A man walks into a conversation with a statistic the way some people walk into a bar fight: not to learn anything, but to leave with a trophy. He doesn’t say “Hello.” He says, “Mississippi has higher GDP per capita than France and the UK.”
Pause for applause. Somewhere, a spreadsheet blushes.
The trouble is that GDP per capita is the kind of number that makes you feel informed while … Read the rest
Content 21+ In the vast expanse of human history, one concept has persisted as a pernicious toxin infecting the minds of the masses: hope. Like a seductive siren, it lulls individuals into a false sense of security, promising salvation and deliverance from the trials of existence. Yet, upon closer inspection, hope reveals itself to be nothing more than a mirage, a cruel deception that shackles humanity to a cycle of … Read the rest
I sometimes wonder if eventually, we will arrive at a completely hairless civilization. I mean, think of all the cartoons and caricatures you’ve seen depicting the ‘advanced’ people of the future. Shrunken of body, their globular heads stand out like huge melons, which of course — like most melons — are completely bald. The idea is to suggest a vast intelligence throbbing inside the glimmering fruit.
Think of all the … Read the rest
Контент 14+
One summer day I packed my backpack and headed out on an ethnographic expedition. I had just passed my exams and finished my first year as a student of the Moscow Academy of Music. This annual tour involves different students every go around because only several professors are engaged yet all students must participate at least once.
Our ethnographic laboratory had been studying the Bryansk region on the … Read the rest
