The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
by Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990) and Raymond Hull (1919-1985)
For anyone who is frustrated with the dysfunction of a bureaucracy, this satirical study of hierarchiology—the social science of hierarchies—will shed some light. The Peter Principle states, “In a hierarchy, everyone tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
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The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters
by Tom Nichols
This book is about the erosion of respect for facts, logical analysis, and critical thinking. Uninformed opinions carry the same weight as expert opinions. There is no vetting of dubious sources from credible sources. Beliefs are conflated with facts. It is in this climate that hoaxes, conspiracy theories, fake news, propaganda, and all manner of bullshit thrive. Tom Nichols, professor of national security at US Naval War College, examines this phenomenon and some of the causes, including higher education, technology, and the news media.
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The Higher Education Bubble
by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
In the first decade of the new millennium we saw the dot-com bubble and housing bubble end badly. In this concise 48-page booklet, University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds explains why higher education will be the next bubble to burst. “Bubbles burst when there are no longer enough excessively optimistic and ignorant folks to fuel them.”
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The Key Point 