Rob Reich

I can

I can

Former US presidential candidate discusses intellectual history at SLE lecture Philosopher and former U.S. presidential candidate Cornel West encouraged first-year students to find their voice in a Friday talk at Florence Moore Hall.

“I think, therefore I am — René, get off the crack pipe,” said West, critiquing Descartes’ famous cogito argument. “How are you going to think without a language? How are you going to get access to a language? From others.”

Cornel West visits Stanford's Structured Liberal Education.

Congratulations to Faculty Co-Director Woody Powell for being elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences! Recognizing leaders in diverse fields, this tremendous honor spotlights exceptional scholars and researchers who discover and advance knowledge and apply it to the problems of society.

More than that, AI tools need to be *designed responsibly* so that they are not inducements to cheating, substitutes for critical thinking, and displacement of the cultivation of skills and judgment.

YouTube video by Common Sense Media for Families AI in Learning: How We Get It Right for Kids | Common Sense Summit

In 2024, Sam Altman said at the Common Sense Media summit that there was a moral panic when calculators were introduced into education. But comparing AI to the calculator is wrong. And I explain why in this video (with Sal Khan) at the 2025 summit. youtu.be/UyFPm4t6oMo?...

Updated w/ quotes from Gohill, now a sophomore:

“No journalist should have to endure a 9-month-long threat to their academic, social, and professional future for simply doing their job...

"I’m glad they finally realized that journalism is not a crime.” www.cjr.org/news/dilan-g...

I have been part of the #GivingTuesday since its inception. And I’ve had the honor of serving as the founding board chair of the organization. Enormous respect and gratitude for Asha Curran and her team. The organization is in amazing hands with her, Jeff Bradach, and Cecilia Conrad.

GivingTuesday - About GivingTuesday is a global movement that reimagines a world built upon shared humanity and radical generosity.

I’m excited to share that the GivingTuesday board has officially welcomed Jeff
Bradach to the role of chair and Dr. Cecilia Conrad as vice chair!
Jeff and Cecilia will continue advancing our innovative model that inspires radical generosity across the globe.

www.givingtuesday.org/about/

But to operate a classroom, the performance of students must also be taken as final – doling out rewards and punishments in the form of grades and assessments. This is the conflict between forms of justice, that between endings and beginnings. 4/4

I always loved the focus on the educational setting, which raises especially difficult questions because they involve children, not adults. Jencks says that schooling is typically thought to be formative – a preparation for future competitions and performances. 3/4

Though not a philosopher, he wrote one of the most important papers on equality of opportunity, asking how a fictional Ms. Higgins should allocate her time and attention in an elementary school classroom in order for educational opportunity to be equal. 2/4

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...

Christopher Jencks, a Shaper of Views on Economic Inequality, Dies at 88 His clear prose, illuminating data and novel arguments, transformed debates around issues like public education and welfare reform.

Christopher Jencks died last week. For anyone who thought about educational opportunity and social mobility, it was impossible to not engage his work. 1/4

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/b...

This new @joriegraham.bsky.social poem in @nybooks.com slayed me.

⚡ Today the US AI Safety Institute announced results of its pre-deployment evaluation of OpenAI's new O1 model.

🤝 The evaluation was conducted in partnership with UK AISI
☣️ The evaluation assessed biological capabilities, cyber capabilities, and software and AI development capabilities

Next up, @yoshuabengio.bsky.social on Why and How to Regulate Frontier AI.

The international state of the science of AI report he is leading is an essential part of the global landscape.

Good morning from #NeurIPS2024 in Vancouver where I’m representing the US AI Safety Institute at this great workshop, with @yoshuabengio.bsky.social @ruchowdh.bsky.social
and others.

regulatableml.github.io

Big Sur life as imagined by Sora.

⭐ Six keynote talks: Rumman Chowdhury, @yoshuabengio.bsky.social, @peterhenderson.bsky.social , Reva Schwartz, Dawn Song, and Rishi Bommasani.

⭐ A panel discussion on AI Regulation/Governance: Gillian K. Hadfield, Wan Sie Lee, Surdas Mohit, Sella Nevo, @robreich.bsky.social, and Savannah Thais

2/

Authored by @robreich.bsky.social, @tlechtable.bsky.social & Emma Saunders-Hastings, the new entry for “philanthropy" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers insights on giving in the context of philosophical traditions, current practices, and more. plato.stanford.edu/entries/phil...

Tireless work by the #GivingTuesday team led by Asha Curran and the millions of ordinary people who launched #GivingTuesday campaigns, including at Stanford University and my current employer National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

‼️ More people than ever in GivingTuesday history participated in the day, with 36.1 million people taking action across the US

GivingTuesday 2024 Record-Breaking Results: $3.6 Billion Donated & 36.1 Million People Participated Tens of millions of people contributed critical support for communities and causes in just one day, as GivingTuesday marks more than $18.5 billion in giving in the US since launch in 2012.

🌎 Records broken! GivingTuesday 2024 was a huge success, with more than $3.6 billion donated.

↗️ The $3.6 billion donated represents a 16% increase from GivingTuesday 2023’s total of $3.1 billion.

www.givingtuesday.org/blog/givingt...

When is Giving Tuesday and what does it mean? See origins of the global day of charity Giving Tuesday is coming! See how the global movement began and continues to promote philanthropy and charity across the world.

On the origins of #GivingTuesday:
www.statesman.com/story/news/s...

There once was a Tuesday in fall
When generosity inspired us all
We opened our hearts
Did our small parts
And answered humanity's call

#GivingTuesday

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The ancient Stoics spoke of our duty to humanity as a whole. In our interconnected world, that duty has never been clearer. This #GivingTuesday, I'm acting on the truth that my flourishing is bound up with yours. Join me in supporting #GiveDirectly. We rise by lifting others.
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What if generosity wasn't just an act, but a way of seeing the world? Today on #GivingTuesday, I'm reflecting on how radical generosity disrupts the logic of scarcity that keeps us isolated. When we give freely, we create ripples of abundance that transform not just recipients, but ourselves.
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We live in a moment of increasing and distressing polarization. The practice of generosity, however, remains uncontroversial and worthy of celebration.

This year, I thought I'd try some AI-generated content. Please amplify your favorite post in the following string.

Twelve years later, the effort has a global footprint. There are now #GivingTuesday efforts in more than 100 countries.

The idea at the start was simple: Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate and give thanks with friends and family. It's followed by the consumer orgies of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, & Cyber Monday.

Why not make Tuesday a global day for the giving season?

The simple idea spread far & wide