Clean-up vs Prep
… are more or less the same thing, but they feel different. Clean-up is orientated towards the past, while preparation looks to the future. Clean-up… Read More »Clean-up vs Prep
Vision
When I’m bigger
My sons tell fantastic stories about what they’re going to do and be when they’re grown up: spies, taxi drivers, race-car drivers, generals, fathers of… Read More »When I’m bigger
Plato on ageing well
I love this little riff from the start of Plato’s fascinating-but-politically-iffy* Republic: We went with Polemarchus to his house; and there we found his brothers… Read More »Plato on ageing well
A slice of the pie
Jane has one pie. John has none. Should Jane give John a slice? The situation is unequal, but we need some context – including some… Read More »A slice of the pie
By invitation and by necessity
I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of “outsiders coming in.” …… Read More »By invitation and by necessity
A somewhat reassuring thought
When your wariness about the future tips over into anxiety, when the world is not turning not only upside down but also inside out, and… Read More »A somewhat reassuring thought
The operative word
Misquoted dialogue from Madam Secretary: “With the lives of tens of thousands of people on the line I hope this works.” “Hope being the operative… Read More »The operative word
Tyler Cowen on reading fast, reading well, and reading widely
This is a great riff on how reading works and on the network effects of reading. Links below. Tyler says: … I go through five… Read More »Tyler Cowen on reading fast, reading well, and reading widely
Who says?
Does it matter who says it? Science says: “It doesn’t matter who said it. What matters is the evidence and the reasoning.” Science is the… Read More »Who says?
I’d rather be
If you’d rather be doing something else, please go and do it. You are more useful there than here. But if you really would rather… Read More »I’d rather be