#mati

The question of the relation between modernity and postmodernity revolves around the issue of 'legitimation.' Modernity, then, appeals to science to legitimate its claim - and by 'science' we simply mean the notion of a universal, autonomous reason. Science, then, is opposed to narrative, which attempts not to prove its claims but rather to proclaim them within a story. ↗

— James K.A. Smith

#modernity #narrative #postmodernism #reason #science

Whenever science attempts to legitimate itself, it is no longer scientific but narrative, appealing to an orienting myth that is not susceptible to scientific legitimation. ↗

— James K.A. Smith

#narrative #proof #science #validation #science

No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth. ↗

— John F. Kennedy

#hype #ignorance #indoctrination #influence #power

The brain may die, but my compulsion for useless trivia lives on. ↗

— Molly Harper

#trivia #undead #useless-information #vampire-romance #information

He had tried to explain the way he felt to Danny once, about compulsive behavior and time rushing too fast and the Internet and drugs. Danny had only lifted one of his slender, mobile eyebrows and stared at him in smirking confusion. Danny did not think coke and computers were anything alike. But Jude had seen the way people hunched over their screens, clicking the refresh button again and again, waiting for some crucial if meaningless hit of information, and he thought it was almost exactly the same. ↗

— Joe Hill

#information #internet

The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. ↗

— Albert Einstein

#math #mathematical #problem-solving #thinking #math

When Republicans recently charged the President with promoting 'class warfare,' he answered it was 'just math.' But it's more than math. It's a matter of morality. Republicans have posed the deepest moral question of any society: whether we're all in it together. Their answer is we're not. President Obama should proclaim, loudly and clearly, we are. ↗

— Robert B. Reich

#class-warfare #conservatism #economics #liberalism #mathematics

We are continuously challenged to discover new works of culture—and, in the process, we don’t allow any one of them to assume a weight in our minds. ↗

— Alain de Botton

#new-media #social-media #media

Most people would have probably lost count around seven. This was, Harry knew from his extensive reading on logic and arithmetic, the largest number that most people could visually appreciate. Put seven dots on a page, and most people can take a quick glance and declare, “Seven.” Switch to eight, and the majority of humanity was lost. ↗

— Julia Quinn

#mathematics

John Adams - “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. ↗

— John Adams

#mathematics