No. 16: truth, beauty, and old politicians
Chaucer/Kant/Keats/King/Orwell/Plato/Voltaire/Whitman
Here's some things people have been writing:
When Kant, Whitman, and Keats thought about how truth related to beauty its doubtful they had video games on the mind. Nevertheless, blinking lights on a screen are a concrete example of the way understanding how something works can deepen your appreciation of its beauty. mitpress
Knowing Chaucer hasn’t been a great way to make enough cash to pay off student loans. The path to such a debt-free life has long been learning how to tell computers what to do. AI might be change that, or at list rebalance the scales. theatlantic
Orwell was quoted by Kennedy in the 2012 plurality opinion on United States vs Alvarez. The case ultimately decided that the 1st Amendment mattered more than the Stolen Valor Act. theverge
King’s oft-quoted “judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” line echoes in Coleman Hughes TED talk advocating “color-blindness”. TED was unsure about publishing the talk. whyevolutionistrue
Plato’s thought about the ideal age of lawmakers in his Laws1. The topic weighs heavily on our minds as Biden and Trump, two old men, look to face off in the 2024 Presidential Race. time
Voltaire was misquoted by John Cusack as saying “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” Lately John has been saying the Democratic party is too corporatist. breitbart
The guardian of the law shall not hold office longer than twenty years, and shall not be less than fifty years of age when he is elected; or if he is elected when he is sixty years of age, he shall hold office for ten years only; and upon the same principle, he must not imagine that he will be permitted to hold such an important office as that of guardian of the laws after he is seventy years of age, if he live so long.