Number of words: 745 The goals of an activity are not always as clear as those of tennis, and the feedback is often more ambiguous than the simple “I am not falling” information processed by the climber. A composer of music, for instance, may know that he wishes to write a song, or a flute … Read more
Number of words: 682 The myth of King Midas well illustrates the point that controlling external conditions does not necessarily improve existence. Like most people, King Midas supposed that if he were to become immensely rich, his happiness would be assured. So he made a pact with the gods, who after much haggling granted his … Read more
Number of words: 896 Unfortunately, the nervous system has definite limits on how much information it can process at any given time. There are just so many “events” that can appear in consciousness and be recognized and handled appropriately before they begin to crowd each other out. Walking across a room while chewing gum at … Read more
Number of words: 807 We grow up believing that what counts most in our lives is that which will occur in the future. Parents teach children that if they learn good habits now, they will be better off as adults. Teachers assure pupils that the boring classes will benefit them later, when the students are … Read more
Number of words: 1,003 Traditionally, the problem of existence has been most directly confronted through religion, and an increasing number of the disillusioned are turning back to it, choosing either one of the standard creeds or a more esoteric Eastern variety. But religions are only temporarily successful attempts to cope with the lack of meaning … Read more
Number of words: 396 In 1907 Britain signed an agreement with China, undertaking to phase out all opium exports from India, over a ten-year period, provided that China’s suppression of its domestic drug industry met similar annual targets. Many British colonial officials assumed, no doubt, that China would fail to meet its targets, thereby giving … Read more
Number of words: 2,125 In the nineteenth century it was common for Westerners to blame China’s civilizational crisis on the country’s inward-looking culture, particularly the inflated sense of self that was implied in the idea of the ‘Middle Kingdom’, and the pretensions to cultural (and even racial) superiority that led many Chinese to refer to … Read more
Number of words: 700 In time European states did indeed borrow freely from Chinese models of governance. As the historian Stephen R. Platt has noted, the East India Company’s adoption of a competitive examination system in 1806 was inspired largely by what its traders had learned of the Chinese system in Canton. This in turn … Read more
Number of words: 1,056 Defenders of the British Empire’s drug trade often drew parallels between alcohol and opium: like wine and spirits in Europe, went the argument, opium had been used in India for centuries, generally in moderation, so there was no reason why it should not be treated as a source of revenue, just … Read more
Number of words: 333 Nepal and Tibet had long served as China’s principal sources of information on the Indian subcontinent. For Nepal, this function became even more important after 1792, when the Qianlong Emperor sent an expedition against the Gurkha kingdom because of various disputes over the Qing territories in Tibet.” As the Manchu general … Read more
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