Of books to books: Geoffrey Crayon speaks to volumes in the library of Westminster Abbey, and ponders the ways time and technology transform our knowledge. “Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who flourished their allotted time…. Formerly there were some restraints on this excessive multiplication. Works had to be transcribed by [...]
4Humanities interviews Humanities Watch. Ashley Champagne asks about the origins and mission of Humanities Watch, and the humanities' place in society. From the exchange: The point of my website is to demonstrate how the humanities are also in constant conversation with these practical and present interests: science, technology, healthcare, and business. As a matter of fact – [...]
How language -- its clarity, immediacy, and nuance -- is vital to both patients and doctors, for it can overcome the split between scientific specialization and the experience of suffering. From the article: Many of the great doctors have been writers, and those who have not have required writers to set down their insights. Hippocrates, Galen, [...]
Has the age of the encyclopedic excellence passed us by, or can (or should) it be revived? The author praises the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica (1910-11) as "the last great encyclopedia." From the editorial: Its greatness derived not alone from its contributors or its organization but from the spirit infusing it. This spirit [...]
Humanities fed the soul in communist Romania: how the study of the humanities kept people alive, and allowed them to find truth when surrounded by falsehood. From the article: When I heard this story, I understood that the stereotype of the fluffy, useless liberal arts was a lie. If the study of literature or history [...]
Freedom of thought in twelfth-century Paris: how Latin learning (and love) left us a legacy of creative inquiry A good man asked the doctors of [twelfth-century] Paris if it were better to learn what one did not know or to apply what one knew, and when they approved the second, concluded upon them that they [...]
The joy of reading: can reading offer therapy to those in distress and provide a greater sense of well-being? From the article: For all avid readers who have been self-medicating with great books their entire lives, it comes as no surprise that reading books can be good for your mental health and your relationships with others, [...]
The Humanities Code: how literature helps to write software. The author talks about the creative process required to compose ideas in all languages, including the technological. From the article: I’ve worked in software for years and, time and again, I’ve seen someone apply the arts to solve a problem of systems. The reason for this [...]
The virtues (and folly) of science and scholarship: learning merits its laurels, but to what ends, if life (and self-knowledge) is neglected? “Envy, curiosity, and a sense of the imperfection of our present state, incline us to estimate the advantages which are in the possession of others above their real value. Every one must have remarked, [...]
Transhumanism: what does the future hold? The Washington Post hosts a series of commentaries on the value and validity, the promise and peril, of transhumanism, with its promise to "transcend the human condition." So do we need the "transhumanities"? Or develop the next variant of digital humanities? From the introductory statement: Transhumanism, in its most extreme [...]
