tl;dr: Ergot is a forgotten plague that teaches a lesson about the cost of ignorance, and perhaps, offers another one on the price of sanity and the value of a little madness. (1,620 words) "An old cautionary tale has it that there once was a kingdom in which all the grain crop one exceptional year … Continue reading Ergot on Rye
Category: essays
The Bedouin Way of Life in Rub’ al Khali
tl;dr: The impact of oil on Bedouin is a useful entry into thinking about the systemic risk of urban settlements. The historical record over the last 10,000 years provides numerous examples of abrupt climate changes, pandemics, Empire collapse and other crises that suggest that our current global, interconnected civilization presents an unprecedented source of systemic … Continue reading The Bedouin Way of Life in Rub’ al Khali
