Hacking Metaphors, Frames and Other Ideas
Maybe I should be watching more TV but I honestly had no idea what Kate Middleton looked like. There must have been times I would have heard references to her and thought she was some kind of actress or model. And frankly, I still don't care. But I do care about her dress. I am…
Read more →Over on the Language Log , Victor Mair puts to rest that all English expressions have to be tensed and thus prevent timeless poetry. He shares his translation of a 13th century Chinese poet thus: Autumn Thoughts by Ma Zhiyuan Withered wisteria, old tree, darkling crows – Little bridge over flowing water by someone's house…
Read more →Preamble I am an old atheist and a new agnostic. I don't believe in God in the old-fashioned Russellian way - if I don't believe in Krishna, Zeus, water sprites or the little teapot orbiting the Sun, I don't believe in God and the associated supernatual phenomena (monotheism my foot!). However, I am agnostic about…
Read more →About 10 years ago, I was looking through a book on populations changes in the Czech lands. It consisted of pretty much just tables of data with little commentary. But I was shocked when I came across the life expectancy charts. But not shocked at how short people's lives had been but how long. The…
Read more →A very common metaphor in the political discourse on war is that of doves (peaceniks) and hawks (war-mongers). It has been around at least since the cold war. But it stops at "doves=peaceful" and "hawks=aggressive". It completely ignores other properties of the animals, e.g. the fact that "hawks hunt and kill doves". I did a…
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