Episodes
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Salem, 1692. A now infamous scene is about to unfold, stealing the lives of 25 innocent people, and leaving centuries of mystery and warning in its wake. 300 years later and we still don't know why it happened. But maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe the better question is "How" did it happen?
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Missing episodes?
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If an outsider were to look at Presidential elections over the past few decades, he’d be forgiven for thinking that we’re, well, a little schizophrenic. Our presidential choices oscilate from conservative to liberal pretty regularly, and that’s without taking into account our last two elections--where we elected our first Black President and then immediately followed it up with a President that shows far less deference to non-white Americans. It really does send mixed signals to ourselves and the world when the American people can’t seem to decide which ideology fits them best. But, and this is what we’ve been thinking about here at the Appendix, what if there is a strand of commonality between the election of Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump, and the multifarious selection of presidents in between
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Today’s episode is dedicated to a test that the smartest and wealthiest entrepeneurs in the world are trying to ace. A test that thousands of the world’s brightest folks are working on right now. A test that, once we ace it, according to some, we can’t go back. So, today’s appendix comes in the form of a simple test, actuated by a bunch of 1s and 0s, to the book of common knowledge on Artificial Intelligence.
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We had a lot of extra fodder from this week’s episode. So we thought we’d give you a little treat before the weekend--something maybe you can use to ignite a conversation at brunch, or spark interest from that cutie across the room at happy hour. So, without further ado, we present some of our favorite thought experiments and paradoxes, in no particular order.
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Today’s Appendix has a pretty simple goal: To get a glimpse of the fourth dimension--of time. We won’t be able to answer all of the questions posed above, but we can get a good start. And since we can’t go up into the 4th dimension, we’re going to have to start by going down into the second. And that’s where we begin with Today’s Appendix, coming in the form of a few shapes cut out of paper, clipped to the back of the very real, very physical book of Common Knowledge on Time.
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In the early 20th entury, we started an experiment with the English language. Combined with new technologies, that experiment, for the last century, has completely reshaped how we hear and experience Shakespeare. Join us in today's Appendix as we listen to a video clip, edited to the last page of a very, very, VERY long book of Common Knowledge on William Shakespeare
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Here at the appendix, we believe, among other things, that history does indeed rhyme with itself--that many things that happen today have happened, in some form, time and time before. And today’s episode looks at two such instances, nearly 200 years apart. One has ended, and the other has barely begun--but maybe they rhyme just enough to tell us what’s in store. So, without further adieu, Today’s Appendix comes in the form of a Newspaper Article, paperclipped to the last page of the Book of Common Knowledge on Fake News.
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An Appendix is a collection of material that adds meaning and context to the main text of a book, but, for whatever reason, didn't quite fit into the material itself. While usually quite important, often it just doesn't fit into the overall narrative neatly, so the author leaves it out and throws it in the back. In this series, we treat common knowledge as a book, that tells an overall story, but often times misses key bits of information simply because they just don't fit neatly into the narrative. An appendix doesn't change the story, but for those that take the time to turn to it, it does offer a new context, and a new perspective. Join us over the coming weeks as add appendices to the book of common knowledge, including: Immortality, The oldest coincidence, The arc of Progress, What Cain killing Able really meant, and whether the Constitution was written to fail.
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For our first Appendix to the Book of Common Knowledge, we're going after one of the largest volumes--Immortality. Our common understanding is that it's a powerful force that, while having some very good, and some very bad effects, is wholly unattainable unless you're half God or have made a deal with the devil. But in this appendix, we'll see that while the main rules still apply, it's not exactly unattainable.