Inappropriate
A list of some things that have been appropriated by some cultures from others Writing. Roman letters. Arabic numerals. The number zero. The horse (by… Read More »Inappropriate
culture
Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Without … a place in the social order, a man [in a heroic society such as Homeric Greece or Saga Iceland] would not only be… Read More »Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Niall Ferguson on reading, remembering and shared culture
Two kinds of reading Niall Ferguson: I think there are two kinds of reading. When one’s reading for work, when one has to grapple with… Read More »Niall Ferguson on reading, remembering and shared culture
Technology (24): Keynes on The Permanent Problem; or, The Dread of Abundance
Hattip: Brink Lindsey Let us, for the sake of argument, suppose that a hundred years hence we are all of us, on the average, eight… Read More »Technology (24): Keynes on The Permanent Problem; or, The Dread of Abundance
Leslie Newbigin on The Heretical Imperative
In The Heretical Imperative [Peter Berger] has argued that the distinctive feature of this [‘modern’, Western] culture is that there is no generally acknowledged “plausibility… Read More »Leslie Newbigin on The Heretical Imperative
What does your program (try to) compensate for?
The work of nonprofits gets framed in different ways, but fundamentally they all address a lack of something.* This might be a lack of resources… Read More »What does your program (try to) compensate for?
Writing and Reading as Technology (15): videos on the evolution of the alphabet and the spread of writing
Recommended by OpenCulture.org, via HN. See also: Writing and Reading as Technology (1): Transforming Fire; Slow BurnWriting and Reading as Technology (2): Half-baked BeginningsWriting and… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (15): videos on the evolution of the alphabet and the spread of writing
Writing and Reading as Technology (13): Erik Engheim on Gutenberg vs earlier Asian printing technologies
Hat tip: HNWith apologies to subscribers who received post 14 of this series out of order due to my enthusiasm for the subject matter… …… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (13): Erik Engheim on Gutenberg vs earlier Asian printing technologies
Writing and Reading as Technology (14): Magical Paper Sizes; or, The Golden Non-Ratio
We often have convenience now because someone did the maths before. Ben Sparks With apologies to subscribers who received this out of order due to… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (14): Magical Paper Sizes; or, The Golden Non-Ratio
Whose Dhansak? Food and Authenticity
While there is a shared understanding [about what constitutes a particular dish], that isn’t absolute compliance. If we had to argue that there is only… Read More »Whose Dhansak? Food and Authenticity