Notes (2026-09)

This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.


But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.


Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

• Published in 1974 in his collection High Windows, the short poem explores how parents pass their emotional flaws down to their children

• Philip Arthur Larkin was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, The North Ship, was published in 1945, followed by two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter.

Source  /  Explained

Mark Twain

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humourist, and essayist. He has been praised as the "greatest humourist the United States has produced", with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature". 

Quotes:

• "Livy is the best girl in all the world, and the most sensible. She is the sweetest and gentlest, and the dainties, and the most modest, and unpretentious, and the wisest in all things she should be wise in, and most ignorant in all matters it would not grace her to know."

  • • This iconic quote is from a letter written by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) to his childhood friend, William Bowen, on February 6, 1870. He wrote it just four days after marrying Olivia "Livy" Langdon, gushing with absolute infatuation about his new bride. Sam Clemens courted the refined, deeply religious easterner Olivia Langdon for over a year, writing her 184 letters before she finally accepted his proposal. When they finally married, a completely smitten Twain wrote to his old friend to brag about his luck and describe how flawless his new wife was.
      
      

• "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."
  
  

• "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect)."
  
  

• "The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read."
  
  

• "Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well."
  
  

• "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
  
  

• "I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
  
  

• "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."
  
  

• "But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?"

• "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination."
  
  

• "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
  
  

• "Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody."
  
  

• "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."
  
  

• "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."
  
  

• "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure."
  
  

• "The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself."
  
  

• "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
  
  

• "The secret to getting ahead is getting started."
  
  

• "A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory."
  
  

• "Out of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most."
  
  

• "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."
  
  

• "I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."
  
  

• "When angry, count four. When very angry, swear."
  
  

• "Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in."
  
  

• "I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened."
  
  

• "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled."
  
  

• "Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."
  
  

• "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt."
  
  

• "Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often."
  
  

• "The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."
  
  

• "Worrying is like paying a debt you don't owe."
  
  

• "A half-truth is the most cowardly of lies."
  
  

• "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
  
  

• "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
  
  

• "Comparison is the death of joy."
  
  

• "Religion was invented when the first conman met the first fool."
  
  

• "He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever."
  
  

• "Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough."
  
  

• "The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it he knows too little."
  
  

• "When red-headed people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn."
  
  

• “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
  
  

Documentary: Mark Twain (2002) - A documentary film on the life of Mark Twain also known as Samuel Clements produced by Ken Burns in 2002. Burns captures both the public and private persona of Mark Twain from his birth to his death.

Marriage Goal

"The greatest goal of marriage, if there is a goal to marriage, should be, I think, that at the end of your spouse's life that they would look at you and say, you helped me become the most authentic version of myself, and you're still my favourite person. Like if there's a wedding toast that has value, that would be it."

• James J. Sexton

Robot Internet Traffic 

Non-human traffic now accounts for over 51% to 53% of all global internet activity, officially surpassing human web users.

• Majority Non-Human: Automated programs, scripts, and bots make up the majority of web traffic, leaving humans as the minority online.

• Bad Bots vs. Good Bots: A massive share—around 37% to 40%—is classified as malicious or "bad" bots used for scraping, credential stuffing, and cyberattacks. The remaining non-human traffic consists of search engine crawlers and automated tools.

• Rise of AI Agents: AI scrapers and automated agents have accelerated non-human traffic growth, changing how websites handle data and interact with visitors.

• Targeting APIs: A significant portion of bot activity bypasses traditional user interfaces entirely, attacking APIs and backend systems at machine speed.

Source

The Kennedy Centre Mark Twain Prize for American Humour

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humour is an American award presented by the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. annually since 1998. Named after the 19th-century humourist Mark Twain, it is presented to individuals who have "had an impact on American society in ways similar to" Twain.

• 2026 (27th) Bill Maher

• 2025 (26th) Conan O'Brian

• 2022 (23rd) Jon Stewart

• 2019 (22nd) Dave Chappelle

• 2018 (21st) Julia Louis-Dreyfus

• 2017 (20th) David Letterman

• 2016 (19th) Bill Murray

• 2011 (14th) Will Ferrell

• 2010 (13th) Tina Fey

• 2008 (11th) George Carlin

• 2005 (8th) Steve Martin

Sources:

• Wikipedia

• Plex

"The reason we make people laugh is to have control over why people laugh at you."

• Paraphrasing Marc Maron, paraphrasing Harry Shearer

The Meaning: The core idea is that making others laugh is a defence mechanism. By choosing when and how you look foolish or funny, you disarm people and take away their power to mock you genuinely.

Source

Punch Up

"Punch Up, Not Down" is a guiding ethical rule in comedy and satire meaning that jokes should target people or institutions with more power rather than vulnerable or marginalized groups.

• Many comedians and critics, echoing foundational advice from icons like George Carlin, argue that great comedy challenges power and protects the vulnerable. Conversely, some performers argue that restrictions stifle free expression and that anything should be fair game for humor if it gets a laugh.

"Honesty is love, and good friends don't bullshit each other."

• Bill Maher (2026 Mark Twain Prize Winner)

Tradwife Movement

The "Tradwife Movement" (short for "traditional wife") is a social media subculture where women embrace a 1950s-style domestic life, relying on their husbands as the sole financial providers while they focus entirely on homemaking and childcare.

• Traditional Roles: The husband works to protect and provide, while the wife manages the home, cooks meals from scratch, and cares for children.

• Submission: Many creators state that submission to their husband's leadership is a core biblical or personal rule.

• Aesthetic Appeal: Videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram feature vintage dresses, frilly aprons, baking sourdough, and gardening.

• Anti-Feminism: Some women feel burned out by corporate jobs and believe that modern feminism placed an unfair burden on them to "have it all".

• Desire for Simplicity: Researchers at King's Business School suggest that young women are drawn to the aesthetic as an escape from demanding, insecure modern work rather than a literal desire for past social restrictions.

Source

Gay Face

Scientific studies indicate minor, statistical differences in average facial metrics between homosexual and heterosexual individuals.

• Statistical Patterns: Researchers using geometric morphometrics and facial modelling find subtle group-level variations in facial shape.

  • Gay Men: Some studies report slightly wider or shorter faces, shorter noses, and different jaw configurations compared to heterosexual control groups.

  • Lesbian Women: Some studies note marginally more masculine average face shapes or distinct metrics around the mouth and nose.

Biological Theories: Prenatal Hormones: Scientists suggest that variations in hormone exposure, such as testosterone levels during prenatal development, may influence both neurological traits and craniofacial structure.

Source

Forever-35

The "Forever-35 Face" is an aesthetic and surgical trend centred on achieving subtle, undetectable, and natural-looking facial rejuvenation that mimics how a person looked in their mid-30s.

• "As you age, you can either look old or look weird, because you cannot look young again."

Source

Older = Less Brains

The human brain begins to lose volume at a rate of roughly 0.2% to 0.5% each year starting in middle age, closer to 5% per decade after age 40.

• Volume Loss: The brain shrinks as nerve cells lose connections or die over time.

• Vulnerable Areas: The frontal and temporal lobes—which handle memory and complex thinking—shrink the fastest.

• Acceleration: The rate of shrinkage speeds up significantly after age 60.

Source

Generation-Z is the first generation with lower IQs than their parents

Claims that Generation Z has a lower average IQ than their parents stem from a 2026 U.S. Senate testimony by neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, who argued that heavy screen use has reversed historical cognitive growth.

• Screen Over-Reliance: Experts point to high daily screen time, social media, and digital addiction starting at a very young age.

• Classroom Technology: Critics suggest that relying on tablets and short-form digital content in schools impairs deep focus and cognitive development.

• Loss of Deep Study: Human brains evolved for face-to-face interaction and sustained reading, not fragmented online clips.

Source

Madonna–Whore Complex

The Madonna–Whore Complex is a psychological condition where a person splits women into two extreme groups: pure, saintly "Madonnas" and degraded, promiscuous "whores". First identified by Sigmund Freud as "psychic impotence," this complex describes men who cannot feel sexual desire for women they love and respect.

• The Madonna: Seen as a pure, nurturing, and virtuous mother or wife figure. Men revere her but feel no sexual attraction toward her.

• The Whore: Seen as a hyper-sexual or promiscuous object. Men desire her sexually but do not respect or value her as a long-term partner.

Impact on Relationships and Mental Health:

• For Men: It causes intimacy issues, guilt, and an inability to combine love with passion in a committed relationship.

• For Women: It restricts sexual freedom, agency, and expression by forcing identity into narrow, unrealistic boxes.

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Brad Pitt - Past Relationships with Teenagers:

• Juliette Lewis: Brad Pitt (then 27) began dating actress Juliette Lewis (then about 17) around 1990 after they met on the set of the television film Too Young to Die? The relationship lasted for roughly four years until 1993.

• Christina Applegate: In 1989, 26-year-old Brad Pitt attended the MTV Video Music Awards with 17-year-old Christina Applegate. Applegate later recounted that they were not in a long-term relationship and that she famously left the event with someone else.

• Shalane McCall: Online discussions have frequently alleged that Pitt dated his Dallas co-star Shalane McCall when she was 14 and he was 24. However, these claims have been denied by McCall's family, who stated their interactions were strictly professional and tied to publicity for the show.

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Do you think (in general) the USA is a sexist & racist country?

"I think Gavin Newsom is going to be our next president. I think we're a looksist, sexist, racist country. I'm fairly confident that the Democratic nominee will be a straight white man over six feet tall. I don't see any reason that Secretary Clinton lost to Donald Trump, other than sexism. If she had a dick she would be our president."

• Scott Galloway

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"A functioning robust democracy requires a healthy educated, participatory fellowship and an educated, morally grounded leadership."

• Renowned Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic Chinua Achebe

Ancient Greek philosophers, notably Plato in The Republic, argued that democracy fails because ruling is a skilled trade requiring specialised knowledge and training, rather than something everyone is qualified to do by birthright. Plato illustrates the problem of democracy through Socrates’ famous Ship of State analogy:

• "Imagine a fleet or a ship in which there is a captain who is taller and stronger than any of the crew on board, but he is a little deaf and has a similar infirmity in sight, and isn't much better up on navigation. The sailors are quarrelling with one another about the steering—every one of them thinks that he ought to be the captain… They don't understand that the true navigator must study the year and the seasons, and the sky and the stars, and winds, and all that belongs to his art, if he intends to be right fit to command a ship."

Key Criticisms of Democracy by Ancient Greeks:

• Lack of Expertise: Voting allows citizens to participate and choose leaders without requiring any professional training or qualification in statecraft.

• Rule of the Mob: Democracies are easily swayed by strong emotions, popular prejudices, and demagogues rather than rational arguments.

• Vulnerability to Tyranny: Plato argued that the chaos and pandering of a pure democracy ultimately degrade public trust, paving the way for a demagogue to seize absolute power as a dictator.

• The Trial of Socrates: The democratic assembly of Athens voted to execute Socrates, solidifying the belief among philosophers that the masses could easily condemn wisdom out of fear or ignorance.

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