Today’s thought: It occurs to me that “cancel culture” exists on both the left and right. The left is more apt to target individuals (Jerry Coyne responds to an attempt by the Imperial College London to rename anything named after Thomas H. Huxley, and others), the right vast swaths of history they find uncomfortable (“critical race theory,” which the conservative critics do not actually understand). The problem with this, aside from the immediate ethical issues, is that eventually it will happen to all of us. Future generations, with different cultural and ethical standards, might well decide all of our lives are irrelevant and are not fit to be remembered.
Ls&Cs: Foundation, Dune, and Long-Term Projects
I haven’t seen the new Dune movie and am not sure I will, in part because my partner just doesn’t care about that kind of movie (and I could never do anything like going to see a movie by myself), and in part because I have to be careful going out given my current immuno-compromised condition.
I have seen the first two episodes of the Foundation TV series, and found it OK. Some of Asimov’s content is detectable. But reviews of the third episode make it sound like it’s become Star Wars, complete with a Death Star surrogate, so I don’t think I’ll continue.
Reactions to Foundation are increasingly negative. Reactions to Dune are mostly positive, but some quite negative, among my Facebook friends, and in the reviews. I’ll collect a few links here for, perhaps, future reference.
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