Or so says Spanish philologist Irene Vallejo. "This was something different in the democratisation of knowledge. They wanted to gather all the books from all cultures and make them available for everybody." - The Guardian (UK)
Thus, this piece about getting music, books, movies, software and more, for free - or, technically, for a large group of people paying taxes every year - at the library. - Wired
A big mistake we make in confronting conspiracy theories is assuming they provide nothing but harm to those who hold them. In fact, a tendency toward these beliefs may be wired into us, because they could have been helpful to our survival at times. - The Atlantic
While few people embarking on a long journey would choose an e-bike or a golf cart over a car, many Americans might do so for the roughly 60% of trips that are under six miles. Beyond the opportunity to save money, using a golf cart or e-bike in lieu of a car makes it easier to find parking. - Fast Company
All these multiverses might add up to nothing good. If all potential endings come to pass, what are the consequences of anything? What matters? Joe Russo, the co-director of “Endgame,” has warned that multiverse movies amount to “a money printer” that studios will never turn off. - The New Yorker
We suggest that fiction and reality interact through some sort of trade exchange with all its dark sides and complexities. Some transactions occur in the light of day, while others happen under the table – we unconsciously import beliefs, desires and biases into fiction. - Psyche
Should we study the distant past to explore its strangeness—and jolt ourselves out of easy assumptions that the world we know is the only possible one? Or should we study the more recent past to understand how our world came into being—and thereby learn lessons for the future? - The Atlantic
It is a well-worn cliché that the practical person scorns aesthetic value. But there’s reason to think that it is the only way in which we can draw final positive value from the entire world. Thus, to the extent that we care whether or not we live in a good world, we must be aesthetically sensitive. - Aeon
Researchers analyzed more than 150,000 pop songs released between 1965 and 2015. Over that time, the appearance of the word “love” in top-100 hits roughly halved. Meanwhile, the number of negative emotion words, like “hate” rose sharply. - The New York Times
One side uses the old canon as a punching bag and a scapegoat for all the evil -isms that afflict us; the other, as a monument to national glories and an erstwhile set of commandments issued from on high. - The Point
These creators understand that we are a species of storytellers, not rational actors. To speak to our irrationality, and tell these stories, they adopt an approach that has been tried and tested throughout history. - Wired
By editing an image to produce a desired result, a scientist can manufacture proof for a favored hypothesis, or create a signal out of noise. Scientists must rely on and build on one another’s work. Cheating is a transgression against everything that science should be. - The New York Times
Questions of moral authority, the right to rule and the nature of a good leader are recurring themes in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Recent political events could almost be ripped from the pages of these four plays. - The Conversation
We all need to be able to take a step back and realize that just because we feel something disproportionately, it doesn't mean that it exists disproportionately, in reality. In reality, none of the changes people are being asked to make to make things more equitable are actually all that painful. - Wonkette
