The act of writing is normally not considered part of the performative arts. To take St Augustine’s view, being alone with yourself, your inner voice and the outer blank page is as far you can get from the boisterous stage of the theatre. But isn’t writing, solitary as it may…

We know almost nothing about the adoption curve of ancient and medieval technologies. We have some understanding of the adoption curve of early-modern technologies, and we know a fair amount of modern innovations. We know every little detail of 20th and 21st century innovative technologies. The innovation adoption curve, often…

The more ancient European cultures evolved the concept of individuality, the more the idea of dialogic wisdom gained ground. It is a cultural historical fact that no great ideas were ever developed by a single mind, regardless of how strongly we may feel about crediting a single individual with it. …

When I was younger, I loved spending hours pursuing counterfactuals through historical implications. What if? What if literacy had never taken off? What if nobody had ever thought of skinning a goat or a sheep for making parchment? What if the critical mass of ancient thought had just faded out…

It’s not that the concept of plagiarism didn’t exist in the medieval or Renaissance period, but that the idea of authorship had a far larger scope than it does for us today. Medieval authors copied from each other in a way that would have involved them in lawsuits with each…

Although we talk about leaders and leadership every day (I should know, my day job depends on it), we often forget about how important leadership models were for the ancients. For the Romans, history was there to tell the story of good and bad leadership. Ancient Romans historians’ job was…

One of the most powerful moments in life and in art is the experience of climax. It’s in these instances that the intensity of joy, accomplishment, love, or understanding reaches its zenith, leaving an enduring imprint on our memories and shaping the narrative of our existence. Artistic climax seeks both…

When I stare at the blank page, the page stares back at me. When I prepare to draw a letter on the rugged surface, the letter stares back at me. When I find myself ridden with doubt and hesitation, the text shivers back at me. Any act of writing is…

When was the last time that you found a recipe by following or listening to your friend or family, rather than looking it up online? All learning is personal. It is taught from someone. Books often give the illusion of obtaining skills and knowledge from an impersonal source, but even…