Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Redefining the 'Right to be Left Alone': A Romantic Ideal of Privacy

2025-04-22

Lowry Pressly's new book, *The Right to Oblivion: Privacy and the Good Life*, challenges our narrow understanding of privacy. Pressly argues that contemporary conceptions focus too heavily on data control and surveillance avoidance, neglecting a deeper meaning: the protection of the unknown and unknowable. He advocates for a more expansive, romantic ideal of privacy, one that safeguards individual agency and potential, not just information control. Using historical examples like early photography's infringement on personal autonomy and the internet's data deluge, Pressly builds a case for the 'right to oblivion,' urging a more comprehensive understanding of privacy for individual and societal flourishing.

Trump's Academic Purge: A Return to Anti-Intellectualism

2025-03-31

This article traces the history of anti-intellectualism and xenophobia in American academia, from Thomas Jefferson's founding of the University of Virginia to the Trump administration's crackdown on international students. The author argues that a long-standing tradition of nativism and hostility towards intellectualism has repeatedly hampered academic progress and international collaboration. From the early discrimination against mathematician James Joseph Sylvester to McCarthyism and the current expulsion of international students, the internationalization of American higher education has faced numerous setbacks. This anti-intellectualism, the author contends, not only makes America stupider and more provincial, but also weakens its global competitiveness. The article further criticizes the Democratic leadership's stance on Israel as hindering their effective protection of international students.

The Forgotten Genius: Henri Bergson's Philosophy for Our Times

2025-02-21

At the turn of the 20th century, Henri Bergson was one of the world's most famous philosophers, his lectures drawing enormous crowds. Today, however, he's largely forgotten. Emily Herring's new biography, *Herald of a Restless World*, revisits Bergson's philosophy and its relevance to our time. Bergson challenged the absolutes of science, emphasizing the constant flux of reality and introducing concepts like *durée* and *élan vital*. Despite a famous debate with Einstein on relativity and eventual eclipse, Bergson's insights into change and creativity resonate powerfully in the face of modern challenges like the climate crisis.