The more difficult times are, the more intense the demand for simple solutions. This seems to be the case for both individuals and groups, be they corporations, religions, or nations. The February 25, 2010 issue of the New York Review of Books carried some short essays on Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997). Nicholas Kristof of the...
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Tony Judt is dying. In less than two years, he has gone from a healthy man to a quadriplegic who relies on a machine to breathe. He has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. It is a terrible disease, one that Judt likens to “progressive imprisonment without parole.” The body dies, but...
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A Thoughtful Take on the Travails of Modern Conservatism, by Kevin R. Kosar, October 29, 2009 A cacophony of voices have taken up the topic of “what’s wrong with the right?” Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the New York Times Book Review, has written an engaging book on the subject. Tanenhaus’s stated interest is in...
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In this lengthy piece, Shenk writes of a 72 year study of Harvard men and their well-being. It is an interesting read. Specialization in fields (sociology vs. biology vs. psychiatry vs…) is a good thing, but a side effect is that it has turned academia into a place that is not very welcoming to...
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Leonard Mlodinow of Caltech writes The psychologist Bruno Bettelheim concluded that survival in Nazi concentration camps depended on “one’s ability to arrange to preserve some areas of independent action, to keep control of some important aspects of one’s life despite an environment that seemed overwhelming.” Studies suggest that, even in normal conditions, to be...
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