A Bard’s Eye View

The folks at Evolution News have been wondering, well, we’ll let their headline say it: “Can a Dog Be Bred to Be as Smart as a Human?” Well, that’s their wheelhouse, so that’s what keeps them up at night. Hearing the thought expressed, it may begin to keep the rest of us up as well. It may be a new idea to us, but as usual, Shakespeare got there first, as we’ll soon see. Payton Pearson, an electrical engineer in Ohio, has written a paper suggesting that “humans could artificially …

‘You taught me language; and my profit on’t/Is, I know how to curse’: Caliban and intelligent dogs Read More »

President Biden in contemplating his son Hunter may have thoughts similar to those of Henry IV contemplating his own son, the perceived wastrel Prince Harry. Here’s the King, chatting at the start of the play with Westmoreland, father of the celebrated soldier Hotspur: Henry IV: “Yea, there thou mak’st me sad, and mak’st me sin In envy that my Lord Northumberland Should be the father to so blest a son, A son who is the theme of Honor’s tongue, Amongst a grove the very straightest plant, Who is sweet Fortune’s …

‘Riot and dishonor stain the brow/Of my young Harry.’: Joe Biden and Henry IV contemplate their sons Read More »

Ophelia, though she was talking about Hamlet, saw Trump’s meltdown well in advance: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! The courtier’s, scholar’s, soldier’s, eye, tongue, sword, Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mould of form, Th’ observ’d of all observers- quite, quite down.” And here, in Ophelia’s further comments, may well be expressed the feelings of loyal Trump supporters in the wake of his seeming psychological collapse: And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, That suck’d the honey of …

‘O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!’ Ophelia diagnosing Trump’s recent meltdown Read More »

This one is easy, short, and sweet. Given the blowout victory enjoyed by Ron DeSantis in Florida, against the backdrop of a moribund performance by the rest of his party, Brutus has some timely advice for Governor DeSantis, even though he gave it more than 2,000 years ago (OK, his character offered it more than 400 years ago). Brutus: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in …

‘There is a tide in the affairs of men’: Brutus has some advice for Governor DeSantis Read More »

The Federal Reserve printed too much money (even as the government spent too much), leading us to wonder how the establishment players can criticize Bitcoin when they’re in the electronic money business themselves? Let’s see what Shakespeare has to say. This business of lending at artificially depressed interest rates (which are now boomeranging higher) was highly familiar to Shakespeare and it formed a major theme in The Merchant of Venice. Here is the famous Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, describing Antonio, the Venetian shipping magnate (and recall that Antonio, and not …

‘I make it breed as fast’: Money-Printing at the Fed, and Shylock and Antonio in Venice Read More »