A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, as Herbert Simon said. When attention is scarce, secrets can be hidden. Dialogues from G. K. Chesterton's The Sign of the Broken Sword illustrate this vividly. Father Brown: Where does a wise man hide a pebble? Flambeau: On the beach. Father Brown: Where does a wise man… Continue reading How to Hide a Secret in the Information Age
Category: Literature
We Exist for a Book
Staring into the dreamy Shanghai dusk, a few lines of verse cross my mind: The candle died, the water-clock was exhausted, I rose and sat, but could not be at peace. Man's affairs are like the flow of floodwater, A life is just like floating in a dream. A few years ago, an up-and-coming musician… Continue reading We Exist for a Book
Factionalism in War and Peace
In Tolstoy's War and Peace, Prince Andrey enumerated the factions within the Russian high command during Napoleon's invasion. You usually see the full range or a subset of these dynamics as a group responds to situations. Rigid military theorists Non-planners favoring spontaneous actions Courtiers reconciling the first two groups Advocates of surrendering to Napoleon Adherents… Continue reading Factionalism in War and Peace
The Contemplator
In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky makes reference to this painting by Ivan Kramskoy (The Contemplator, 1876) in describing Smerdyakov: "he stands as if he were lost in thought, but he is not thinking, he is 'contemplating' something." A contemplator greedily stores up impressions he had been under while contemplating, even without realizing it. Why and… Continue reading The Contemplator
The Foresight of Natsume Sōseki
The majority of writers just makes noise, but some can see well ahead of their time. I find Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki such kind of writer. As early as 1908, he wrote in Sanshirō that "Japan is going to perish." His advice: "Even bigger than Japan is the inside of your head. Don't ever surrender yourself - not… Continue reading The Foresight of Natsume Sōseki
Andy Yee 