Don Berg
@don-berg.bsky.social
My mission is to embed the psychology of learning in policy so policy stops undermining learning. I am the Executive Director of Deeper Learning Advocates and founder of Attitutor. The Joyful Llama Ranch in West Linn, Oregon, USA, is my home.
Tackling FREE WILL on my blog. Robert Sapolsky denies we have free will, but I think he missed two key things.
Countering Sapolsky’s “Free Will” Denialism with Damasio, Deacon, Deci, and Ryan
We don’t have “free will” in any way, shape, or form according to Robert Sapolsky’s argument for hard determinism in his book Determined . ...
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Tackling FREE WILL on my blog. Robert Sapolsky denies we have free will, but I think he missed two key things.
Discovering the Truth About Schools is a new story on my Patreon page.
buff.ly/QLIEUw4
buff.ly/QLIEUw4
November 26, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Discovering the Truth About Schools is a new story on my Patreon page.
buff.ly/QLIEUw4
buff.ly/QLIEUw4
Taking a closer look at gaslighting is an important step in confronting its recent political manifestations.
The Lost Ending of “Gaslight” That You Didn’t Know You Needed - Public Books
The only way to really understand the term is to sit down and watch the harrowing psychological film from which it got its name.
buff.ly
November 7, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Taking a closer look at gaslighting is an important step in confronting its recent political manifestations.
Fight the worst-first paranoid thinking that robs children of their freedom!
buff.ly/EGPzmp2
buff.ly/EGPzmp2
October 27, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Fight the worst-first paranoid thinking that robs children of their freedom!
buff.ly/EGPzmp2
buff.ly/EGPzmp2
The Free Hugs revolution is on!
October 27, 2025 at 10:58 PM
The Free Hugs revolution is on!
Riding the Trump train means our standing is the world has dropped precipitously!
October 27, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Riding the Trump train means our standing is the world has dropped precipitously!
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) showed up in my feed yesterday or the day before because someone claimed that a meta-analysis had undermined its claims. The poster included a link but it went to a generic APA listing of some kind.
October 22, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) showed up in my feed yesterday or the day before because someone claimed that a meta-analysis had undermined its claims. The poster included a link but it went to a generic APA listing of some kind.
Instructional Illusions is a new book that tackles a variety of issues, but I take exception to how they handled Self-Determination Theory in their chapter on motivation. They present a cherry picked study and an esoteric critique as if they are knockout combination for SDT.
The Book Instructional Illusions Attacks Self-Determination Theory
In their book Instructional Illusions Kirschner, Hendrick, and Heal are just shadow boxing when they try to attack Self-Determination Theory.
www.holisticequity.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Instructional Illusions is a new book that tackles a variety of issues, but I take exception to how they handled Self-Determination Theory in their chapter on motivation. They present a cherry picked study and an esoteric critique as if they are knockout combination for SDT.
Tomorrow I will be joining in the No Kings! protests in Portland, Oregon, at Waterfront Park. I will be carrying my Free Hugs sign to encourage love and joy during this difficult time of incompetent federal leadership.
October 18, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Tomorrow I will be joining in the No Kings! protests in Portland, Oregon, at Waterfront Park. I will be carrying my Free Hugs sign to encourage love and joy during this difficult time of incompetent federal leadership.
Free hugtifa!
I will be giving away free hugs this Saturday at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland.
I will be giving away free hugs this Saturday at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland.
October 17, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Free hugtifa!
I will be giving away free hugs this Saturday at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland.
I will be giving away free hugs this Saturday at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland.
No kings! Not in 1776, not now.
33K views · 1.8K reactions | Indivisible Sonoma County on Reels
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October 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM
No kings! Not in 1776, not now.
“The best safeguard against tyranny is the belief in something greater than the authority of one man, be it family, equality or God, Jonathan Freedland writes.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
Opinion | A Lesson From the German Resistance That Applies Today
The best safeguard against tyranny is a legion of people who believe in an authority higher than any political program.
www.nytimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:04 PM
“The best safeguard against tyranny is the belief in something greater than the authority of one man, be it family, equality or God, Jonathan Freedland writes.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
“The best safeguard against tyranny is the belief in something greater than the authority of one man, be it family, equality or God, Jonathan Freedland writes.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
Opinion | A Lesson From the German Resistance That Applies Today
The best safeguard against tyranny is a legion of people who believe in an authority higher than any political program.
www.nytimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“The best safeguard against tyranny is the belief in something greater than the authority of one man, be it family, equality or God, Jonathan Freedland writes.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/o...
Hugtifa!
I will be giving away free hugs at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland this Saturday.
I will be giving away free hugs at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland this Saturday.
October 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Hugtifa!
I will be giving away free hugs at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland this Saturday.
I will be giving away free hugs at the No Kings Protest in Waterfront Park in Portland this Saturday.
Fake news has been around forever. Fortunately there is a collection that scholars can study to figure out what's been done before and what it truly new in the digital age.
buff.ly/ZnMg77R
buff.ly/ZnMg77R
The world’s largest library of lies has good news about fake news
“What’s happening now has, in fact, been happening since the very invention of language and writing.”
buff.ly
October 14, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Fake news has been around forever. Fortunately there is a collection that scholars can study to figure out what's been done before and what it truly new in the digital age.
buff.ly/ZnMg77R
buff.ly/ZnMg77R
New Video: Most Schools Transmit a Cultural Disease
The cultural disease that most schools inadvertently spread causes us to behave as if it is perfectly acceptable for some people to satisfy their needs at the expense of other people having their's satisfied.
The cultural disease that most schools inadvertently spread causes us to behave as if it is perfectly acceptable for some people to satisfy their needs at the expense of other people having their's satisfied.
October 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
New Video: Most Schools Transmit a Cultural Disease
The cultural disease that most schools inadvertently spread causes us to behave as if it is perfectly acceptable for some people to satisfy their needs at the expense of other people having their's satisfied.
The cultural disease that most schools inadvertently spread causes us to behave as if it is perfectly acceptable for some people to satisfy their needs at the expense of other people having their's satisfied.
Writing is not transcribing thoughts.
Writing is not Transcribing Thoughts
If we thought with words then writing would be easy since we would just have to transcribe our thoughts. Maybe I’m weird but that is not wha...
buff.ly
October 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Writing is not transcribing thoughts.
Here’s a quick analysis of the rhetorical trap of “constitutional republic” versus “democracy.”
youtu.be/tXqrPVaBHe8?...
youtu.be/tXqrPVaBHe8?...
On the Absurdity of “We are not a Democracy, We’re a Constitutional Republic”
youtu.be
October 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Here’s a quick analysis of the rhetorical trap of “constitutional republic” versus “democracy.”
youtu.be/tXqrPVaBHe8?...
youtu.be/tXqrPVaBHe8?...
Unfavorable equality? The white kids are the most resistant to schooling? Disengagement is not a racial issue, it is a human one. The long term effects are going to be worse for the minoritized kids due to other factors, but schools should engage all learners.
September 27, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Unfavorable equality? The white kids are the most resistant to schooling? Disengagement is not a racial issue, it is a human one. The long term effects are going to be worse for the minoritized kids due to other factors, but schools should engage all learners.
Another graph of the decline in engagement in schools. Loving learning might not seem important to some but that is a misguided attitude. There are times when learning-in-the-moment is painful or otherwise negative, but children should love the over-all experiences they are having.
September 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Another graph of the decline in engagement in schools. Loving learning might not seem important to some but that is a misguided attitude. There are times when learning-in-the-moment is painful or otherwise negative, but children should love the over-all experiences they are having.
Student disengagement is pervasive in school systems globally (thought this data is not global).
September 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Student disengagement is pervasive in school systems globally (thought this data is not global).
Surprise! The well-being of workers improves the value of a company.
September 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Surprise! The well-being of workers improves the value of a company.
“Pity poor Émile!” Rousseau’s preeminent work of education philosophy is, in my view, a horror show. It it so absurdly unrealistic that it might be taken as a parody, but apparently it was not intended as such.
petergray.substack.com/p/91-roussea...
petergray.substack.com/p/91-roussea...
#91. Rousseau’s Errors: They Persist in Some Educational and Child-Rearing Theories Today*
Pity poor Émile!
petergray.substack.com
September 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
“Pity poor Émile!” Rousseau’s preeminent work of education philosophy is, in my view, a horror show. It it so absurdly unrealistic that it might be taken as a parody, but apparently it was not intended as such.
petergray.substack.com/p/91-roussea...
petergray.substack.com/p/91-roussea...