Thursday, April 02, 2009

Harry Truman Strikes Again

Remember my favorite Truman quote -- The only thing new in the world is the history we don't know. I'm still just working the fringes of True Enough (again, anyone who tells you spring and summer are "slow" in academia is a liar or tenured full professor), but I've blogged here about the key outlines.

Discovered this quote in another book I'm co-skimming at this time. It's from the 15th century French essayist Michel de Montaigne:

Truth for us nowadays is not what is, but what others can be brought to accept.

Our internet age isn't always as unique as we'd like it. If our weather isn't unprecedented, we can't make the changes we want. If our crisis aren't the worst of all time, hard to justify our suffering.

At the same time, I got another validation for Farhad Manjoo's thinking while visiting with a colleague recently. At a particular school, the new coach arrived and demanded a media guide that had "none of those records or history." Ah yes, let us create our own reality in which our program is one of the finest in America. Don't let the fact that its suffered dozens of losing seasons get in the way. We are the Bestest! Go Lake Woebegon High -- where all teams are above average.

Here's for hoping our variable realities can get reconciled back to a time where there are certain truths.

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