What 24-hour time taught me about translating
When I first set my watch to 24-hour time, army time, I couldn’t make sense of it. 13:53? That means 1:53 PM, right? It got worse as the time moved further away from noon. 17:42? Quick!…
How to tolerate risk
It’s easier to take risks when you have nothing to lose. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, was a big fan of this sort of thinking. Like other stoics, he said you shouldn’t worry about stuff you…
Past tense vs. present tense: Two first-person experiments
You know the difference between past tense and present tense. One tells it like it happened. The other tells it like it’s happening right now. Until a few days ago, I didn’t realize that there…