Johnathan Bi

@JohnathanBi

Newsletter on philosophy/religion/technology: greatbooks.io Founding Team Opto, Cosmos Phil & CS @Columbia Canadian Math Olympiad

New York, USA

greatbooks.io

Joined March 2013

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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 21
Capitalism is the great equalizer, and that is precisely why it is so dangerous. There is no force in history that has done more for equality: tearing down barriers, weakening caste structures, disrupting feudal power. Tocqueville welcomed this march of equality but also feared
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 4
What's precious about SF culture is the belief that a small band of radical men can alter the course of history. Everywhere else in the West you find bureaucracies, committees, an idolatry of the wisdom of crowds, of democracy, of consensus. Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations:
Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 1
The sirens are usually depicted as sexy mermaids. But in Homer, they don’t seduce through sex as much as through knowledge. I chartered a boat to their island to recite their song in Ancient Greek. This is the knowledge they had to offer Odysseus and why he craved it so:
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Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 1
Why would you name your condoms after a city that gloats in its impregnability, only to succumb to a leak from a giant piece of wood?
Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Aug 1
Many in comments defended Clytemnestra’s killing of Agamemnon as understandable if not justified given 1. Agamemnon's pointless killing of their daughter for 2. His greedy war to expand his control over trade. But both these points are Nolan, not Homer: 1. While later
Johnathan Bi
@JohnathanBi
Jul 30
If I took away one lesson from the Odyssey, it’s you gotta choose your wife wisely. Here’s the range of outcomes: • She starts a decade-long war which kills most of your friends (Helen) • She cheats on you while you are fighting for your nation and murders you at
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