Note to self: Read more.

"America is currently awash in an unpleasant surplus of clanging, clashing certitudes. That is why there is a rhetorical bitterness absurdly disproportionate to our real differences. It has been well said that the spirit of liberty is the spirit of not being too sure that you are right. One way to immunize ourselves against misplaced certitude is to contemplate-even to savor-the unfathomable strangeness of everything, including ourselves." A couple of weeks ago I had lunch at the Hunan Wok in Homewood. While I was waiting for my pre-cooked frozen chicken to be thawed in a dirty wok and slathered in ameri-Chinese hot sauce and served over stale rice, I picked up the remaining half of a magazine that was in the chair beside me. The first article I came to was the one I have linked above. Bill Bryson's discription of the universe and everything in it, is exactly what I pictured in my head when I wrote this silly retort. 1) Is human nature basically good or basically evil? Explain. How poetic, Mr. Interviewer, are you a Morrissey fan? Seriously, I could spend all day answering this question. But I'll try to keep it short without sounding too cheeky. It is a trick question. I am sure of it. I think human nature must be equally both. My answer is based entirely on a diagram I once saw of an atom.