on 27-Sep-2022 (Tue)

A small circle is quite as infinite as a large circle; but, though it is quite as infinite, it is not so large. In the same way the insane explanation is quite as complete as the sane one, but it is not so large. A bullet is quite as round as the world, but it is not the world.

The materialist is sure that history has been simply and solely a chain of causation, just as the interesting person before mentioned is quite sure that he is simply and solely a chicken.

As though
the river were
a floor, we position
our table and chairs
upon it, eat, and
have conversation.
As it moves along,
we notice—as
calmly as though
dining room paintings
were being replaced—
the changing scenes
along the shore. We
do know, we do
know this is the
Niagara River, but
it is hard to remember
what that means.

What is the Feynman Technique?

The inventor of the Feynman technique, Richard Feynman, was a Nobel Prize winning Physicist who was described as "the greatest teacher I never had" by Bill Gates.

Part of his genius lay in his four step technique for learning and teaching, which he applied to everything from quantum electrodynamics to playing the bongos:

1. Choose a concept or topic you want to learn

2. Explain everything you know about the concept to your 12-year-old self

3. Return to the source material to close any knowledge gaps

4. Continue to simplify your explanation until its meaning is obvious

If my 12-year-old self understands it, present-day me will understand it.

The mechanics are unclear: The jargon makes it difficult to see if I truly understand the mechanics of how most banks make their money. By stripping back the jargon, I'll be forced to explain these mechanics, which will root this knowledge firmly in my memory.

Attempt 2: Stronger Explanation

When you put money into a bank, they often pay you for doing so. The payment comes in the form of interest, which is a percentage of the amount you've given the bank. For example, if you gave the bank £100 and they were paying a 10% interest rate per year, you would have £110 after 12 months – your original £100 plus the £10 interest payment.

The main way banks make money is by lending people money to buy things like houses, or to start businesses. When you borrow money from a bank, the bank charges you. For example, say you borrowed £100, the bank may charge you 15% per year. That means if you pay back the loan after 12 months, you will owe the bank £115 – the original £100 plus £15.

Where does a bank get the money to make so many loans? From you. The bank lends out your money. In the example given, they would pay you a 10% interest rate but charge borrowers a 15% interest rate. The bank's profit is the difference between the amount it pays you, and the amount it charges, which is 5%: 15% minus 10%.

That's why if everyone withdrew their money at the same time, it is a deadly problem for a bank, because they don't have your money. They've lent it to someone else to try and make a profit. That's why banks pay you for saving your money with them, so you won't want to withdraw it.

• Highlight = The original context for your reference.
• Question = An application of the new information to form an insight.
• Answer = A compressed version of the highlight's insight expressed in your own words.

Unpacking the thought process behind the HQ&A note, we took when reading The Silk Road:

HQ&A note-taking method (physical books)

By writing our HQ&A Notes on Post-Its and then placing them on the relevant pages, we end up with a book that's full of shortcuts to the main ideas and insights we care about.

As Post-Its are small, they force us to focus our notes on what's important. Then we need to compose the note thoughtfully to ensure that the compressed idea still makes sense. That includes potentially peppering in a few helpful diagrams.

The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists ( Yìhéquán ), known as the "Boxers" in English because many of its members had practised Chinese martial arts, which at the time were referred to as "Chinese boxing".

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, villagers in North China feared the expansion of foreign spheres of influence and resented the extension of privileges to Christian missionaries, who used them to shield their followers. In 1898 Northern China experienced several natural disasters, including the Yellow River flooding and droughts, which Boxers blamed on foreign and Christian influence. Beginning in 1899, Boxers spread violence across Shandong and the North China Plain, destroying foreign property such as railroads and attacking or murdering Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. The events came to a head in June 1900 when Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners."

The Qing dynasty's handling of the Boxer Rebellion further weakened their control over China, and led the dynasty to attempt major governmental reforms in the aftermath.

LEES ZORGVULDIG EN BEWAAR VOOR LATERE RAADPLEGING.

Lady Jane Grey ( c. 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage)^[4] and as the "Nine Days' Queen",^[7] was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.

Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, and was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI. She had an excellent humanist education, and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day.^[8] In May 1553, she married Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward's chief minister John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. In June 1553, Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, while Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England, whose foundation Edward laid. The will removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their claims under the Third Succession Act.

After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553, and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew quickly, and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides, and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane. Her primary supporter, her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, was accused of treason, and executed less than a month later. Jane was held prisoner in the Tower, and was convicted of high treason in November 1553, which carried a sentence of death.

Mary initially spared her life; however, Jane soon became viewed as a threat to the Crown when her father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, became involved with Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary's intention to marry Philip II of Spain. Jane and her husband were executed on 12 February 1554.^[5]

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War,^[a] often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866.^[12] According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation; other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.^[13]

In the waning days of the war, with German victory all but assured, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. With the notable exception of Austria, the vast majority of Germans were united under a nation-state for the first time. Following an armistice with France, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed on 10 May 1871, giving Germany billions of francs in war indemnity, as well as most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine ( Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen ).

The war had a lasting impact on Europe. By hastening German unification, the war significantly altered the balance of power on the continent; with the new German nati

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Belgium was not a belligerent in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), as the country was neutral throughout the war, but was heavily influenced by the social and political effects of the conflict. An invasion of Belgian territory by either side was widely feared in 1870 and the Belgian Army was mobilised. The inadequacies which this revealed in Belgium's military and defensive preparations led to calls to reform the system of conscription and for a programme of fortification-building which would greatly influence the early phases of World War I.

The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War led King Leopold II and the government of Jules d'Anethan, installed only two weeks before the war's outbreak, to fear that Belgium would be invaded. A career staff officer, Major General Guillaume, was appointed as a non-partisan expert Minister of War in the new cabinet.^[1] The gold reserves of the National Bank were hurried to the National Redoubt at Antwerp before the news became public.^[2] When this leaked out, it caused panic.

lection-start| The Kuomintang (KMT),^[I] also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD)^[36] or the Chinese Nationalist Party,^[1] is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan after 1949. It was the dominant party in China during the Republican Era from 1928 to 1949, when most of the Chinese mainland was under its control. The party retreated from the mainland to Taiwan on 7 December 1949, following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law and retained its authoritarian rule over Taiwan under the Dang Guo system until democratic reforms were enacted in the 1980s and full democratization in the 1990s. In Taiwanese politics, the KMT is the dominant party in the Pan-Blue Coalition and primarily competes with the rival Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It is currently the largest opposition party in the Legislative Yuan. The current chairman is Eric Chu.

The party originated as the Revive China Society, founded by Sun Yat-sen on 24 November 1894 in Honolulu, Republic of Hawaii. From there, the party underwent major reorganization changes that occurred before and after the Xinhai Revolution, which resulted in the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Beiyang government. In 1919, Sun Yat-sen re-established the party under the name "Kuomintang" in the Shanghai French Conce

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