We don’t talk anymore
It’s the tech. *Mulligan writes “I bet no-one checked their newspaper during dinner”, but I definitely remember newspapers at breakfast and novels at other meals… Read More »We don’t talk anymore
Nasal turbinates
If you’ve ever wondered why a congested nose tends to feel blocked on one side (and runny on the other) only to switch sides later,… Read More »Nasal turbinates
Splendour and Horror: Agnes Callard on shopping, Zola, and the birth of consumerism
I hope this snippet makes you go and read the whole thing. In his Theory of the Leisure Class … Thorstein Veblen explains that “conspicuous… Read More »Splendour and Horror: Agnes Callard on shopping, Zola, and the birth of consumerism
Niels Bohr [via Werner Heisenberg] on breaking with Newton and the poetry of atoms
Heisenberg prefaces Physics and Beyond with the note that “needless to say, conversations cannot be reconstructed literally after several decades….” [Niels Bohr, as recalled Heisenberg]:… Read More »Niels Bohr [via Werner Heisenberg] on breaking with Newton and the poetry of atoms
Hadley Wickham defines Tidy Data
For non-specialists: If you’ve ever wondered why it’s so hard to get all the data points you want into a simple, workable database and what… Read More »Hadley Wickham defines Tidy Data
People who do not please themselves…
… are hard to please.
Lesslie Newbigin on man’s contradictions
Lesslie Newbigin lived and worked in South India from 1936 to 1974, and originally wrote this in Tamil. Wherever and whenever we look at man,… Read More »Lesslie Newbigin on man’s contradictions
James Carse on culture as art
Not necessarily entirely true, but generative. Since culture is itself a poiesis, all of its participants are poietai—inventors, makers, artists, storytellers, mythologists. They are not,… Read More »James Carse on culture as art
The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night
The Heroic Vision Over shadowy spires and gleaming towers lay the ghostly darkness and silence that runs before dawn. Into a dim alley, one of… Read More »The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night
A deeper yielding*
“You’re really good at choosing ripe avocados. What’s the secret?” “I’ve been selling fruit for twenty years. It’s not something I can just tell you…”… Read More »A deeper yielding*