Colin Danby
@cdanby.bsky.social
Heterodox economist working in history of thought, specifically the commerce between body, nation, race, and economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He/him.
https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/colindanby/home
Photo by Stephanie Seguino
https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/colindanby/home
Photo by Stephanie Seguino
Yes! I also keep wanting to say that there may be good reasons for grading, but it's a very blunt instrument if you're trying to solve learning problems, especially if we face genuine incapacities.
November 29, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Yes! I also keep wanting to say that there may be good reasons for grading, but it's a very blunt instrument if you're trying to solve learning problems, especially if we face genuine incapacities.
This is also true. Universities are in the business of moving students to degree completion.
November 29, 2025 at 5:03 PM
This is also true. Universities are in the business of moving students to degree completion.
I don't think students are lazier than my cohort was 50 years ago. So you do have to ask what has changed and can you do anything about it, rather than just blaming students.
And grades don't fix learning problems.
And grades don't fix learning problems.
November 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I don't think students are lazier than my cohort was 50 years ago. So you do have to ask what has changed and can you do anything about it, rather than just blaming students.
And grades don't fix learning problems.
And grades don't fix learning problems.
We do. What the OP is describing is a large change in the last decade or so, in my experience going from maybe 5% to 20% ghosting a class, and clearly diminished capacities in middling students. So yeah I have had higher rates of failure and really low grades.
November 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
We do. What the OP is describing is a large change in the last decade or so, in my experience going from maybe 5% to 20% ghosting a class, and clearly diminished capacities in middling students. So yeah I have had higher rates of failure and really low grades.
I don't advocate ditching LMSes and value accessibility. But there needs to be some thought to making a richer environment and restoring the social aspects of learning.
November 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I don't advocate ditching LMSes and value accessibility. But there needs to be some thought to making a richer environment and restoring the social aspects of learning.
Students could chat before class, which they've largely stopped doing. There were a lot of ways to pick up on what was going on in class.
The richer environment helped because even in the old days, sometimes people noped on a reading or just forgot something.
The richer environment helped because even in the old days, sometimes people noped on a reading or just forgot something.
November 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Students could chat before class, which they've largely stopped doing. There were a lot of ways to pick up on what was going on in class.
The richer environment helped because even in the old days, sometimes people noped on a reading or just forgot something.
The richer environment helped because even in the old days, sometimes people noped on a reading or just forgot something.
They do readings on their phones.
20 years ago, you needed a little effort to pull the parts together. A key moment was the first 10 minutes of class in which we'd surface questions about we were doing. Readings and assignments and notes were spread out on desks.
20 years ago, you needed a little effort to pull the parts together. A key moment was the first 10 minutes of class in which we'd surface questions about we were doing. Readings and assignments and notes were spread out on desks.
November 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
They do readings on their phones.
20 years ago, you needed a little effort to pull the parts together. A key moment was the first 10 minutes of class in which we'd surface questions about we were doing. Readings and assignments and notes were spread out on desks.
20 years ago, you needed a little effort to pull the parts together. A key moment was the first 10 minutes of class in which we'd surface questions about we were doing. Readings and assignments and notes were spread out on desks.
"Learning Management Systems" are part of this. They offer massive convenience all around, and saved our butts during covid.
However for students, school becomes an app on their phone. They expect to open it, do ten minutes of work per course, on the phone, and close it again.
However for students, school becomes an app on their phone. They expect to open it, do ten minutes of work per course, on the phone, and close it again.
November 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
"Learning Management Systems" are part of this. They offer massive convenience all around, and saved our butts during covid.
However for students, school becomes an app on their phone. They expect to open it, do ten minutes of work per course, on the phone, and close it again.
However for students, school becomes an app on their phone. They expect to open it, do ten minutes of work per course, on the phone, and close it again.
Yes. (1) On some topics LLMs *will* produce a passable "report." Students may just take this as a lesson in crafting the right prompt. (2) Some will use an LLM on the 2nd half of the assignment too. (3) The cynical ones don't care if the answer is right, just plausible.
November 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Nostalgia works best at a distance.
November 29, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Nostalgia works best at a distance.
... and of course he's quoted and credited in Jevons 1871.
Boucke and White are the most extensive treatments. Please tell me what I'm missing.
Boucke and White are the most extensive treatments. Please tell me what I'm missing.
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
... and of course he's quoted and credited in Jevons 1871.
Boucke and White are the most extensive treatments. Please tell me what I'm missing.
Boucke and White are the most extensive treatments. Please tell me what I'm missing.
Stack, David. 2020. “The Hostility of William Stanley Jevons toward John Stuart Mill: The Fourth Dimension.” HOPE 52 (1): 77–99.
White, Michael V. 1994. “The Moment of Richard Jennings” In Natural Images in Economic Thought ed. Mirowski. Cambridge.
White, Michael V. 1994. “The Moment of Richard Jennings” In Natural Images in Economic Thought ed. Mirowski. Cambridge.
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Stack, David. 2020. “The Hostility of William Stanley Jevons toward John Stuart Mill: The Fourth Dimension.” HOPE 52 (1): 77–99.
White, Michael V. 1994. “The Moment of Richard Jennings” In Natural Images in Economic Thought ed. Mirowski. Cambridge.
White, Michael V. 1994. “The Moment of Richard Jennings” In Natural Images in Economic Thought ed. Mirowski. Cambridge.
Maas, Harro. 2005. William Stanley Jevons and the Making of Modern Economics. Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics. Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, Ross M. 1951. “Jevons and His Precursors.” Econometrica 19 (3): 229–49.
Robertson, Ross M. 1951. “Jevons and His Precursors.” Econometrica 19 (3): 229–49.
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Maas, Harro. 2005. William Stanley Jevons and the Making of Modern Economics. Historical Perspectives on Modern Economics. Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, Ross M. 1951. “Jevons and His Precursors.” Econometrica 19 (3): 229–49.
Robertson, Ross M. 1951. “Jevons and His Precursors.” Econometrica 19 (3): 229–49.
Jennings, Richard. 1855. Natural Elements of Political Economy. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Jennings, Richard. 1856. Social Delusions Concerning Wealth and Want. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Jennings, Richard. 1856. Social Delusions Concerning Wealth and Want. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Jennings, Richard. 1855. Natural Elements of Political Economy. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Jennings, Richard. 1856. Social Delusions Concerning Wealth and Want. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Jennings, Richard. 1856. Social Delusions Concerning Wealth and Want. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
Black, R. D. Collison. 1987. “Jennings, Richard (1814–1891).” New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.
Boucke, O. Fred. 1921. The Development of Economics. Macmillan.
Cairnes, John Elliott. 1875. The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy. Appendix B.
Boucke, O. Fred. 1921. The Development of Economics. Macmillan.
Cairnes, John Elliott. 1875. The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy. Appendix B.
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Black, R. D. Collison. 1987. “Jennings, Richard (1814–1891).” New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.
Boucke, O. Fred. 1921. The Development of Economics. Macmillan.
Cairnes, John Elliott. 1875. The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy. Appendix B.
Boucke, O. Fred. 1921. The Development of Economics. Macmillan.
Cairnes, John Elliott. 1875. The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy. Appendix B.
Anna Tsing's _In the Realm of the Diamond Queen_.
November 28, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Anna Tsing's _In the Realm of the Diamond Queen_.
Knew a farmer who used horses and mules not from nostalgia, but because he had poor eyesight. The animals avoided ditches.
November 28, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Knew a farmer who used horses and mules not from nostalgia, but because he had poor eyesight. The animals avoided ditches.
1977: "In the full glare of the El Mocambo club's lighting, the Stones looked old. But that was known already, it hardly makes any difference to their music, and they didn't act or sound old."
The Rolling Stones Think Small (Published 1977)
www.nytimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
1977: "In the full glare of the El Mocambo club's lighting, the Stones looked old. But that was known already, it hardly makes any difference to their music, and they didn't act or sound old."
At least in academic contexts, if you want to put a picture of your cat on the first or last slide, go for it!
But in between, do not patronize me or waste my attention. What is in those slides should do useful work.
But in between, do not patronize me or waste my attention. What is in those slides should do useful work.
November 28, 2025 at 5:31 PM
At least in academic contexts, if you want to put a picture of your cat on the first or last slide, go for it!
But in between, do not patronize me or waste my attention. What is in those slides should do useful work.
But in between, do not patronize me or waste my attention. What is in those slides should do useful work.
This is not the main issue, but it's interesting that fans of AI images speak of filling blank space, or making a slide more lively. The image is purely supplemental, decorative. It does no useful work conveying meaning.
November 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
This is not the main issue, but it's interesting that fans of AI images speak of filling blank space, or making a slide more lively. The image is purely supplemental, decorative. It does no useful work conveying meaning.
If you look at his radio address on tariffs that came up last month, you see (1) He internalized a set of conservative principles in the 1950s and could make logical arguments from them (2) He had good speechwriters (3) He was an accomplished actor who could make the most of good writing.
November 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
If you look at his radio address on tariffs that came up last month, you see (1) He internalized a set of conservative principles in the 1950s and could make logical arguments from them (2) He had good speechwriters (3) He was an accomplished actor who could make the most of good writing.
It has completely changed how I look at buildings.
November 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
It has completely changed how I look at buildings.
Maybe loosely related, but I've been writing a bit about dons at Cambridge late 1800s and coming to see exclusion of women not so much as an external constraint, but constitutive of their identity as scholars.
November 28, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Maybe loosely related, but I've been writing a bit about dons at Cambridge late 1800s and coming to see exclusion of women not so much as an external constraint, but constitutive of their identity as scholars.