We don 't accept a doctor to be stupid. Populism is a form of stupidity, and stupidity is the biggest plague of contemporary democracy. We could have every populist statement analyzed by a jury of both professionals and laymen. It is an expensive means, but if we leave complex issues such as European …

In 1969, the real revolution (internet) was in disguise. It looked like an evolution. Even now, Licklider is hardly known. A regular man. And the revolutionary-looking spacemen of yore, turned out to be part of an evolution. Already in the 17th and 18th centuries people dreamed of a journey to the moon. …

In ancient times, music education was an essential part of mathematics education: in the Quadrivium mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy formed a four-unit whole. In China, among others, Confucius emphasized the importance of music education and the connection between poetry, law and music.

Through these composite emotions we can become who we want to be, they form the fuel in the direction of our desired virtues. For example, almost no one is brave at birth, but can become so, both by the desire to be courageous and by a lot of practice (trial and error). Complex emotions are not innate …

Just like learning in the brain, social progress (development) is based on accommodating and assimilating. We structure the information from the outside world on the basis of what we already know (assimilate them in our knowledge structures). If the information does not fit in already present knowledge …

There 's a largely unnoticed power that multinationals (electronics giants, Google, Facebook, etc.) have in our lives, including upbringing and education. And like magic oil, digital techniques are good for everything. No condition is conceivable, or there is an app for it. Certainly, if there is none, …

People think that they understand a device that is part of their functioning, even if they only understand it at the procedural (automatic) level. That is, as an incorporated part of their action repertoire (how to work with it). When asked, often we don 't even understand seemingly simple devices, …

Happiness and (mis)fortune are very individual matters of different origins: mental and material. They can not be (directly) traced back to each other. Prosperity can always turn into adversity and vice versa. This does not alter the fact that someone who has made courage or cheerfulness her second nature, …

Deze column gaat in op het belang van vertrouwen binnen menselijke relaties in samenhang met waarheid.

The preservation of the planet our greatest interest? May a politician who is taken seriously behave as popupists sometimes do? So far from home - in China - I dream away,  thinking about Holland, but now from my new Chinese perspective. My hosts break through my train of thoughts. They are fortunately …