As a man who loves his technology, one thing I enjoy reading about is how others use theirs. There is a small degree of voyeurism in this, but mostly it is because the digital world is deep and wide and at times hard to navigate. While there is much merit in Robert Frost's notion of the road not taken, at times I love it when things just work. For that, some brave soul needs to have trodden the road first.
I learn today a manuscript of Isaac Newton's is being offered by Bonhams.. The two page manuscript is based on Tumulus Pestis [The Tomb of the Plague] by Jan Baptist van Helmont, a Flemish physician who treated victims during the Antwerp plague of 1605. Van Helmont's writing on chemistry was not only influential on Newton and Robert Boyle, but he invented the word 'gas' and demonstrated that other gases exist which are distinct from atmospheric air.
I recently switched my note taking app to Standard Notes. Part of the reason for the shift is technological. The application, both desktop and mobile, is blazingly fast and nurtures my love of minimalist design. No mess, no fuss, just me and my text. The other part of my reasoning is philosophical.
In the email age, it is easy to bemoan the declining standards in our written communication. Perhaps it is a case of volume. With billions of people deemed 'literate' by UNESCO, does it not stand to reason there will be a greater level of dross obscuring the gold that abounds? Or perhaps it is the case that familiarity breeds contempt, and the easy way in which we can hammer out a missive on a keyboard means less care is taken to the composition?
As a child, 'on demand' television didn't exist. You either watched it 'live' on air or slammed in a video cassette (oh how I miss the VHS / Betamax war!). The odd thing about it was, how much better content was when live.
In 1764, Cesare Beccaria wrote a treatise titled On Crimes and Punishments (Italian: Dei delitti e delle pene). In it he drew on Montesquieu, who had argued that 'every punishment which does not arise from absolute necessity is tyrannical.' From this concept, Beccaria concluded:
Crimes of every kind should be less frequent, in proportion to the evil they produce to society... If an equal punishment be ordained for two crimes that injure society in different degrees, there is nothing to deter men from committing the greater as often as it is attended with greater advantage.
Scrolling down the home page of one of my newspapers of choice the other day, I could only find one article not about Coronavirus. While one of the greatest challenges facing our world at the present, it is a public disservice to permit a single topic to dominate all media channels unless there is a topical angle. In this climate, it came as something of a welcome change to see the news channels lighting up on a different topic; social media vs The President.
Sir Humphrey: East Yemen, isn't that a democracy? Foreign Office Official: Its full name is the People's Democratic Republic of East Yemen. Sir Humphrey: Ah I see, so it's a communist dictatorship. — Yes, Minister
When casting around the names of the nations of the world, one is tempted to think Oscar Wilde was onto something when he observed 'Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life,' because countries with 'Democratic' in their name would challenge even Isocrates to make a concincing argument for their democratic composition. Thus it was with some amusement I learn of plans to establish a D10 club.; democratic partners to build a Huawei free 5G mobile network.
In 1941, during his inaugural address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated:
The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history. It is human history. It permeated the ancient life of early peoples. It blazed anew in the Middle Ages. It was written in Magna Charta.
Stirring oratory to be sure, but Manga Carta is perhaps better understood, to paraphrase Simon Schama, as the death certificate of despotism rather than the birth certificate of freedom. Yet even if stripped of its mythological status as the beating heart of democracy in the English speaking world, it remains important as it paved the way for the common law of England.
In France during the first part of the seventeenth century, Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis – better known as Cardinal Richelieu – held enormous power as the king's 'Chief Minister.' In addition to his many titles, Richelieu also had the sobriquet 'Red Eminence' [Éminence rouge]. Though often regarded as the power behind the throne, behind him stood another. A 'Grey Eminence' [Éminence grise].