Sublime

Less was expected of the “irrational” Arabs than of the “civilized” Jews. (This form of double-standard racism—racism against but ultimately favorable to the Arabs—has recurred in current times.)

In the 1930s, Max Kleiber, a Swiss agricultural biologist, observed that, across mammal species, from shrews to elephants, the energy required to maintain basic metabolic function is closely correlated with an organism’s body size.

fragmentation of the social sense-making and collective action capacity

Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit—in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.” 3

By 1956, the sociologist William H. Whyte saw a “decline of the Protestant ethic” and the rise of “the organization man,” for whom conformity was prized over initiative.

Dans ses études, Tajfel démontre deux choses : premièrement, que les humains sont sociaux, et deuxièmement qu’ils sont antisociaux. Ils sont sociaux parce qu’ils aiment les membres de leur propre groupe. Antisociaux parce qu’ils n’aiment pas ceux des autres groupes.

When we do, we assume the politicians are clients in a patron–client relationship, and we assume their obligations will cloud their impartial judgment.