (0:25) Introductions – Progress Studies, a 6 week course covering the history of technology and global living standards (1:20) Speaker Series – upcoming: Deirdre McCloskey, Joel Mokyr, Noor Siddiqui, Anton Howes, and Danica Remy (2:54) Jason Crawford and Max Roser introductions (4:20) What is “global development”? (5:52) Introduce Our World In Data – ourworldindata.org (8:15) You once said that—before coronavirus—Our World in Data had a reputation as “the good news guys”. What does that mean and where did it come from? (10:55) Did we just get lucky in the last 4 or 5 decades that we had all this progress instead of more global catastrophe? (12:22) Chart of how happy people report they are vs how happy they estimate their average countryman is. Basically everybody thinks their country is less happy than it is. Personal optimism vs. social pessimism (13:40) To what extent is the source of overpessimism a "data problem" and to what extent is it a mindset or philosophical problem—the wrong framework? And what's the relationship between the two? (16:50) How do you integrate both data and narrative in your research and in writing. Our World in Data does this really well. How do you put those two together without one driving too much? (19: 15) What do you most wish you could get good numbers about that he can't currently? (25:15) What data has surprised you most since he started doing this? (27:23) Have you been surprised enough to be able to predict where more surprises might be, if he dug into that data? (31:25) Relationship of air pollution to cognitive effects – what does the data point to? (34:15) What is the right way to use data to understand the covid pandemic? What are other people doing wrong in how they interpret and present covid data? (40:00) What advice commonly given to high schoolers is commonly wrong? Q&A (42:42) What has been the hardest thing when it comes to collecting data and taking conclusions from the data? (45:20) Do you think that education systems (e.g. high school) don't focus enough on using statistics and data to interpret history? If so, why, and what should people do about it? (48:20) You mentioned earlier, coal kills more people than nuclear power - but doesn't make for good news. How would you fix news/the media? (50:30) What is your favorite example of a thing that intuitively feels right, but turn out to be wrong when you look at the data? (53:15) Do you think that data can lull us into a sense of false security? Although poverty has decreased over the years, we should still work to eradicate it, but knowing about the decrease could decrease enthusiasm for change and progress, as people will settle for insufficient improvement once some change is made? (57:27) Is the data on global progress often surprising for other people to see? Why is it that they are surprised? Is it flawed education? The media? (59:40) Follow Max on twitter @maxcroser, @ourworldindata, ourworldindata.org (1:00:01) Matt Bateman on PSYS Course

In the third episode of The Torch of Progress, we sit down with Patrick Collison, the Co-founder and CEO of Stripe. We discuss progress studies, his perspective on the sciences, Effective Altruism, on being a self-described 'fallibilist,' and the entrepreneurial mindset. Key Topics: - The rate of scientific progress and whether it's slowing down. - Progress Studies at large and Patrick's views on Effective Altruism - On being a self-described 'fallibilist' and the entrepreneurial mindset.  - Q&A from students and attendees, and much more. Guest Speaker: Patrick Collison - Co-founder and CEO of Stripe Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: progressstudies.school The Academy of Thought and Industry: thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: rootsofprogress.org/ Higher Ground Education: tohigherground.org Guidepost Montessori: guidepostmontessori.com

In the second episode of The Torch of Progress, we sit down with American economist and author Tyler Cowen to discuss progress studies and his perspective on economics, history, and America's current attitude toward progress. Key Topics: - Why “progress studies”? - How the field has developed so far - The Great Stagnation almost a decade later Guest Speaker: Tyler Cowen Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: https://progressstudies.school/ The Academy of Thought and Industry: https://thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: https://rootsofprogress.org/ Higher Ground Education: https://tohigherground.org Guidepost Montessori: https://guidepostmontessori.com

In the first episode of The Torch of Progress, we sit down with Dr. Matt Bateman of Higher Ground Education to discuss Montessori education and its connections to our Progress Studies course. Key Take-Aways: * What is Progress Studies? * How does it relate to Montessori? * Introduction to Progress Studies for Young Scholars Course Guest Speaker: Dr. Matt Bateman Dr. Bateman earned his bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 2004. While there, he worked in their Child Development Center researching the nature of early personality development in children. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 2012 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the history of thought in philosophy and psychology, as well as conducting research in cognitive science. He taught and continued his research at Franklin and Marshall College in the Department of Psychology, on topics ranging from neuroscience to evolutionary theory to philosophy. Dr. Bateman left his academic position in 2014 to join LePort Schools as its Director of Curriculum and Pedagogy. There, he oversaw research and development of the school’s approach to education. In 2016, Dr. Bateman became a founding member of Higher Ground as the Director of Content, where he is responsible for intellectual and pedagogical oversight across the organization. Links: Progress Studies for Young Scholars: https://progressstudies.school/ The Academy of Thought and Industry: https://thoughtandindustry.com The Roots of Progress Blog: https://rootsofprogress.org/ Higher Ground Education: https://tohigherground.org Guidepost Montessori: https://guidepostmontessori.com

Jason Crawford is the former co-founder & CEO of Fieldbook, a hybrid spreadsheet-database application, and the author of the blog "The Roots of Progress." In this episode, ATI founder Michael Strong sits down with Jason to discuss the history of technology & industry, and more generally the story of human progress. https://rootsofprogress.org/

Zak Slayback is a venture capital professional at the 1517 Fund and an author at McGraw-Hill. His writings focus on career development in the startup world. In this episode, ATI founder Michael Strong discusses with Mr. Slayback the current state of education in America as well as what its future might looks at—by understanding its past. Zak Slayback: http://zakslayback.com ATI Middle and High School Programs: https://thoughtandindustry.com

Dr. Liah Greenfeld is a professor of sociology, political science, and anthropology at Boston University. She is the author of eleven books, including Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Harvard University Press, 1992) and The Spirit of Capitalism: Nationalism and Economic Growth (Harvard University Press, 2001). In this episode, ATI founder Michael Strong discusses with Dr. Greenfeld her book, "Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience".

John Deming, entrepreneur, investor, and homeschooling dad of young adult prodigy Laura Deming (MIT at 15, Anti-aging VC at 20).

004: Michael Strong Chats with Natan Press by Michael Strong

003: Michel Strong Chats with Danielle Strachman by Michael Strong

002: Michael Strong Chats with Charlie Hoehn by Michael Strong