If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when? — Hillel the Elder

What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. — Winston Churchill

What can you do to make a difference? Here are some ideas to get started:

• Change the public dialogue: resist lies, honor experts, defend intellectuals, and discourage unnecessary partisanship.
• Defend and engage in fact checking and critical thinking.
• Encourage others to embrace complexity.
• Educate children about the power of ideas.
• Call out superficial reasoning, and use a shared vocabulary when you do so.
• Talk to people with whom you disagree, and find your shared assumptions.
• Become a better listener.
• Identify and discuss hidden and underlying assumptions, among both your friends and opponents.
• Support higher education and extol the humanities.
• Challenge your own ideas.

Contribute to this website:

• Help us develop curricula.
• Add to our insights and tools.
• Contact us to share your thoughts.

When you tweet, use some of our favorite hashtags:

#defendintellectuals, #thatsalie, #thinkdeep, #honorexperts, #badpremise, #embracecomplexity, #challengeassumptions

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