Sublime

«As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.» Harrington Emerson8

in part 2, we will propose four basic principles that are sufficient to predict typical exponents observed for cities, based on a few basic features of human behavior and infrastructure networks.

future. One of the main lessons of behavioral economics is that small changes to the environment we live in matter.

Traditionally, science seeks order by understanding the simplest parts of a system. How does a single gas particle behave given a certain temperature? Which gene in our DNA determines eye color? Scientists then try to develop theories that explain more general observations based on their detailed understanding of the individual parts.

Paul Ramsey, a prominent Protestant theologian, published Fabricated Man: The Ethics of Genetic Control. It is a turgid book with one vivid sentence: “Men ought not to play God before they learn to be men.”

There is no formula that allows us to fast-forward to find out what the result will be. The world cannot be solved; it has to be lived.