Soon to be 76 yrs on this planet, rather than an accomplishment, I see it as a lucky and fortunate accident for me. The vast majority of people, billions and billions, were not so lucky.

 FROM OUR PAGES

We the People

by Jill Lepore (Liveright)

Nonfiction

This lively and sweeping work of scholarship examines the U.S. Constitution through the history of its amendment. Sometimes drawing on work that appeared in the magazine, Lepore argues that amendment was meant to be an alternative to revolution, yet it has all but vanished since 1971. Meanwhile, the doctrine of originalism has taken hold, binding Americans not to a living covenant but to a barren conception of a less democratic past. Lepore writes with characteristic range, moving from Jefferson’s suspicion of constitutional sanctimony to the “constitutional junk yard” of failed amendments, glorious and inglorious alike.

-From The New Yorker

 All the scientific marvels on which modern society depends are the fruit of extreme dedication. Rockets, computers and lifesaving medicines all come from decades of effort by scientists hunkered over pages of calculation or the laboratory bench. They required the same tireless, single-minded effort every elite athlete understands. The fringe science appearing in young men’s online social media feeds, however, requires none of that effort. Instead, it stands on proclamations based on profound ignorance and a disinterest in even the most basic scientific principles like those I’m teaching my freshmen this semester.

-Adam Frank in the NY Times

 Principles are what you morally stand for. Policies are pragmatic guidelines subject to constant change as needed. Policies are day to day. Principles are always a fall-back.

 It is a truth universally acknowledged that we live in divisive times in which you won't know you've lost it until you've lost it because you are too busy with other things to notice, that right and wrong won't help us get along anymore, and that you won't know you're standing on top of a sinkhole until you're looking up from below. Otherwise, HAVE A GOOD ONE!

 The internet didn't just appear by itself. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee. I am looking forward to reading his new book to see how it happened. I am not a technology person to understand the science behind it for the sake of understanding the science. I am a liberal arts person trying understand conceptually the big picture and its implications.

 This country is now a combination of Orwell's world and Huxley's world.

Reality is only in the mind now. Objective reality doesn't exist.

Everything now has to be entertainment to get anyone's attention.