Holidays
On MLK Day
King graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 with a degree in sociology. He was unhappy with his major, however, complaining about the “apathetic fallacy of statistics.” While at Morehouse, King decided to change his field of study. He entered Crozer Theological Seminary, where he absorbed the writings of political philosophers “from Plato and Aristotle,” King wrote, “down to Rousseau, Hobbes, Bentham, Mill and Locke.”
In a beautiful tribute to King, delivered at Spellman College in 1986, then secretary of education William Bennett explained why King turned to the liberal arts. In Bennett’s words:
Martin Luther King turned to the greatest philosophers because he needed to know the answers to certain questions. What is justice? What should be loved? What deserves to be defended? What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope for? What is man? These questions are not simply intellectual diversions, but have engaged thoughtful human beings in all places and in all ages. As a result of the ways in which these questions have been answered, civilizations have emerged, nations have developed, wars have been fought, and people have lived contentedly or miserably. And as a result of the way in which Martin Luther King eventually answered these questions, Jim Crow was destroyed and American history was transformed.
“The apathetic fallacy of statistics.” Sharp phrase. Reminds me of the following article (yes, it’s a bit of a tangent, I admit):
By about a quarter-century ago, however, it had become obvious to sophisticated experimentalists that the idea that we could settle a given policy debate with a sufficiently robust experiment was naive. The reason had to do with generalization, which is the Achilles’ heel of any experiment, whether randomized or not. In medicine, for example, what we really know from a given clinical trial is that this particular list of patients who received this exact treatment delivered in these specific clinics on these dates by these doctors had these outcomes, as compared with a specific control group.
– What Social Science Does—and Doesn’t—Know, Jim Manzi, City Journal
Lake Arrowhead New Year
I thought I would add a photo of my house at Lake Arrowhead on New Years weekend. The road going down the hill is an access road, sort of an alley but the only access for some homes up here. My house is in the far distance in line with the road, which makes a left turn at my fence. I was walking my basset hound who loves the snow but has to jump like a sled dog breaking a trail in anything more than 6 inches of snow.
The main road is to the right and the house backs up to it but faces the access road. I have a third of an acre, all level, so the dog is content. It was 14 degrees that morning so he was not eager to go out until a bit later in the day. I’ve been coming up here for weekends for 35 years. It’s nice to be home now. It’s two hours to my previous home in Orange County and about two hours to the beach.
Happy New Year
2010 has been an unusually exciting year. The political world experienced an earthquake. I got play a very small part in it, and I am glad I did. Perhaps this earthquake will do nothing except break some windows. Or maybe it well set the whole course of our history in a new direction. Too early to say. Thanks be to God, we do have elections here in the good old USA, and they are not merely window dressing. It is easy to be cynical, but it is still true that our fate resides in our own hands to a far greater degree than most people in most places and times could have claimed. I will offer the opinion that the creative powers of the American people, and people throughout the world, have barely been tapped, and that our greatest days lie ahead of us. Fingers crossed.
It was a year of many good posts on this blog, from our brilliant and eclectic mix of contributors. What exactly joins us is not perfectly clear, but I think it is a general agreement on principles of political and economic freedom, and a love for the fruits of that freedom, including good books, for history and its lessons and pleasures, for forceful but civil disagreement and debate, for clear thinking and facts and evidence, for music and food and liquor, and for the excitement and energy which a free and enterprising people enjoy.
As the years go by I find that I am increasingly pleased and proud to be associated with this blog. I told Jonathan some months ago that it occurred to me that even if I did not post on it, ChicagoBoyz would be one of my favorite blogs. Life is full of good fortune, and this is just one example.
Onward to a new decade, a new year, and what promises to be an interesting and possibly momentous time in our history. We will have much to write about and argue about in 2011.
Godspeed and dread nought!
Forward the Anglosphere!
God bless America!
Happy New Year!