Classification

The XVII century French botanist Adanson, in his "Histoire naturelle du Sénégal" (I read it in a citation dy Foucault), describes his "Method" for classifying species. He begins with an arbitrary species, he describes thoroughly this species, than he passes to the next and describes only the differences; he then passes to a third species, and describes only the differences with the first two species. Eventually he arrives at a tabel composde only of differential characters among the species that allows to distinguish the "natural families". It is striking that the method is exactly the same of cluster analysis, only without the help of computer power.

Imprudence

Le prix Nobel pour l'économie Paul Krugmann a declaré qu'il faudrait réduire le chômage au coût même d'augmenter l'inflation. Enfin! Il s'agit bien sûr d'hérésie pure pour les néo-liberistes et les prêtres des banques centrales. Bernanke, le président de la Federal Reserve américaine, a dit qu'il est "imprudent". Imprudent car l'inflation réduit le capital des "épargneurs", c'est à dire des riches.

Competition

I have read (in a citation) the following passage from Jerom Cardanus: "it is well known that plants hate each other ... they say that olive and vine hate cabbage, that cocomber escapes from olive. Considering that they grow because of the heath of sun and moisture of earth, it is necessary that every large tree is obnoxious to other plants, and also the tree with many roots". It is exactly and precisely what today ecologists call competition for resources.

Donne

Secondo il Corano la donna vale la metà di un uomo. Secondo gli italiani, temo, un cinquantesimo.

Anni '70

La morte di Moro (e soprattutto la paura che le Brigate Rosse avevano messo a moltissimi) causarono un tale trauma da provocare la totale rimozione di quello che era successo negli anni ’70. I ragazzi non ne sanno praticamente niente, e non certo perché il periodo non si studia a scuola – sul fascismo infatti sono genericamente informati da quello che sentono in giro, non certo dalle lezioni. Le rimozioni, si sa, provocano nevrosi, e la nostra nevrosi forse è stata Berlusconi. Ne siamo usciti (sembra) con una doccia gelata – tecnica in uso insieme all’elettroshock nei manicomi di una volta.

Prophets of doom

With his skull studded with diamonds, was Damien Hirst prophetising the crise and collapse of economies of Western civilization? He was actually only joking, in particular with the market of contemporary art, but a mark of prophecy is to be unaware of the true meaning of his visions. Moreover, ancient prophets and oracles were de facto the psychoanalysts of old ages, and psychonanalysis tells as that a diagnosis is a cure. What is thew diagnosis? The main theme of all of Hirst’s works is the obliteration of death in contemporary society. Science in fact has resolved all our material problems, with the negligible exception of death, and we cope with this unavoidable truth by psychoanalytical repression of the fear of death. Perhaps, if we face the problem, our economical and social nevroses will disappear.