【正文】 ceed, my intuition is that participating nations would be able to overe whatever procedural and political obstacles that might stand in the way of success. As long as each nation is careful not to neglect its own unique social problems, and as long as the university39。s attention and resources, which areas of academic research are worthwhile, as well as agreeing on policies and procedures for making, enforcing, and amending these decisions. Query whether a functional global university is politically feasible, given that sovereign nations naturally wish to advance their own agendas. A second problem inherent in establishing a global university involves the risk that certain intellectual and research avenues would bee officially sanctioned while others of equal or greater potential value would be discouraged, or perhaps even proscribed. A telling example of the inherent danger of setting and enforcing official research priorities involves the Soviet government39。s most persistent social problems. Nevertheless, such a university poses certain risks which all participating nations must be careful to minimizeor risk defeating the university39。 cultures. In the final analysis, government cannot philosophically justify assisting large cities for the purpose of either promoting or preserving the nation39。 big cities are where we deposit, display, and boast the world39。 (2) government support is needed for our large cities and cultural traditions to survive and thrive。s motives and agenda. History informs us that wouldbe leaders who lack such forthrightness are the same ones who seize and maintain power either by brute force or by demagoguerythat is, by deceiving and manipulating the citizenry. Paragons such as Genghis Khan and Hitler, respectively, e immediately to mind. Any democratic society should of course abhor demagoguery, which operates against the democratic principle of government by the people. Consider also less egregious examples, such as President Nixon39。s strategies for thwarting specific plans of an international terrorist or a drug trafficker, those strategies would surely fail, and the public39。s claim overstates the importance of video records, at least to some extent. When it es to capturing, storing, and recalling temporal, spatial events, video records are inherently more objective, accurate, and plete. However, what we view through a camera lens provides only one dimension of our life and times。s diverse population. A national curriculum might not allow for this feature, and California39。s scientists and governments. And ultimately it is our philosophers whose expertise helps provide meaning to what we learn about our universe. In sum, no area of intellectual inquiry operates in a vacuum. Because the sciences are inextricably related, to advance our knowledge in any one area we must understand the interplay among them all. Moreover, it is our nonscientists who make possible the science, and who bring meaning to what we learn from it. Issue 5A nation should require all its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college rather than allow schools in different parts of the nation to determine which academic courses to offer.The speaker would prefer a national curriculum for all children up until college instead of allowing schools in different regions the freedom to decide on their own curricula. I agree insofar as some mon core curriculum would serve useful purposes for any nation. At the same time, however, individual states and munities should have some freedom to augment any such curriculum as they see fit。 concerns about autonomy and about peer pressures parents can learn the valuable lesson that effective parenting and control are two different things. At the munity level, through dispassionate dialogue an environmental activist can e to understand the legitimate economic concerns of those whose jobs depend on the continued profitable operation of a factory. Conversely, the latter might stand to learn much about the potential public health price to be paid by ensuring job growth and a low unemployment rate. Finally, at the global level, two nations with opposing political or economic interests can reach mutually beneficial agreements by striving to understand the other39。s typical television or radio talk show, disagreement usually manifests itself in meaningless rhetorical bouts and shouting matches, during which opponents vie to have their own message heard, but have little interest either in finding mon ground with or in acknowledging the merits of the opponent39。 disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning. Do we learn more from people whose ideas we share in mon than from those whose ideas contradict ours? The speaker claims so, for the reason that disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning. I concede that undue discord can impede learning. Otherwise, in my view we learn far more from discourse and debate with those whose ideas we oppose than from people whose ideas are in accord with our own. Admittedly, under some circumstances disagreement with others can be counterproductive to learning. For supporting examples one need look no further than a television set. On today39。 rationale for their seemingly oppressive rules and policies teenagers can learn how certain behaviors naturally carry certain undesirable consequences. At the same time, by listening to their teenagers39。s economy, trades and work habits, life styles, extent of travel and mobility, and so forth. Linguists are needed to interpret hieroglyphics and extrapolate from found fragments of writings. And an astronomer can help explain the layout of an ancient city as well as the design, structure and position of monuments, tombs, and templessince ancients often looked to the stars for guidance in building cities and structures. An even more striking example of how expertise in diverse fields is needed to advance knowledge involves the area of astronomy a