{"id":7508,"date":"2023-11-04T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=7508"},"modified":"2024-05-07T15:58:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T15:58:39","slug":"choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/","title":{"rendered":"Choices, Change, Technology, and Using Our Brains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=29063&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=0&amp;bibId=11540728\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231023-The_progress_of_the_century_-_the_lightning_steam_press_the_electric_telegraph_the_locomotive_and_the_steamboat_LCCN90716345-trim2-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Currier and Ives: 'The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, [and] the steamboat'. (ca. 1876)\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:658px;height:527px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Currier &amp; Ives: &#8220;The progress of the century&#8230;&#8221;. (ca. 1876)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This week I&#8217;ll be looking at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Parts of that &#8220;&#8230;Progress of the Century&#8230;&#8221; lithograph<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A few lines from three poems by Tennyson<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What&#8217;s changed over the last couple centuries\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What hasn&#8217;t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll also explain why I don&#8217;t &#8220;believe in&#8221; Progress with a capital &#8220;P&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, I&#8217;d rather be living today than in 1923 or 1823.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s partly because we&#8217;ve made considerable progress, lowercase &#8220;p&#8221;, on the technology side of our lives. And some remarkable lowercase progress on the social side, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve been running a fever this week, so the discussion of <strong>P<\/strong>rogress and <strong>p<\/strong>rogress is a whole lot shorter than I&#8217;d planned. Which may be a good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week&#8217;s post may be a trifle more digressive than usual. You have been warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#mottoes\"><strong>Mottoes and Viewpoints<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#principles\">Principles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#steam\"><strong>Steam, Reform, and Poisoned Candy<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#long\">A Long-Overdue Change<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#optionally\">(Optionally) Rational Animals<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#candy\">The Candy Man Could<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#forward\"><strong>&#8220;Forward!&#8221; \u2014 With Hope<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#charge\">Charge of the Light Brigade and a Poet Laureate<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#progress\">Progress, Problems, Making Choices<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"mottoes\"><\/a>Mottoes and Viewpoints<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=29063&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=0&amp;bibId=11540728\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231023-The_progress_of_the_century_-_the_lightning_steam_press_the_electric_telegraph_the_locomotive_and_the_steamboat_LCCN90716345-detail1-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of telegraph tape, Currier and Ives: 'The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, [and] the steamboat'. (ca. 1876)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;&#8230;Peace. Good will&#8230;.&#8221; These were good ideas the 1870s, and still are.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That Currier &amp; Ives lithograph&#8217;s full title is &#8220;The progress of the century \u2014 the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, the steamboat&#8221;. All four new technologies were making a difference in people&#8217;s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they&#8217;re not what the mottoes on that telegraph tape are about. It reads, top to bottom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\">&#8220;GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. ON EARTH PEACE. GOODWILL TOWARD MEN.&#8221;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: small;\">&#8220;LIBERTY AND UNION NOW AND FOR EVER&#8221;<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: small;\">&#8220;ONE AND INSEPARABLE&#8221;<\/span><br>(Currier &amp; Ives: &#8220;The progress of the century&#8230;&#8221;. (ca. 1876))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, and briefly, about that first line. It&#8217;s an abbreviation of this bit from Luke:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:<br>&#8220;&#8216;Glory to God in the highest<br>and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/luke\/2#50002013\">Luke 2:13<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/luke\/2#50002014\">14<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Much as I&#8217;d like &#8220;on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests&#8221; and &#8220;on earth peace&#8221; to mean, in practical terms, the same thing \u2014 I&#8217;m pretty sure that God&#8217;s favor doesn&#8217;t entirely rest on everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not if &#8220;favor&#8221; means something like &#8220;approval&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know that sounds &#8220;judgmental&#8221;, but think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If God &#8216;favored&#8217; \u2014 gave approval to \u2014 everybody, then I&#8217;d have to try believing that God&#8217;s stamp of approval was on what everyone did. Like, for example, <strong>both<\/strong> on feeding the poor <strong>and<\/strong> on killing folks because they have the &#8216;wrong&#8217; ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can sympathize with folks who chucked &#8220;Biblical morality&#8221; because ranting loonies said rock and roll music was &#8220;Satanic&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I&#8217;m sure that some actions are wrong, no matter how I feel or what the circumstances, that &#8220;legal&#8221; and &#8220;right&#8221; aren&#8217;t the same thing, and that&#8217;s another topic. Topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, I don&#8217;t see God as a senile but cheerful grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;By the goodness of God we mean nowadays almost exclusively His lovingness; and in this we may be right. and by Love, in this context, most of us mean kindness \u2014 the desire to see others than the self happy; not happy in this way or in that, but just happy. What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, &#8216;What does it matter so long as they are contented?&#8217; <strong>We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven \u2014 a senile benevolence who, as they say, &#8216;liked to see young people enjoying themselves&#8217;<\/strong> and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, &#8216;a good time was had by all&#8217;. not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds. I do not claim to be an exception\u2026.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.samizdat.qc.ca\/cosmos\/philo\/PDFs\/ProblemofPain_CSL.pdf\">The Problem of Pain<\/a>&#8220;, III Divine Goodness, C. S. Lewis (originally published 1940) <span style=\"font-size: small;\">via Samizdat University Press, Qu\u00e9bec, used w\/o permission<\/span>) [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"principles\"><\/a>Principles<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/pakistan-blasphemy-and-bombs-death-and-dalits-and-history\/#nine\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20180320ff\/20180508-001dr-Vol-I-II-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Alfred Gale's 'Pictorial Illustration of the Cause of the Great Rebellion' and 'Pictorial Illustration of Abolitionism.' (ca. 1865) via Library of Congress, used w\/o permission\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alfred Gale&#8217;s Broadsides (ca. 1865) via Library of Congress, used w\/o permission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I figure that the Currier &amp; Ives telegraph tape&#8217;s next two lines, &#8220;liberty and union &#8230; one and inseparable&#8221;, were inspired by relief that the American Civil War was over. And had been for about a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I suspect that this particular Currier &amp; Ives lithograph was more popular north of the Mason-Dixon line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But maybe by the mid-1870s, more survivors in the Confederate states had started seeing advantages to being part of a Union. Or maybe not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back when I watched coverage of national political conventions, at least a half-dozen or so delegates would say something like &#8216;the sovereign state of [non-New England state] casts its vote for&#8230;&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The balance of state and federal authority has been shifting in my country since day one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I see advantages in having, for example, a national highway system and currency that&#8217;s good in all 50 states. But I&#8217;m also glad that energy and road repair policy here in Minnesota isn&#8217;t entirely decided by folks living on the east coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, I think state&#8217;s rights can make sense. Even though that&#8217;s apparently a controversial idea. Which brings me to our only internal war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main reason for the American Civil War was the noble North&#8217;s abhorrence of slavery.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup> At least, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve read. It&#8217;s probably true, but I strongly suspect the situation wasn&#8217;t nearly that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also suspect that religious whack jobs of the 1860s weren&#8217;t limited to the Confederacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Abolitionism made the war by electing a sectional President on a Sectional Platform. Its avowed object was to take away the rights of the Slave-States expressly guaranteed to them by the Constitution.<br>&#8220;LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY!&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.loc.gov\/service\/rbc\/rbpe\/rbpe10\/rbpe100\/10004600\/10004600.pdf\">Pictorial History of the Cause of the Great Rebellion<\/a>,&#8221; Vol. II, Alfred Gale (1865) via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/item\/rbpe.10004600\/\">Library of Congress<\/a>, used w\/o permission)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And that&#8217;s yet another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One more point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slavery is a bad idea and we shouldn&#8217;t do it.<\/strong> Ever. Even if it&#8217;s legal. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1903, 1950-1960, 2242, 2414, and more)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"steam\"><\/a>Steam, Reform, and Poisoned Candy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=29063&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=0&amp;bibId=11540728\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231023-The_progress_of_the_century_-_the_lightning_steam_press_the_electric_telegraph_the_locomotive_and_the_steamboat_LCCN90716345-detail3-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of locomotive, Currier and Ives: 'The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, [and] the steamboat'. (ca. 1876)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Currier &amp; Ives: &#8220;The progress of the century\u2026&#8221;, detail, locomotive with spark arrestor. (ca. 1876)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/natural-law-our-rules\/#new\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20170203-Autobus_amedee-bollee-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Boll\u00e9e's L'Ob\u00e9issante steam vehicle. (1875)\"><\/a>Not all &#8220;locomotives&#8221; ran on rails in the 19th century. At least some self-propelled road vehicles were called &#8220;locomotives&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t know when we started having different words for (railroad) locomotive, tractor, truck, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, the 1800s is when folks worked the bugs out of steam engines, and began building continent-spanning railroad networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this week, I made an incomplete list of 19th and 20th century tech developments:<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>19th century\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1802: Trevithick&#8217;s Coalbrookdale Locomotive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1803-1805: Morphine isolated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1816: Francis Ronalds (static) electrical telegraph (among others)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1832: Schilling telegraph<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1834, 1840, 1848, 1849, 1854, 1856, 1871, and other: telephone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1843: Lightning steam press<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1848: Float glass<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1849: Corliss steam engine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1852: Giffard dirigible<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1853: Otis safety elevator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1854: Rickett of Buckingham steam car<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1854: Internal combustion engine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1856: Bessemer converter (maybe 1851, or some other time)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1857: Phonautograph<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1866, 1877, 1879: Stapler<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1872: Commercial liquid-fueled internal combustion engine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1874, 1880: Incandescent lamp<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1879: Cholera vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1879-1883: Cash register<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1884: Steam turbine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1886: Linotype machine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1890: Tabulating machine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1894: Medical glove<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1894: Electric refrigerator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1897, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1906: Powered flight (Which year? Take your pick)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>20th century\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1910: laparoscopy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1923: Diphtheria vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1926: Pertussis vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1926: Liquid-propellant rocket<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1927: Tuberculosis vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1927: Tetanus vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1935: Yellow fever vaccine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1938-1970s and beyond: hip replacement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1940-1941 Penicillin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1947: Defibrillator<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1958: Pacemaker<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1958: Integrated circuit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1961: Cochlear implant<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1963-1972: CT scan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1960s: Antiviral drugs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1963: Lava lamp<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1980: Flash memory<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1981: Scanning tunneling microscope<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1983: Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1986: National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET:forerunner to the Internet)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1989: MCI Mail, CompuServe email<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1990: World Wide Web<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1995: PHANToM system (<strong>P<\/strong>ersonal <strong>HA<\/strong>ptic i<strong>NT<\/strong>erface <strong>M<\/strong>echanism)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1996: USB ports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1997: Hybrid vehicle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"long\"><\/a>A Long-Overdue Change<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=29063&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=0&amp;bibId=11540728\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231023-The_progress_of_the_century_-_the_lightning_steam_press_the_electric_telegraph_the_locomotive_and_the_steamboat_LCCN90716345-detail4-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of steamboat, Currier and Ives: 'The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, [and] the steamboat'. (ca. 1876)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Currier &amp; Ives, &#8220;The progress of the century&#8230;&#8221;: a steamboat. (ca. 1876)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/shylock-salanio-shakespeare-and-stage-stereotypes\/#play\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/201508ff\/20150922-c32-279-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Edward Windsor Kemble's illustration for 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn': 'She Hugged Me Tight'. (1885)\"><\/a>On the &#8216;up&#8217; side, steam engines helped folks get more done, move goods and people faster, and even provide power for telegraphs that helped us communicate faster than we had in the 19th century&#8217;s &#8216;good old days&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they didn&#8217;t make us understand that human beings are people, no matter who our ancestors are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;\u2026We blowed out a cylinder-head.&#8217;<br>&#8220;&#8216;Good gracious! anybody hurt?&#8217;<br>&#8220;&#8216;No&#8217;m. Killed a [redacted]<br>&#8220;&#8216;Well, it&#8217;s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt\u2026.&#8217;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/76?msg=welcome_stranger#c32-279\">The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/a>,&#8221; Part 2 (1885), Chapter XXXII, Mark Twain; via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/\">gutenberg.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>More than a century after &#8220;Huckleberry Finn&#8221; began offending folks, it&#8217;s easier to say that non-Anglos are people: and get taken seriously. Shift the vocabulary a bit, though, and ethnicity still seems to matter. And that&#8217;s yet again more topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a name=\"asforme\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/shylock-salanio-shakespeare-and-stage-stereotypes\/#being\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/NINA-nyt-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"New York Daily Times(?) advertisement: (March 25, 1854 (?))\" align=\"right\"><\/a>As for me, I look &#8220;Anglo&#8221;, but I&#8217;m not. Not by some standards, at any rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And &#8220;Anglo&#8221; or not, I&#8217;m Catholic: so seeing everyone as &#8220;people&#8221; is a must. That&#8217;s everyone, no matter where the person&#8217;s from, what he or she has done: <strong>everyone.<\/strong> (Catechism, 360, 1700-1706, 1932-1933, 1935, 2258, 2268-2283)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which reminds me of something good that happened during the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like I said earlier, slavery is a bad idea and we shouldn&#8217;t do it. Ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But slavery has been both a cross-cultural tradition and a vital part of the economy at least since we started keeping records, several millennia back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This ancient tradition started unraveling recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Slavery as an institution was first regionally criminalized during the 12th century. The pace picked up considerably a few centuries back. My country&#8217;s nation-wide &#8216;no slavery&#8217; laws got traction around 1804 and took hold in 1865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But wealthy Americans with employees living in slavery-like conditions are a recurring news item. And slavery is still legal in some parts of the world.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#3\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What impresses me is that it&#8217;s become <strong>unfashionable.<\/strong> At least here. That&#8217;s a start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"optionally\"><\/a>(Optionally) Rational Animals<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=29063&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=0&amp;bibId=11540728\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231023-The_progress_of_the_century_-_the_lightning_steam_press_the_electric_telegraph_the_locomotive_and_the_steamboat_LCCN90716345-detail2-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of boy using printer's tools, Currier and Ives: 'The progress of the century - the lightning steam press, the electric telegraph, the locomotive, [and] the steamboat'. (ca. 1876)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Currier &amp; Ives, &#8220;The progress of the century&#8230;&#8221;: a boy using printer&#8217;s tools. (ca. 1876)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Child labor, child labor laws, and letting kids learn marketable skills, is a tangled mess I won&#8217;t try sorting out this week.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#4\">4<\/a><\/sup> Or next, for that matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think there was and is genuine exploitation of children, and that it&#8217;s a bad idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also think children and parents are people, that we have responsibilities: and, I hope obviously, that children are not property. (Catechism, 2217-2230, 2378)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exploding steam engines, seeing some folks as not-people, and those who treat kids like property \u2014 strongly suggest that all is not right with the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which brings up a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several, actually, but I&#8217;ll focus on one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we all agree that something is a bad idea and we shouldn&#8217;t do it, why don&#8217;t we all stop doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For one thing, getting everyone to agree is often an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For another, although we&#8217;re rational animals: acting reasonably isn&#8217;t hard-wired into us. We&#8217;ve got free will, so each of us can decide that thinking is too much work. (Catechism, 1730, 1951)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deciding that avoiding bad behavior is worth the effort would be a whole lot easier, if it weren&#8217;t for original sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My native culture&#8217;s quirks being what they are, a clarification: humanity <strong>isn&#8217;t<\/strong> garbage, utterly and unalterably bad. That is <strong>not<\/strong> what &#8220;original sin&#8221; means. Not for a Catholic, at any rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were and are basically \u201cvery good\u201d, like all of God&#8217;s creation. But the first of us decided that &#8220;I want&#8221; mattered more than God&#8217;s &#8220;you should&#8221;. We\u2019ve been living with consequences of that choice ever since. <strong>God did not, however, change our nature.<\/strong> We are wounded, but not corrupted. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/1#01001027\">Genesis 1:27<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/1#01001031\">31<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/3#01003001\">3:1<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/3#01003019\">19<\/a>; Catechism, 31, 299, 355-361, 374-379, 398, 400-406, 405, 1701-1707, 1949)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"candy\"><\/a>The Candy Man Could<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wellcomecollection.org\/works\/mj8x9hdn\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231031-LeechCartoonBedfordPoisoningsFoodAdulteration_gettyimages-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"John Leech's cartoon for Punch: 'The Great Lozenge-Maker. A Hint to Paterfamilias' (November 20, 1858)\"><\/a>What happened on October 30, 1858, wasn&#8217;t criminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least, that&#8217;s what British courts decided after tracing 20 deaths to candy sold from a stall in Bradford&#8217;s Greenmarket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The verdict made sense, in a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whipping up a batch of candy laced with enough arsenic to kill about 2,000 people was an accident: regrettable, but quite unintentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>William &#8220;Humbug Billy&#8221; Hardaker, or maybe it&#8217;s Hardacre, I&#8217;ve seen it spelled both ways, and I&#8217;m drifting off-topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, Humbug Billy ordered humbugs, a sort of hard candy, from a candymaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The candymaker didn&#8217;t have enough plaster of paris on hand, so he sent one of his lodgers to a druggist. &#8220;Plaster of paris&#8221; is not a typo. Gypsum plaster, plaster of paris, was cheaper than sugar: and often used as a sugar substitute in &#8216;the good old days&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The druggist was sick, so he told his assistant where to find plaster of paris. Which, as it happened, was in a barrel right next to an identical barrel containing arsenic trioxide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I gather that folks had been getting fed up with food that wasn&#8217;t as-advertised and impromptu preparation of pernicious pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If that&#8217;s so, then the 1858 Bradford Halloween body count was the straw that killed the camel. Or something like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pharmacy Act 1868 set up rules for storing, handling, and selling poisons. That legislation was, at the time, a big deal. And quite arguably saved lives.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#5\">5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"forward\"><\/a>&#8220;Forward!&#8221; \u2014 With Hope<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Versailles_rail_accident\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231103-800px-A_Provost_-_Versailles_-_Railroad_Disaster-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A. Provost's 'Disaster on the Railway between Versailles and Bellevue, 8th May 1842'. (1842-1855)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;Disaster on the Railway between Versailles and Bellevue, 8th May 1842&#8221;,  A. Provost.. (ca. 1850)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;If anything can go wrong, it will.&#8221;<br>(Murphy&#8217;s law)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Murphy was an optimist.&#8221;<br>(O&#8217;Toole&#8217;s commentary on Murphy&#8217;s Law)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Alfred Tennyson was born in 1809, died in 1892, started writing poetry in his teens, and was England&#8217;s Poet Laureate from 1850 to 1892.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&#8217;s among my favorite poets, which helps explain why I used this quote last week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,<br>Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;&#8230;<br>&#8220;&#8230;Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furl&#8217;d<br>In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.<br>&#8220;There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,<br>And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/16786\/16786-h\/16786-h.htm\">Locksley Hall<\/a>&#8220;, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1835))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Tennyson was in his mid-20s when he wrote that. His narrator is fictional, and apparently not entirely on the same page as the young Tennyson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I suspect Tennyson shared some of his narrator&#8217;s hopeful outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, there were reasons for an upbeat attitude. Hobhouse&#8217;s Act (1831) and Althorp&#8217;s Act (1833) put limits on child labor. The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 outlawed slavery everywhere in the British Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Small wonder that Tennyson&#8217;s narrator saw a smooth (rail) road ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Not in vain the distance beacons. <strong>Forward, forward let us range<\/strong>;<br>Let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of change&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/16786\/16786-h\/16786-h.htm\">Locksley Hall<\/a>&#8220;, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1835)) [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>About those &#8220;ringing grooves of change&#8221;: Alfred Tennyson had seen a railroad train at the Liverpool and Manchester Railway&#8217;s opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But a whole lot of other folks were there, too. So many that Tennyson couldn&#8217;t see the train&#8217;s wheels. He got the impression that they ran in grooves.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#6\">6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tennyson wrote &#8220;Forward, forward let us range&#8221; in 1835.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just over a half-century later, he wrote this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;<strong>Gone the cry of &#8216;Forward, Forward,&#8217;<\/strong> lost within a growing gloom;<br>Lost, or only heard in silence from the silence of a tomb.<br>&#8220;Half the marvels of my morning, triumphs over time and space,<br>Staled by frequence, shrunk by usage into commonest commonplace!<br>&#8220;&#8216;Forward&#8217; rang the voices then, and of the many mine was one.<br>Let us hush this cry of &#8216;Forward&#8217; till ten thousand years have gone&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theotherpages.org\/poems\/tenny41.html\">Locksley Hall \u2013 Sixty Years After<\/a>&#8220;, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1886))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I talked about why I won&#8217;t &#8220;hush this cry of \u2018Forward\u2019 till ten thousand years have gone&#8221; last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week, I&#8217;ll make a guess or two as to why Tennyson&#8217;s &#8220;Locksley Hall&#8221; sequel didn&#8217;t seem so optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These days, a standard-issue explanation for &#8220;Locksley Hall \u2014 Sixty Years After&#8221; is that the Industrial Revolution didn&#8217;t deliver on its promises. And, presumably, it took Tennyson five decades to notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There may be something to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"charge\"><\/a>Charge of the Light Brigade and a Poet Laureate<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/resource\/ppmsca.45732\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20230509ff\/20231102-ChargeOfTheLightBrigade-photogravure-LOC-service-pnp-ppmsca-45700-45732v-trim-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photogravure\/print, from Richard Caton Woodville Jr.'s 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' oil on canvas, commissioned by the Illustrated London News. (ca. 1895)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Print of Richard Caton Woodville Jr.&#8217;s &#8220;The Charge of the Light Brigade&#8221;. (ca. 1895)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But I suspect some of Tennyson&#8217;s apparent change in attitude stems from his having paid attention during the mid-19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And from his having been England&#8217;s Poet Laureate for about a half-dozen years when he wrote &#8220;&#8230;Sixty Years After&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A poet laureate&#8217;s job. basically, is writing poetry for special occasions: from the government&#8217;s viewpoint. There&#8217;s considerable prestige to the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I can see a down side, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take, for example, the Charge of the Light Brigade: a world-class military SNAFU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The last I checked, academics are still debating how and why two British lords failed to obliterate a light cavalry unit. A unit that was on their side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite being sent up and down a valley covered by artillery on three sides, Lord Cardigan&#8217;s Light Brigade had several horses and riders at the end of the day. Apparently Lord Raglan wanted Lord Cardigan to send them somewhere else.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/#7\">7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Forward, the Light Brigade!&#8221;<br>Was there a man dismay&#8217;d?<br>Not tho&#8217; the soldier knew<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Some one had blunder&#8217;d:<br>Their&#8217;s not to make reply,<br>Their&#8217;s not to reason why,<br>Their&#8217;s but to do and die&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/cache\/epub\/56913\/pg56913-images.html#link2H_4_0008\">The Charge of the Light Brigade<\/a>&#8220;, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1854))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t blame Tennyson for presenting pointlessly suicidal bravery as a virtue. He was, after all, working for the English government: tasked with putting a positive spin on a debacle that&#8217;s still famous, make that infamous, more than a century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I can see how that sort of thing could put a damper on youthful enthusiasm for cries of &#8220;forward! forward!&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"progress\"><\/a>Progress, Problems, Making Choices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/un-vote-surprise-october-7-event-and-student-protest\/#preference\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20200519ff\/20200914-800px-Marina_Bay_Sands_from_Gardens_By_The_Bay-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Danijel Mihajlovic's photo: Parkland, artificial Super Trees and the Marina Bay Sands luxury hotel in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay. (2019) via Wikipedia, used w\/o permission.\"><\/a>I was going to talk about Progress with a capital &#8220;P&#8221;, but like I said: I&#8217;ve been running a fever this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that&#8217;s not going to happen. Not today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, here&#8217;s a quick explanation for why I think Progress \u2014 the notion that the human condition will inevitably improve \u2014 no matter what daft, demented, destructive decisions we make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#x1f615;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, boy. Fever. What&#8217;s been in my news feed. Moving along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, I can&#8217;t take the inevitability of Progress with a capital &#8220;P&#8221; seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mainly because I&#8217;m 72, and have been paying attention. I&#8217;m also, by training and interest, an historian: and know that humanity has been through the occasional speed bump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we&#8217;ve been <strong>through<\/strong> the occasional speed bump. And we&#8217;re still here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good grief, the Black Death didn&#8217;t do much more than slow us down. And, bad as it was, we fixed some serious problems while recovering. Folks in Europe did, anyway. Maybe elsewhere, but I&#8217;m not all that well-versed on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can make stupid, self-destructive, choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But we also can use our brains, and look for solutions to problems. Preferably solutions that won&#8217;t make the problems worse: but I am <strong>not<\/strong> going to get conventionally gloomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See? That was me, using my brain and making a decision. And if I can do that, I figure pretty much anyone can. And that&#8217;s \u2014 still another topic. Several, actually.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/crosswords-or-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/#its\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20200519ff\/20201101-Hagar-1973-02-25-EndOfCivilizationAsWeKnowIt-s-l1600-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Dik Browne's 'Hagar the Horrible:' 'It may be the end of civilization as we know it.' (February 25, 1973)\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Stuff I see as related. Your experience may vary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/hamas-harvard-ukraine-and-alaska-air-looking-for-a-bright-side\/\">Hamas, Harvard, Ukraine and Alaska Air: Looking for a Bright Side<\/a>&#8220;<br>(October 28, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/independence-day-freedom-citizenship-and-looking-ahead\/\">Independence Day: Freedom, Citizenship and Looking Ahead<\/a>&#8220;<br>(July 4, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/pax-romana-good-times-remembered\/\">Pax Romana: Good Times, Remembered<\/a>&#8220;<br>(April 22, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/\">ChatGPT and the End of Civilization as We Know It<\/a>&#8220;<br>(April 15, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-neighbors-bogeymen-and-responsibility\/\">Climate, Neighbors, Bogeymen and Responsibility<\/a>&#8220;<br>(November 5, 2022November 5, 2022)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> A (very) little American history:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Civil_War\">American Civil War<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_presidential_nominating_convention\">United States presidential nominating convention<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> Two centuries of new technology, a very incomplete list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Antiviral_drug\">Antiviral drug<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Artificial_cardiac_pacemaker\">Artificial cardiac pacemaker<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bessemer_process\">Bessemer process<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cash_register\">Cash register<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chimney_(locomotive)\">Chimney (locomotive)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Claims_to_the_first_powered_flight\">Claims to the first powered flight<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cochlear_implant\">Cochlear implant<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Corliss_steam_engine\">Corliss steam engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CT_scan\">CT scan<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Defibrillation\">Defibrillation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diphtheria_vaccine\">Diphtheria vaccine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Electrical_telegraph\">Electrical telegraph<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/First_transcontinental_railroad\">First transcontinental railroad<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Flash_memory\">Flash memory<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Float_glass\">Float glass<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Giffard_dirigible\">Giffard dirigible<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hip_replacement\">Hip replacement<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_general_anesthesia\">History of general anesthesia<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_penicillin\">History of penicillin<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_rail_transport\">History of rail transport<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_the_steam_engine\">History of the steam engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_steam_road_vehicles\">History of steam road vehicles<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_the_telephone\">History of the telephone<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hybrid_vehicle\">Hybrid vehicle<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Incandescent_light_bulb\">Incandescent light bulb<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Integrated_circuit\">Integrated circuit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Internal_combustion_engine\">Internal combustion engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Invention_of_the_telephone\">Invention of the telephone<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laparoscopy\">Laparoscopy<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lava_lamp\">Lava lamp<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Linotype_machine\">Linotype machine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Liquid-propellant_rocket\">Liquid-propellant rocket<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lotus_1-2-3\">Lotus 1-2-3<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Morphine\">Morphine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Science_Foundation_Network\">National Science Foundation Network<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Penicillin\">Penicillin<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Phonautograph\">Phonautograph<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Refrigerator\">Refrigerator<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_March_Hoe\">Richard March Hoe<\/a> (1843, rotary printing press: &#8220;lightning steam press&#8221;, &#8220;Hoe lightning press&#8221;, &#8220;Hoe&#8217;s Cylindrical-Bed Press&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scanning_tunneling_microscope\">Scanning tunneling microscope<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Schilling_telegraph\">Schilling telegraph<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spark_arrestor\">Spark arrestor<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Steam_locomotive\">Steam locomotive<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Steam_turbine\">Steam turbine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tabulating_machine\">Tabulating machine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Massie\">Thomas Massie<\/a> (PHANToM system (<strong>P<\/strong>ersonal <strong>HA<\/strong>ptic i<strong>NT<\/strong>erface <strong>M<\/strong>echanism))<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/USB\">USB<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/World_Wide_Web\">World Wide Web<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Elisha-Otis\">Elisha Otis<\/a><br>Encyclopedia Britannica<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/locomotive\">locomotive<\/a><br>Etymology Online<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"3\"><\/a>3<\/sup> An ancient ill that&#8217;s being dealt with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Abolitionism\">Abolitionism<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_slavery\">History of slavery<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"4\"><\/a>4<\/sup> Emphatically not simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Child_labour\">Child labour<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"5\"><\/a>5<\/sup> Two identical barrels, many deaths, and new rules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1858_Bradford_sweets_poisoning\">1858 Bradford sweets poisoning<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arsenic_trioxide\">Arsenic trioxide<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Humbug_(sweet)\">Humbug (sweet)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pharmacy_Act_1868\">Pharmacy Act 1868<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Plaster\">Plaster<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-england-leeds-67067171\">The Halloween sweets that poisoned Bradford<\/a>&#8220;<br>Lauren Potts, BBC News (October 31, 2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"6\"><\/a>6<\/sup> Tennyson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alfred,_Lord_Tennyson\">Alfred, Lord Tennyson<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Locksley_Hall\">Locksley Hall<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Opening_of_the_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway\">Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Poet_Laureate_of_the_United_Kingdom\">Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Alfred Lord Tennyson; a memoir&#8221;, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/alfredlordtennys01tennuoft\/page\/202\/mode\/2up\">p. 195<\/a><br>Hallam Tennyson, baron (1897) via Internet Archive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/davetgc.com\/Murphys_Law.html\">Murphy&#8217;s Laws<\/a>&#8220;<br>Dave Taylor&#8217;s Educational &amp; Guidance Counseling Services<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"7\"><\/a>7<\/sup> More Tennyson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade\">Charge of the Light Brigade<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade_(poem)\">The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Industrial_Revolution\">Industrial Revolution<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Locksley_Hall\">Locksley Hall<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Opening_of_the_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway\">Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Poet_laureate\">Poet laureate<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Poet_Laureate_of_the_United_Kingdom\">Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week I&#8217;ll be looking at: I&#8217;ll also explain why I don&#8217;t &#8220;believe in&#8221; Progress with a capital &#8220;P&#8221;. On the other hand, I&#8217;d rather be living today than in 1923 or 1823. That&#8217;s partly because we&#8217;ve made considerable progress, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Viewpoints, inventions, poison candy and reform. What is and is not wrong with humanity. Being an optionally rational animal. Looking ahead with hope.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Choices, Change, Technology, and Using Our Brains","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,192],"tags":[93,27,83,71,54,28],"class_list":["post-7508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discursive-detours","category-journal","tag-free-will","tag-history","tag-hope","tag-original-sin","tag-social-justice","tag-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-1X6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7508"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7998,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7508\/revisions\/7998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}