Human Thought

Never can a new

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Never can a new idea move within the law. It matters not whether that idea pertains to political and social changes or to any other domain of human thought and expression – to science, literature, music; in fact, everything that makes for freedom and joy and beauty must refuse to move within the law. How … Read more

The programmer, who needs

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The programmer, who needs clarity, who must talk all day to a machine that demands declarations, hunkers down into a low-grade annoyance. It is here that the stereotype of the programmer, sitting in a dim room, growling from behind Coke cans, has its origins. The disorder of the desk, the floor; the yellow Post-It notes … Read more

Where, after all, do

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Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world … Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have … Read more

Perhaps the most surprising

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Perhaps the most surprising thing about mathematics is that it is so surprising. The rules which we make up at the beginning seem ordinary and inevitable, but it is impossible to foresee their consequences. These have only been found out by long study, extending over many centuries. Much of our knowledge is due to a … Read more