“The shorter wavelengths, those that we sense as violet and blue light, are more efficiently scattered than the longer wavelengths—those that we sense as orange and red light. When we look up on a cloudless day and admire the blue sky, we are witnessing the preferential scattering of the short waves in sunlight. ...
So why is the sunset red? The red of the sunset is what's left of sunlight after the air scatters the blue away. Since the atmosphere is a thin shell of gravitationally bound gas surrounding the solid Earth, sunlight must pass through a longer slant path of air at sunset (or sunrise) than at noon. Since the violet and blue waves are scattered even more during their now-longer slant path through the site than when the Sun is overhead, what we see when we look towards the sun is the residue—the waves of sunlight that are hardly scattered away at all, especially the oranges and reds. A blue sky makes a red sunset.”
― Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
So why is the sunset red? The red of the sunset is what's left of sunlight after the air scatters the blue away. Since the atmosphere is a thin shell of gravitationally bound gas surrounding the solid Earth, sunlight must pass through a longer slant path of air at sunset (or sunrise) than at noon. Since the violet and blue waves are scattered even more during their now-longer slant path through the site than when the Sun is overhead, what we see when we look towards the sun is the residue—the waves of sunlight that are hardly scattered away at all, especially the oranges and reds. A blue sky makes a red sunset.”
― Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
“Storing data is so cheap it's essentially free, so data brokers record everything in the hopes that it will have value to someone. The data is aggregated by third parties, linked to individual identities, and sold like any other consumer data. It's not a conspiracy. It's an economy, but an economy these people know nothing about. They're tagged like sheep and have as much say in the matter as sheep.”
― Freedom™
― Freedom™
“Corporate intrusion into public institutions. Corporate domination of culture and media. It happened in plain view, with us cheering on their success as if it reflected well on us. As if it was us.”
― Freedom™
― Freedom™
“Philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it.”
― The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings
― The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings
“The people behind the modern global economy will prevent any meaningful change until it's too late.
But the question that needs to be answered is whether civilization's inability to adapt is a failure of leadership—or an unwillingness in humanity itself.”
― Freedom™
But the question that needs to be answered is whether civilization's inability to adapt is a failure of leadership—or an unwillingness in humanity itself.”
― Freedom™
Evan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Evan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Evan
Lists liked by Evan

























