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Darwin and the Loss of the Enlightenment Paradigm – Discovery Institute

Posted: October 12, 2022 at 1:46 am


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Image: Voltaire reads the Orphan of China, by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In two articles so far (hereandhere), I have been exploringhow justified thenew atheistsappropriation of Darwinian ideas is. This is the third and final post. As weve seen,Erasmus Darwin was a quintessential legatee of Enlightenment prepossessions. As its somewhat virtue-signaling name implies, the thinkers of the Enlightenment wished to distance themselves from anything that smacked of religious superstition. This led to the determination to declare a unilateral declaration of independence from the metaphysical sphere in favor of purely scientific modes of explanation. Yetin the face of the last century of scientific discoveries we have come to realize thathubristic expectations stemming fromthe Enlightenment dream of encompassing the whole of reality in some grand material theory of everything have been forced into a reluctant retreat.1

As a plethora of popular books, articles, and TV programs have recently intoned, our almost complete ignorance of the nature of ultimate reality has been laid bare by the work of Planck, Einstein, Heisenberg, Carlo Rovelli, and a host of microbiology specialists. Taken together, these scientific advances have united to challenge the Newtonian/Enlightenment paradigm. Scientists can no longer deliver certainty and predictability in the aftermath of such disconcerting advances in physics or in microbiology, which represent an unsuspected level of ultra-diminutive reality that has only revealed its bareexistencein the last seven decades or so thanks to the invention of the electron microscope in 1944. Indeterminacy and probabalism have emerged to subvert the Enlightenment conception of a predictable clockwork universe. We have been forced to acknowledge that the dimension of reality we know of is merely the observable, superficial part and that this rests on and is sustained by invisible trestles of substrate reality of which we have little inkling and to which our Cartesian notions of predictability and comprehensibility do not, alas, apply.

In short, the bright new dawn of Erasmus Darwins Enlightenment world has been replaced by the hauntingly surreal specter of what is now routinely referred to as quantum weirdness. Like it or not, Erasmuss simple and predictable world is no more, and we now find ourselves confronted by the truly vertigo-inducing predicament of being subject to an unpredictable cosmos we simply do not understand. It appears to me that the only intellectually defensible position to adopt in the light of such unanticipated scientific advances is to keep an open mind.The new atheists on the other hand continue to cling anachronistically to the same would-be omniscient paradigm of reality as that in which Erasmus Darwin reposed his faith. But whereas Erasmus had the extenuation of knowing nothing of the profounder reaches of reality into which modern scientific advances have given us at least some fleeting glimpses, the same excuse cannot be pleaded for the new atheists whose stance, either tacitly or wittingly, turns a blind eye to those hidden dimensions of existence.

Under the illusion of being the bright (their term) or enlightened ones, they appear, on the contrary, to have become the doctrinaire victims of a peculiarly modern form of obscurantism. It is as if they are doggedly clinging to an obsolete worldview which denies the relevance of much cutting-edge science. Their outlook has little in common with that of Charles Darwin whose later years were marked by what Peter Vorzimmer once termed frustrated confusion.2In that respect Darwin might be posthumously welcomed as an avatar of postmodern man in that he anticipated the decidedly non-omniscient spirit of our modern age. Such, needless to say, is not the mental universe inhabited by the new atheists whose philosophic stance seems more akin to that of Charless grandfather than to that of the grandson.

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Darwin and the Loss of the Enlightenment Paradigm - Discovery Institute

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October 12th, 2022 at 1:46 am

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Harvard Art Museums examines the power of print in the Enlightenment era – The Boston Globe

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That duality embodies Dare to Know, and the era itself, a period lauded for its great leaps forward in science and philosophy, but rife with contradictory failings. Printing plays prominently on both sides of the divide. Martin Luther broke the clergys grip on scripture by translating the bible from Latin and publishing it for the masses in 1522; by the 18th century, the printing industry had expanded to purposes both noble and nefarious. Think of mass printing as the Facebook of its time: an extraordinary tool for unity and progress, torqued in every possible direction, most of them not great. Dare to Know gamely explores its extremes.

The exhibitions introductory catalog essay offers a broad definition of the era and its discontents: (C)onceptions of the Enlightenment, its authors write, are intimately bound up with the ideals and failures of western modernity. Or as Margaret Atwood had it in The Handmaids Tale, a dystopian fantasy with a brutal ideal: Better never means better for everyone. Enlightenment is a relative term. The so-called Age of Reason was also very much an age of conquest, as European colonialism accelerated to every corner of the globe modernity, at its root. Neither enlightened nor reasonable, its brutality gave shape to the world today.

The Enlightenment yields at least one inarguable fact: It was the first real age of mass media. Printing technology, especially in color, advanced quickly throughout Europe in the 18th century. The reach of printed material was broad and unprecedented; as a tool to convince, cajole, or mislead, its power was unmatched. To extend the Facebook metaphor, printing was an explosive medium unrestrained by oversight and often fact, played to an audience without the tools and frequently without the will to scrutinize.

For a society still broadly illiterate, images had particular power. Even for those who could read, images vividly conveyed ideas in a way words could not. Detailed anatomical illustrations hardly faze us today, but they had seismic implications for 18th-century European society. In a section the show calls What does it mean to be human? a life-size print of a man relieved of his skin shows fine detail of every muscle fiber; in a tabletop vitrine, a textbook contains an unnervingly precise illustration of a fetus about to emerge from the womb.

Aimed mostly at an elite audience, such images were nonetheless jarring to a public and even a scientific community beholden to a notion of divine providence. Like Luthers publishing of the Bible almost two centuries before, widespread image distribution wobbled notions of Gods design with detailed studies of flora, fauna, and even the heavens. A luminous 1806 print here of the surface of the moon, captured over years of observation through a telescope by John Russell, may have demystified too much. Russell meant for the piece, with craters pockmarking its silvery surface, to pay homage to the majesty of the almighty. On a recent tour, exhibition co-curator Elizabeth Rudy speculated that it failed to find a broad audience because it was too scientifically precise.

Dare to Know took years to conceive, and includes loans from all over. It is impressively earnest in its breadth, treading the high ground of human ambition in philosophy and science. In a part of the exhibition dedicated to the burgeoning persuasion industry, William Hogarths Four Stages of Cruelty, from 1751, depict a violent mans intensifying transgressions: as a boy, torturing a dog; as a young coach driver, beating a horse to death; as an adult, murdering his pregnant lover; and finally executed for his crimes, his body being dismembered by scientists in a lab (in a final stroke of justice, a dog gnaws at his disembodied heart).

A moral tale with a ragged edge, Hogarths series embodies the competing values of a society in upheaval. A treatise against the rampant mistreatment of animals in Hogarths depiction, what we might now call a gateway crime the artist indulges his audience in wildly grotesque visual carnage. (Ill spare you the details of what he did to the poor dog.)

Hogarth had to walk a fine line: To convince, he would also have to entertain by familiar, brutal means. Enlightenment or not, this was still an era of public torture and execution. The Hogarth prints are a blunt reminder that the Enlightenment was at best a beginning for new ideas.

Dare to Know suggests a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Blithe depictions of a society preoccupied with the niceties of social progress conveniently excluded unsavory elements of an era of upheaval. For the show, the museums borrowed from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles a remarkable emblem of privileged excess: Louis Carrogis de Carmontelles Figures Walking in a Parkland, made between 1783 and 1800. Its a marvel both of technology and aspiration. A watercolor panorama across 10 connected sheets of paper, backlit and and set on a roller, it conjures an Arcadian scene of leisure amid lush gardens and ponds, a harmony of man and nature. Never mind, of course, the small snippet of society who could afford such indulgence, whether of money or time; an opulent amusement, the piece ignored the majority of a French nation gripped in rural poverty, or by squalor in cities choked by overcrowding and disease.

Dare to Know makes clear that enlightenment was available to select few, though it seeded something we might recognize. Popular revolutions in France and the United States grew at least partly out of Enlightenment notions of humanism and liberty, at odds with the dictates of a monarchy. Like the Enlightenment itself, they emerged grossly imperfect: France wound up with Napoleonic rule, and we with a democracy that recognized only white land-owning men. Flawed as it was, the experiment evolved, mostly for the better (though with wild midterm elections looming, lets hold that thought).

Dare to Know tells us its all too human for our reach to exceed our grasp. The exhibition ends where it begins: Just inside the doors, an image of a vast, planet-shaped orb shimmers like an alien landing pod touched down amid rows of cypress trees, blotting out the sky. It was made in 1784 by tienne-Louis Boulle, who imagined a cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton, the preeminent natural philosopher of his day. With his oppressive ideal an absolute sublime Boulle proposed a utopia and dystopia all at once. Better for some, but definitely not all.

DARE TO KNOW: PRINTS AND DRAWINGS IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

At Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. Through Jan. 15, 2023. 617-495-9400, http://www.harvardartmuseums.org.

Murray Whyte can be reached at murray.whyte@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheMurrayWhyte.

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Harvard Art Museums examines the power of print in the Enlightenment era - The Boston Globe

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The European program and enlightenment of minds – Egypt Independent

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The BBC recently decided to stop broadcasting in Arabic, alongside dozens of other languages, citing its decision on budgetary necessities.

Whatever the justification, a difficult question arises: was suspension really the best solution to confront the financial crisis, or was it better to resort to other sacrifices?

The importance of this question lies in the fact that the suspension option will remain under consideration by many international media experts.

In contrast to the enormous heritage of knowledge that the BBC has built over its 84 years of history, from which it has nourished successive generations to the extent that it has made the Arabic-speaking wing of the BBC a prestigious media school, thanks to its rich programs and broadcasters who captivated audiences with their voices

There is no doubt that those generations, raised on the legacy of the BBC and who have gleaned from it an inexhaustible intellectual treasure, will be most saddened by this suspension decision.

There is no field of knowledge that did not occupy a distinguished place among comprehensive programs: scientific, literary, philosophical, politics, social sciences, etc

The truth is that the BBCs decision to sacrifice an important part of its invaluable media entity reminds me of a similar incident to an old Egyptian radio program, running since 1934 and broadcast along with the General Program for more than 38 years.

Over the course of its long history the European Program played an unparalleled role in feeding Egyptian culture with tributaries of international culture in multiple languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Armenian.

It also played a similar role in introducing foreigners to Egypt, whether for residence or for the purpose of tourism.

This role has gradually expanded to also include foreigners in their countries thanks to the satellite broadcasting service of the European Program via Nilesat.

There is no doubt that those in charge of the European Program are making a great effort to develop it technically and administratively with all the special means available to them, following the departure of many of its bright broadcasters who built its glorious reputation through their work in radio, including dramas, media dialogue, and high cultural, political, social, artistic, educational and entertainment programs.

It is difficult if not impossible to find a single cultural area to which the European Program has not dedicated a program.

And if we look closely at the nature of the dedicated listeners of the European Program, we find that they represent various segments of the Egyptian society.

Some of them were familiar with foreign languages and were keen to learn from other cultures, and some of them have had little luck with it and strive to learn it and understand the rich conversations and meetings taking place, especially since the guests of the European Program were mostly senior thinkers, scholars, novelists, Western and Arab diplomats, such as Yahya Haqqi, Boutros Ghaly, Hussein Fawzy, etc.

Their intellectual repertoire was filled with rare dialogue and symbols of global and national thought, and a huge number of cultural performances of the works of Molire, Racine and Chekhov, whose characters were played by the presenters of the European Program themselves.

Thanks to these outstanding performance, their shows won the top prizes more than once in international competitions for the best radio works.

The philosophy of the European Program on the Egyptian radio was based mainly on enlightening Egyptians about other cultures and ways of thoughts, and introducing the outside world in turn to the glory of ancient Egypt and modern Egypts achievements, such as its pivotal role in combating extremist fundamentalist thought and its openness to global human culture.

This message is an integral part of national security.

However, despite the efforts of those in charge of the European Program and their unparalleled dedication to developing it, their aspiration to support its message, it seems that there are restrictions that stifle them restrictions imposed on them within the framework of a plan called the Broadcast Restructuring Plan, where the European Program and its enlightenment has no place.

Thus, let its fans provide for its shroud.

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The European program and enlightenment of minds - Egypt Independent

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Why Russia sees itself as much more than just a nation – Big Think

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The following is an excerpt from Russia: Myths and Realities, written by Rodric Braithwaite and published by Pegasus Books.

NATION, MYTH, HISTORY

Russia is a country with an unpredictable past. Popular Russian saying

Everyone has a national narrative, constructed from fact, fact misremembered and myth. People tell themselves stories about their past to give some meaning to the confusions of their present. They rewrite their stories from generation to generation to adapt them to new realities. They omit, forget or wholly reinvent episodes that are uncomfortable or disgraceful.

These stories have deep roots. They feed our patriotism. They help us understand who we are, where we come from, where we belong. Our rulers believe them no less than we do. They hold us together in a Nation and inspire us to sacrifice our lives in its name.

The British have their Island Story of undeviating progress from Magna Carta towards power, freedom and democracy, punctuated by shining victories over the French: Winston Churchill wrote it up in his grandiloquent A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. The English acquired, exploited and then lost three empires in 600 years. The descendants of their imperial subjects think of them as greedy, brutal, devious and hypocritical. That is not at all how they think of themselves.

But the Nation is a slippery thing. Nations are like amoebas. They emerge from the depths of history. They wriggle around. They split by binary fission, recombine in different configurations, absorb their neighbours or are absorbed by them, and then disappear. War, politics, dynastic marriage, popular referendums shift provinces from one side of a frontier to the other. Ordinary people can be born in one country, grow up in another and die in a third, all without leaving their home town. Ask a Frenchman who was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1869. Ask an Austrian Jew who was born on the border of Slovakia and Hungary in 1917. Ask a Pole who was born before the Second World War in what is now the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which since its foundation as Levhorod in the thirteenth century has been known to its Polish, Austrian, German and Russian rulers as Lww, Lemberg and Lvov.

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Few of the states in todays Europe existed before the First World War. When Columbus discovered America, Germany, Italy, Russia and even France and Britain were still fragmented and the Polish-Lithuanian Union was on the way to becoming the largest state in Europe.

The idea of Europe is itself largely an artificial construction, an attempt to bring under one roof a collection of countries at the western end of the Euro-Asian land mass, each very different from the others, ranging from Iceland to Romania, from Norway to Greece, from Spain to Estonia, loosely bound together by a tradition of Christianity and a murderous record of domestic persecution, bloody rebellion and violent religious conflict at home, endless war for power and loot, genocide, slavery and imperial brutality abroad.

By those depressing standards Russians have as good a claim to be European as anyone else. Partly because of its huge extent eastwards into Asia, both Russians and foreigners nevertheless wonder whether Russia is part of Europe at all. Many of their immediate neighbours consider them Asiatic barbarians, and point angrily to the sufferings that the Russians have inflicted on them over the centuries. Napoleon was right, they think, when he allegedly said, Scratch a Russian and youll find a Tartar. More than a thousand years ago a people arose on the territory of todays Russia whose origins are disputed. They adopted the Orthodox version of Christianity from Byzantium, thus irrevocably distinguishing themselves from those elsewhere in Europe who chose Roman Catholicism. They developed their own Slavonic language. They created Kievan Rus, which for a while was the largest and one of the most sophisticated, if also one of the most ramshackle, states in Europe. It is from here that todays Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians trace their origins.

But Kievan Rus was invaded and destroyed in the thirteenth century by the Mongols. Its splintered fragments were reassembled over the following centuries under the name of Muscovy by the hitherto insignificant northern city of Moscow. The new state was struck down by internal strife, economic disaster and Polish invasion. It recovered, and Peter the Great and his successors transformed it into an imperial Great Power, a dominant force in European politics. In the nineteenth century Russia helped to define the nature of modern European culture.

Russias existence was again seriously challenged by Napoleon, by the Germans and as a result of the wounds the Russians inflicted on themselves in the twentieth century. Stalin put Russia back on the map, transformed the economy and won the war against Germany, all at a horrendous human cost. Then in 1991 the empire flew apart. Russia collapsed again into poverty, incoherence and international irrelevance. For many Russians it was Vladimir Putin, whom they elected president in 2000, who saved them from unbearable humiliation and restored Russia to something like its rightful place in the world.

Edward Gibbon said that History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind. Russians, like the rest of us, prefer to believe that their history has progressed in a straight and positive line. They explain away troubling events such as the brutal reigns of Ivan the Terrible or Stalin as necessary stages on the path to greatness.

The Russians are fascinating, ingenious, creative, sentimental, warm-hearted, generous, obstinately courageous, endlessly tough, often devious, brutal and ruthless. Ordinary Russians firmly believe that they are warmer-hearted than others, more loyal to their friends, more willing to sacrifice themselves for the common good, more devoted to the fundamental truths of life. They give the credit to the Russian soul, as broad and all-embracing as the Russian land itself. Their passionate sense of Russias greatness is paradoxically undermined by an underlying and corrosive pessimism. And it is tempered by resentment that their country is insufficiently understood and respected by foreigners.

Russian reality is coloured by the disconcerting and deeply rooted phenomenon of vranyo. This is akin to the Irish blarney, but lacks the overtone of roguish charm. Individuals, officials, governments tell lies if they believe it serves their interests, or those of their bosses, their organization or the state. They were doing it in the sixteenth century, when English traders advised their colleagues to deal with Russians only in writing, For they bee subtill people, and do not alwaies speake the trueth, and think other men to be like themselves. They are doing it today. They are little concerned if their interlocutor is aware that they are lying, though that does not stop Russian governments from punishing those who challenge their veracity. Ordinary Russians may find it easier to believe what their government says. But there are limits. Disgust with the entangling lie drives many of the characters in Dostoevskys novels to extravagant confession. The systematic mendacity of Soviet officials and ideologists was a constant theme of dissident writers such as Alexander Solzhenistyn.

As repugnance grew among ordinary people too, it helped to bring down the Soviet regime.

Churchill remarked that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. That has become an excuse for intellectual laziness. But understanding Russia is a challenge, and you have to start by trying to disentangle the facts from the myths created both by the Russians themselves and by those who dislike them. The Encyclopdia Britannica described Russia in 1782 as a very large and powerful kingdom of Europe, governed by a complete despotism and inhabited by vicious and drunken savages. The Marquis de Custine, a French reactionary deeply at odds with his own society, visited Russia briefly in 1839. The book he wrote, La Russie en 1839, was highly intelligent, perceptive, witty, biased and profoundly superficial. He saw little of Russian society apart from the aristocracy, who he concluded had just enough of the gloss of European civilization to be spoiled as savages but not enough to become cultivated. They were like trained bears who made you long for the wild ones. Custines book was compulsory reading in the US embassy in Moscow in the 1960s. It reflects the attitudes of many foreign observers today. It is not the best starting point for any attempt to understand the country.

Some argue that there was never anything as coherent as a Russian national state. Most Russians, though, seem to have little doubt. Whatever is meant by a nation, they believe that theirs is exceptional, chosen by God or History to bring enlightenment to a benighted world. This Messianic sense of mission was born out of Orthodoxy in medieval Muscovy and has survived ever since. It was promoted by Dostoevsky and a host of others in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century the Bolsheviks shared the sense of mission, although for them God was replaced by History working its way through the instrument of Communism. But their Brave New World began to look suspiciously like the old Russian empire under another name.

Russians and those who wish them well can be forgiven for despairing at the disasters they so regularly inflict on others and on themselves. After the Soviet collapse they returned to the idea that modern Russia had an exclusive claim to the inheritance of the Orthodox state of Kievan Rus. Vladimir Putin was consumed by the idea that our great common misfortune and tragedy was the division since 1991 between Russia and Ukraine, between the parts of what he called essentially the same historical and spiritual space. The obsession fueled his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

*

A fascination with Russia and its people has occupied me for much of my life. I was there as the Soviet Union collapsed. That colours some of the judgements that follow in this short and, I hope, measured history.

Even before the Berlin Wall came down it seemed as if Ukraines desire for independence might trigger the disintegration of the Soviet Union. By the early 1990s neither a war between Russia and Ukraine nor the possibility that the Russian democratic experiment would fail as disastrously as Germanys Weimar Republic seemed beyond imagination.

Some of my other judgements were sadly wrong. Russia has not yet lost its imperial itch. Putins brutal invasion of Ukraine has postponed for many decades the prospect that Russia will become the modern democratic state at peace with its neighbors which so many courageous Russians had fought so hard to create.

But no people should ever be written off as beyond redemption. I hang on to the golden image of the Firebird, which flits through the dark forests of Russian folklore to symbolize the hope that Russia will see better days.

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Banned Books Then and Now – Research Blog – Duke University

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With the never-ending news of schools banning books, one has to ask about the history and effectiveness of banned books. Fortunately, the Duke Forever Learning Institute hosted a seminar on the history of banned books in late September and provided examples that showed the ineffectiveness of banned books throughout time.

There was one particular story, however, that caught my eye, and that was the retelling of the history behind a banned book written by a man named Gottschalk.Clare Woods, an associate professor of Classical Studies at Duke, delineated the narrative of Gottschalks life from birth to prisoner.

Gottschalk was born to an aristocratic family around 803 AD and started his academic career when he moved into Fulder, a monastery, to become a monk. However, in 829 AD, Gottschalk left Fulder for reasons based either on the loss of his older brother or the enlightenment he received from the monastery he attended while studying abroad.

Upon leaving Fulder, Gottschalk studied at the monasteries of Corby and then moved to northern Italy after he received his orientation as a priest. Gottschalk was unusual because monks tended not to move around that much, and monks also tended not to speak about their studies on heretical doctrine. Unfortunately for Gottschalk, he ignored the criticisms from other monks and instead grew confident in his studies to the point where he wrote a book about them.

While receiving hate for his ideas from multiple people, one man from Gottschalks past was truly adamant about having Gottschalk punished. This man was named Rabbanis, and he was accused by Gottschalk of coercing Gottschalks earlier career as a monk. From that, and with Gottschalk leaving the Fulder, Rabbanis developed a personal vendetta against Gottschalk.

Gottschalk, the confident man he was, decided to defend himself at a Synod in Mainz, but it proved unsuccessful because he was condemned by the Synod and banned from the Kingdom of Louis. From there on, things did not improve for Gottschalk because, in the following year, he was brought to a second Synod that was attended by King Charles, who was the brother of King Louis the German. By the end of this Synod, Gottschalk was stripped of his priesthood, sentenced to silence, and imprisoned.

However, even with the punishments Gottschalk personally received and his books being burned, his books were still preserved and influential on others.

This influence seen with Gottschalks books after being banned was not an anomaly because that was seen with all banned books throughout history.

Another example was given by Lauren Ginsberg, an associate professor of classical studies, who presented Permussius Cordis, an author who lived under the Roman emperor Tiberius in the 1st century AD.

His story ended in tragedy since his books were included in a mass book burning and he was sentenced to death. However, his book still was able to influence the Roman population due to his daughter Marshas vigilance in keeping her fathers book alive.

While I only provided two examples, this pattern of books withstanding their ban is throughout time, and it is being repeated in the present. Across this country, book banning is back in style. In 2018, there were only 347 books that schools formally challenged, but in 2021 it became 1,500.

While this does put light on our current education system in this country, this is simply a gesture. It does make us think about what children will be learning in schools, but because the books are banned in schools does not mean the information within those books will not reach their target demographic. As seen in history, knowledge always finds a way of spreading, but of course, that is dependent on those who want to expand that knowledge.

At the end of this article, I hope you are reassured that seeing a banned book does not mean it is forever silenced. Instead, I hope that by reading this, you understand that you have all the power to ensure that the words within a book can withstand anything, including time.

Post by Jakaiyah Franklin, Class of 2025

Citation: Freedman, Samuel G. A Display of Banned or Censored Books at a Bookstore Last October. Over a Recent 9 Month Period More than 1,500 Books Have Been Banned in Schools, Most Featuring Nonwhite Protagonists, Dealing with Racism, or Addressing the LGBTQ Experience. Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2022, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-06-27/book-bans-critical-race-theory-wisconsin. Accessed 10 Oct. 2022.

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Sotheby’s Asia Week Sales Total $19.5 Million – Antiques And The Arts Weekly – Antiques and the Arts Online

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This circa Fourteenth Century Korean large gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva achieved enlightenment at $441,000 in the Dharma & Tantra auction.

NEW YORK CITY With a combination of five live and online sales that took place September 20-27, Sothebys Asia Week realized a total of $19,544,742. Kicking off the week on September 20 was Power/Conquest: The Forging of Empires, which achieved a total of $7,090,524. The top price of the sale was $1,083,600, realized for the Yi Yu Gui, Western Zhou dynasty, King Zhao period, probably circa 980 BCE, which easily exceeded its $600/800,000 estimate.

That same day, in Dharma & Tantra, a large gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva, Korean, circa Fourteenth Century, sold within estimate for $441,000. It was the top lot in a sale that achieved a total of $2,816,730.The firms semiannual sale of Important Chinese Art on September 21, which made $7,394,562, was led at $756,000 by a superbly carved white jade dragon vase, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, which came in slightly below its $800,000-$1.2 million estimate.

Exceeding expectations, however, was a white-glazed Moon Jar from the Joseon dynasty, late Seventeenth or early Eighteenth Century. It made $403,200 against an estimate of $180/250,000 and was the high water mark in the firms Sublime Beauty: Korean Ceramics from a Private Collection auction on September 22 that brought $1,272,600.

Closing out Asia with an online sale titled China / 5000 Years, a Ming-style blue and white dragon moonflask, Qing dynasty, roared to $47,880, a substantial rise from its $10/15,000 estimate. The sale, which opened September 16, closed September 27 with a total of $970,326.

Prices quoted include the buyers premium as reported by the auction house. For information, http://www.sothebys.com.

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Hills You Should Head To The Next Time You Are In Bihar – Outlook India

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Do you know that Bihar has many attractions beyond the popular destinations such as Bodhgaya and Nalanda? Yes, you read it right. Bihar, which was once considered the centre of political and cultural power and a haven of learning, has some must-visit hills that will surely impress the traveller in you. Here's a look at five of them.

Rajgir Hills

Located in the Nalanda district, Rajgir is known for its picturesque views and as a historical and religious centre for Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. It is surrounded by five hills: Ratnagiri, Vipulachal, Vaibhavagiri, Songiri and Udaygiri. These hills are mainly associated with the life of the Buddha, who is believed to have taught there. The place also has a single-person ropeway that is said to be the oldest in the country. It runs at the top of Ratnagiri Hill and leads to the Vishwa Shanti Stupa and the Makhdoom Kund. Earlier this year, a zoo safari, a transparent glass bridge, and a new gondola ropeway were inaugurated to boost tourism at Rajgir.

How to reach: Private and state-run buses connect Rajgir to Patna, Gaya, Nalanda, etc.

Best time to visit: October-March

Bateshwar HillsSituated in the Bhagalpur district, the Bateshwar Hills are located 6km south of the town of Kursela. The main attraction here is the Bateshwarnath Temple, which was constructed in the 7th century, and is now a protected site by the Archaeological Survey of India. Also, since the Ganga flows northward here, the temple is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus.

How to reach: Public transport is available from Kahalgaon, 10km from Bateshwar Hills.

Best time to visit: July-August and October-March

Brahmajuni HillYou can witness some historic caves at the Brahmajuni Hills, where you can explore the alluring carvings engraved on the stone walls. Also, according to legend, this is the place where Buddha delivered his fire sermon to a thousand priests who were his followers and wanted to achieve enlightenment. You will have to climb a thousand stone steps to reach the top of the hill, where you can get a magnificent look at the city of Gaya.

How to reach: Take a public or private ride from the town of Gaya, which is 4km away from Brahmajuni Hill.

Best time to visit: October-March

PragbodhiPragbodhi (meaning before enlightenment) is located around 7km from Bodh Gaya. It is believed that Lord Buddha spent seven years in a cave on this hill before he attained enlightenment. A brief trek to the top of the hill offers spectacular views of the land around and the ruins of a few stupas.

How to reach: You can take a taxi or a cab to Pragbodhi. The trip will take you about one hour.

Best time to visit: October-March

Gurpa Hill

A Buddhist pilgrimage site, Gurpa Hill is located 25km northeast of Bodh Gaya. The mountain is said to be the site where Buddha's disciple Mahakasyapa died while waiting for the future Buddha, Maitreya, to arrive on earth. It is also considered one of the tallest peaks in the Gangetic plains. At the top of the mountain are a stupa and a Buddhist temple.

How to reach: Book a local cab, taxi or bus to get to Gurpa Peak, located 48 Km from the city of Gaya.

Best time to visit: October-March

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Hills You Should Head To The Next Time You Are In Bihar - Outlook India

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October 12th, 2022 at 1:45 am

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Elon Musk’s ‘Exploratory Journeys’ And Charts Explaining Benefits Of Psychedelics Over Alcohol – Tesla (N – Benzinga

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Elon Musk has been forthcoming about psychedelic drugs and is not shy about discussing them and their benefits. Hes also been supportive of cannabis legalization.

The billionaire shared a chart with a friend,which showedMDMA and psychedelic mushrooms are healthier than alcohol use, according to the friendwho toldThe New York Times.

The Times, reportedThe Insider,then spoke with over 40 people who have spent time with Musk over the past 15 years, many of whom signed non-disclosure agreements or similarin order to attend parties with Musk. The Times also reported that for the past 20 years, Musk has attended nearly every Burning Man festival,usually with his younger brotherKimbal Musk and a friend he met there.

"I have been with him on mild exploratory journeys," said David Marglin, a Bay Area lawyer who met Musk at Burning Man where they struck up a 20-year friendship. "And he appreciates the value of those journeys. Nothing out of control or wild, but it's all night, and there's dancing and revelry."

In the past, theTeslaTSLACEOhas expressed supportfor psychedelics and ketamine. Earlier this year,he was part of aconversation between two Twitter users, one of whom, Netscape co-founderMarc Andreessenreferredto a2016 New York Times featureabout Adderall andwondered whether our present society was caused by social media. I'm wondering whether Adderall plus ubiquitous Google searches have bigger effects.

Musk responded, "I've talked to many more people who were helped by psychedelics & ketamine than SSRIs & amphetamines."

More recently, the billionaire said in aninterview with Full Send Podcastthat he thinks psychedelics can be "pretty helpful" for PTSD and depression. Musk alsonotedhe and the "whole of SpaceX" had been subjected to random drug tests for a year after he appeared on a podcast with Joe Rogan in which he smoked weed.

Musk is far not the only successfultech CEO who has showninterest in psychedelics. Apple founder Steve Jobs also talked aboutmicrodosingpsychedelics drugs, such as LSD or psilocybin mushrooms in order to promote creativity. Jobs also spent time inIndia seeking enlightenment and studying Zen Buddhism.

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Elon Musk's 'Exploratory Journeys' And Charts Explaining Benefits Of Psychedelics Over Alcohol - Tesla (N - Benzinga

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All the latest of the BTSC family of Pittsburgh Steelers podcasts – Behind The Steel Curtain

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Steelers 2022 is ongoing and we here at BTSC, and our podcast platform, are here with you every step of the way. In the past we have given you the podcasts in individual articles on the BTSC website, but weve decided to go with a Podcast Roundup article which has the latest three podcasts for your enjoyment. The reasoning behind this is to take up less space on the site for the great written content we have at BTSC.

With that being said or typed, enjoy the shows below with a brief description of each show:

Mike Tomlin wont sugarcoat it. I guess we shouldnt either. The Steelers got smashed, and some fans are in very unfamiliar territory. So, BTSC podcast producer Bryan Anthony Davis decided to make no apologies and share his black-and-gold brand of enlightenment. Join BAD preaching his own gospel of the hypocycloids on the new show, BAD Language.

The Steelers lost...again. This time, it was the worst defeat for the franchise in 33 years. So now that that ugly debacle against the Bills is out of the way, and now that the team has dropped to 1-4 to start the 2022 campaign, you get to choose your Steelers narrative for whats wrong and what needs to change moving forward. Join Bryan Anthony Davis, Shannon White and Tony Defeo for this edition of the Steelers Hangover!

Check out the rundown of the show:

The Steelers shuffled off to Buffalo and stumbled back to the Steel City as 38-3 losers. What did it look like stat wise? Thank goodness for the Stat Geek to break it all dahn. This is just one of the topics that will be discussed by Dave Schofield on the Thursday episode of the AM podcast lineup, The Steelers Stat Geek. Join BTSCs Editor as he pulls out the Steelers slide rule and geeks out only like he can.

Check out the rundown of the show:

Be sure to check out this and all episodes on the following platforms:

Apple Users: CLICK HERE

Spotify: CLICK HERE

Google Play: CLICK HERE

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All the latest of the BTSC family of Pittsburgh Steelers podcasts - Behind The Steel Curtain

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October 12th, 2022 at 1:45 am

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Today’s Wills and Probate turns 8! – Today’s Wills & Probate

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Wills, probate, trusts, tax, estate planning, inheritance, LPAs, regulation, legislation, caselaw

These are not topics you will find covered in your local newspaper and they are seldom found in your national newspaper, either.

But thats not all. Views and opinions on such niche topics, mental health and wellbeing, technological developments affecting the law, industry developments and updates not to mention awards ceremonies.

News on all of the above finds its home at Todays Wills and Probate, and has now done so for eight years.

Eight years or 2,921 days that has seen 5,810 articles distributed in 417 weekly newsletters, the launch of Women in Wills, and four (soon to be five) national award ceremonies along the way for good measure.

It is our absolute privilege to provide the information and enlightenment to practitioners that is so crucial to their practice, and therefore to the clients to whom their service is indispensable.

Yet, this has not been achieved alone.

319 contributors from around the industry including solicitors, barristers, will writers, suppliers, regulators, ombudsmen, representative bodies, and everything in between have taken the time out of their busy schedules to author a guest piece for the site.

Weve been fortunate enough to partner with nearly 50 businesses over the years who have helped to ensure that Todays Wills and Probate remains a free to subscribe publication; some of whom have been with us since pretty much day 1! And with our continued growth, theres no doubting that Todays Wills and Probate is theplace to come to open up a dialogue with our community of wills and probate professionals.

Last but most definitely not least, thousands of practitioners head to their inbox every Friday and read what we have to say about the latest goings on in their industry. Their attention and support has never faded and only continues to grow.

The first article on the site set out a simple aim: To keep wills and probate professionals up to date with everything thats happening within the industry. With plenty of help, were getting there Thank you.

David Opie, Managing Director of Todays Media, publishers of Todays Wills and Probate, said:

I often say to people that writing a daily news publication about an area of law that was enacted in 1837, and remains largely unchanged since, can be challenging.

And when you consider the huge shift toward digitisation, not to mention a global pandemic, the industry has gone through some significant changes over the past 8 years.

And yet I think the biggest changes are yet to come. Yes, they come with risk, but like anything there are opportunities for reward too. And we must embrace that opportunity as an industry.

Rest assured, Todays Wills and Probate will be there every step of the way keeping you update to date with the latest news, innovations and happenings in this fantastic sector. Thank you to everyone for their support over the past eight years, and heres to many more.

Karen Babington, Non-Executive Director of Todays Media and the driving force behind the publications early success said:

Has it really been 8 years since we launched Todays Wills and Probate? I always admired Chris (Harris) when he introduced Todays Conveyancer and developed it to be an independent hub for news, innovation and discussion, quickly becoming the go-to news publication for conveyancers. Thankfully, Chris supported me in my curiosity to launch a legal publication, extending our knowledge of the wills and probate sector and the specialists who work within it.

Its fulfilling that this respected publication has found a safe and respected place within the wills and probate sector, spanning both regulated and unregulated companies. I am lucky enough to have made many long-standing close friends over the eight years, shared many trials, tribulations and laughs which of course is an additional bonus.

Thanks to all of you who, during the eight-year term,have contributed to the publication, supported it financially, and of course to those of you who have subscribed. From TWP, the British Wills and Probate awards and Women in Wills were born with David Opie now firmly at the helm, what will be next?

CTT Group is a proud, long-standing partner of Todays Wills & Probate, and we are delighted to have played a part in supporting TWP from its inception to today, said Andrew Houston, Director of CTT Group, adding:

It has become a keystone for the sector and remains the only publication that spans the broad spectrum of practitioners, including, but not limited to, solicitors, will writers, IFAs and accountants. TWP keeps us all abreast of important news and allows for vital engagement, helping to connect many practitioners across the estate planning industry.

The British Wills and Probate Awards have been an exciting addition to our calendars, creating a genuine focus on best practices and inspiring all across the industry.

It has been a privilege to work with TWP and watch it grow year after year. Heres to many years more!

Michael Edwards, Group Managing Director of Property Solutions Group, enduring supporters of the publication and headline sponsors of the British Wills and Probate Awards, said:

Having been involved with Todays Wills & Probate since their early days, its been great to work with them and support their journey which has seen them become the central point of news, discussion, and celebration for the probate industry.

WillSuite is another long-standing partner of the publication. They said:

WillSuite have been partners of Todays Wills and Probate since our inception back in 2015. Having built revolutionary software for the will writing industry, we recognised the need to shout across the rooftops about it to ensure we could present it to industry professionals far and wide.

Partnering with Todays Wills and Probate allowed us to grow the product into a success and attract a wide customer base. Our partnership continues to be a valuable marketing channel for us, especially with the shift into providing in-person events and conferences over recent years.

The team at WillSuite will be raising a glass to celebrate eight years of Todays Wills and Probate and its drive to not only keep the industry up to date with the latest news, but also the success it has had in bringing together a community of industry professionals.

This year also marks the fifth Annual British Wills and Probate Awards, which WillSuite are proud to be sponsoring.

Nik Harrison-Alway, Group Managing Director, Harrisons Probate Solutions, one of Todays Wills and Probates most recent partners, commented:

As a service provider to the legal sector its vital to keep up to date with the latest events, news, help and advice. Todays Wills and Probate and its subscribers continue to provide important content from across the industry and this meant it was an easy decision to partner with the publication.

Not only do we find the communications informative, but they assist in ensuring we are active as a company in continuing to grow our range of services to help support the sector.

Todays Wills and Probate has also become a valuable tool in helping to promote our company and services and ensure we are able to continue to grow and do what we are best at, which is to support private client solicitors with their probate support needs.

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Today's Wills and Probate turns 8! - Today's Wills & Probate

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October 12th, 2022 at 1:45 am

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