Words of Wisdom — January 13, 2014

Jay McInerney on Living

"I like the fact that I'm living in the world rather than in a university."- Jay McInerney (born on this date in 1956)

“I like the fact that I’m living in the world rather than in a university.”
– Jay McInerney (born on this date in 1956)

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.

Up Next

The Passive War: “The blind warning the blind about a nonexistent danger”

Over the past century a war has been fought in universities around the world which has resulted in countless bottles of red ink spilled over students’ work, in the form […]