An apophthegm (pronounced "uh POF them") is a salutory saying from a salient historical figure. Erasmus wrote an entire book of apophthegms. Here's one of the more interesting: it seems that Socrates and some of his friends at a dinner were entertained by a female gymnast who performed a variety of amazing feats, including juggling, tumbling, and dancing around swords and knives. Afterwards, the discussion turned to the comparative talents of men and women. Socrates averred that women were just as capable of learning difficult subjects as men, and lacked only the education that men had. He went even further, arguing that women had just as much courage and hardiness as men. Needless to say, Socrates' words confounded his listeners.
New! I have started posting book reviews of the books I have been reading.
Silly fact for the nonce: did you know that the province of Rouergue in south-central France, had 52,823 hearths in 1328, implying a population of about 260,000, and that in the 1999 census the population was 269,774? In 700 years, the population has not changed significantly. Isn't that amazing?
Back in 1972 I built the most magnificent kluge of a lifetime: The Great Geminid Kluge
I've given a lot of lectures in my life, but none so good as the Dragon Speech:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
November 18th: I have started a new blog to discuss political issues. The thrust of this blog is to have civil discussion between liberals and conservatives on the issues of the day. I urgently request conservatives who want to discuss (not argue!) issues to join in the discussion. I will enforce strict rules of civility at this blog to insure that we discuss productively rather than argue futilely.
Storytron, the company that is commercializing my interactive storytelling technology, is nearing commercial launch. You can get details at our website.
