Words of Wisdom — December 11, 2013

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on Power

“You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power--he's free again.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (born on this date in 1918)

bigthinkeditor

“You only have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power–he’s free again.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (born on this date in 1918)

Starts With A Bang

This is the loneliest galaxy in the known Universe

With no other galaxies in its vicinity for ~100 million light-years in all directions, it’s as isolated and lonely as a galaxy can be.

The Past

Islam has become less rational since its medieval Golden Age. What went wrong?

Once a cosmopolitan faith, Islam valued intellectualism and modernity. It was derailed by various geopolitical and religious forces.

a black and white drawing of two men in a library.

The Past

The other, more important Renaissance you never learned about

A new book by historian and author Paul Strathern argues that the Northern European Renaissance has long been overlooked.

The Future

A general-purpose robot is entering the workforce

Named “Phoenix,” this AI-powered humanoid could be your next coworker.

a black and white photo of a person in a box.

High Culture

Forget Transylvania. Dracula was inspired by an Irish cholera epidemic

Bram Stoker’s mother survived a terrible cholera outbreak and recounted the ghastly scenes to her son years later.

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