understanding the economics of time and attention, which are the ultimate scarce goods
In sixteenth-century Europe, the Theodore de Bry sold to elite readers expensive books describing foreign lands and peoples. De Bry himself never left Europe. His books were reprints, but he added to his sources many intricate, copper-plate engravings and fold-out maps that he created from secondary sources. He produced the books in the large, prestigious … Continue reading the New / Old World in early elite books
In my post on real-world public reasoning, I discussed the reception of Brian Kalt’s law review articles on prosecuting murder and other crimes in the fifty-square-mile Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park. Prof. Kalt responded with an email to me. Since this was before my email and telephone policy statement, I will not post his … Continue reading rationality in public discourse
Sacred to Commonweal was this net design’d To pierce the heart and humanize the mind. But if a hitless Blog, the Blogger’s curse, Shows us our Thoughts and Reasons lose their force Unwilling we must change the nobler scene, And in our turn present you Celeb-queens; Quit Poets, and set Journalists to work, Show gaudy … Continue reading new media?
Ancient Roman elites competed intensely for status and income through the production of verbal works. One result was content focused on sex and violence. … Read the post Seneca’s Controversiae: effects of competition for attention
Garden & Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur, a recent, magnificent exhibition at the Sackler Gallery, included paintings memorializing the life of Maharaja Bakhat Singh. He was an eighteenth-century Rathore-Rajput ruler of the Jodhpur-Marwar kingdom, now in the Indian state of Rajasthan. A number of paintings depict the royal, cultured Bakhat Singh at his Nagaur … Continue reading responding to the maharaja and the ogre