Status Updates From Érase una vez el zorro y el...

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day. February 12, 1809.

The author asserts the alleged conflict between science and religion is partly and aspect of the human propensity for polar argument. He notes that Science and Religion are non overlapping magisterial (NOMA). Science being concerned with the factual nature of the natural world, and religion dealing with the meaning of life and proper conduct of our lives.

The authors depth and breadth of knowledge is astounding. For example, he purchased a 16th century compendium on animals and learned Latin in part to read it. I find it amazing that his PhD dealt principally with land mollusks of the Caribbean.

A long history of the supposed struggle between science and the humanities and an argument for their synthesis or partnership. From that rare intersection of clear eyed pragmatist and muddle headed theorist, who also love the humanities.

“The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one, but that is the best of all.”

Archilochus, Carmina Archilochi: The Fragments of Archilochos

Stephen Pressfield referenced this ancient quote as metaphor for the vast Persian military against the Greek phalanx at Thermopylae. The phalanx being the embodiment of the Hedgehog 🦔.

“…the never-ending struggles of academic life…honest moments force our admission that degree of public recognition, and differential access to parking spaces, rather than serious issues of intellectual content, usually underlie the intensity of expressed feelings.”
Glad to see that parking was already an issue 20 years ago!

“Our all-too-human temptation to censor or annihilate perceived enemies transcends the particularities of institutions, sacred or secular, and spreads across the full political spectrum, right to left.” 63