Musical Chairs, Star Throwers, and the Apprentice Mindset
Athenarium Newsletter, Feb 2023
In this month’s issue, you will find articles and excerpts on:
Economy and Society
Musical Chairs, Ski Lifts, Thermostats, and Other Mental Models — Thomas Schelling
“If you are in a mood to be amazed, it [should] amaze you that the [economic] system works at all.” — Thomas Schelling. (1978).
On Humbug, Bullshit and Hot Air — Notes from Max Black and Harry Frankfurt
“The essence of bullshit is not that it is false, but that it is phony... Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.” — Harry Frankfurt (1983)
Terror, Love, and Brainwashing — Alexandra Stein on Cults and Totalist Systems
“The deeper you go towards the centre [of a cult]… the more distant from reality you become… The life and beliefs of the innermost circle are so extreme that the outer circles must be protected from it until they are… sufficiently conditioned.” — Alexandra Stein (2016).
General Interest
Donald Murray on the Apprentice Mindset and Return to Discovery
“I am forever grateful that I will never learn to write but that I will keep on learning.” —Donald Murray (2000)
The Unexpected Universe — Loren Eiseley on Star Throwers and Incidental Triumphs
“The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” — J.B.S. Haldane (1927)