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"The Printing Press Democratized Knowledge": When Slogans Masquerade as History

Finally, to knowledge. It's ridiculous that I should try to dispatch the complexity of what "knowledge" is in three sentences, which is about the length of a paragraph that people are willing to stick with on a screen. I will simply say here that equating words pressed on to paper with knowledge both restricts what knowledge itself is and the vast number of channels by which humanity has…

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Ghana takes transatlantic slavery case to UN

There is broad historical consensus that the transatlantic slave trade between the 15th and 19th centuries, which involved the kidnapping, enslavement and transport of millions of Africans to the Americas and the Caribbean, was one of the biggest tragedies in human history.

It's estimated that over 400 years, 15 million men, women and children were forcibly transported. Other sources say 12…

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The tyranny of category

Putting things in order has value and right angles have their place. Order can give clarity and simplicity. The city grid ensures neighboring streets are in parallel and not curved away from each other, which is a blessing when in a foreign place with a poor map. But organizing requires conformity, and conformity creates a tyranny over perception. While our universities divide the world into…

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