Diaries and Externalities

“I Awoke At ½ Past 7”

Elena Mary | Aeon | 17th November 2025 | U

Blame the Victorians for our current obsession with self-improvement, as they arguably pioneered the diary as a productivity tool. The advent of mass-printed diaries changed diary-keeping from a practice of Christian soul-searching and reflection to one of jotting down tasks and meetings. They also included pages of printed information: train timetables, holidays, weights and measures, tide times (3,700 words)

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The Problem Of Knowledge

Cyril Hédoin | The Archimedean Point | 14th November 2025 | U

The challenge of designing a system of rights boils down to a problem of knowledge. In diverse societies with sufficiently specialised labour, people pursue different plans based on private and dispersed knowledge. Some of these plans will inevitably be incompatible and cause conflict. “Disputes about rights are mostly due to the fact that we disagree about what counts as externalities and how to value them” (3,100 words)