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Today’s Chris Arnade Walks the World newsletter features a guest post by Lilly Lynch, whose writing I’ve followed on and off for almost a decade now. Georgia has never been on my list of must-visit countries, and is even less so now after reading her post. So it goes…

Some light weekend reading, from beautiful to ugly:

I 100% stand behind Chris Arnade’s latest article: No, the world doesn’t hate America. Duh.

You can curse the darkness, or you can light a candle […] If young people today do not know of events or artists or thinkers or works that you think they would benefit from knowing, you can tell them. That’s one of the main things writers are for.

A funny thing happened as I was reading this passage from Alan Jacobs' brief article about (un)knowing: my five-year-old was listening to We’ll Meet Again, the 1939 hit that has, c/o Gravity Falls, become his favorite tune. Funny how culture works.

A few good links for the weekend:

ChatGPT, the blog expert

The latest episode of The Talk Show was with Taegan Goddard, who all the way back in 1999 founded the blog Political Wire which is apparently a continuous intravenous drip for people interested in US politics. Now, I’ve had other preocupations back then and not being an American citizen still have little to no interest, so this blog wasn’t even on my radar until listening to the episode. But now I wonder: are there any more relevant blogs I’ve missed out on, about medicine and biotechnology in particular?

ChatGPT’s first pass was mediocre. I’ll save you the verbalist padding, but here are its suggestions in response to my prompt: “Is there a website/blog like politicalwire.com or daringfireball.net but for biotechnology?”

It’s a 20% hit rate: only Derek Lowe’s In the Pipeline comes close to what I asked for. The others are all medium to big news outlets that yes, focus on biotech, but that’s not what I asked for. The second try, after I asked for more like Lowe’s, was a tad better:

That’s more like it! 80% now, and if I were feeling generous I’d give it a full 100% since In the Pipeline is, in fact, a Sci Trans Med blog. But then I asked for too much, and it hallucinated 3 more, two of which were hallucinations (BioPunk and BiotechBits, which were at least plausible names) and one was a sub-blog of Endpoints that also didn’t exist.

So, now I have two new blogs to follow (Timmerman Report and The Niche; Biotech Strategy is behind a paywall and I’ve already been following the others), and an ever-increasing urge to update the Blogroll, which has been under construction for the past five months with no end in sight.

ChatGPT, the font expert

I follow most blogs via RSS and imagine everyone doing the same. This makes me forget that this very blog is an actual website that may need tending, and every time I visit (which is rarely) a thought comes to mind: I should really do something about that font … typeface … those fonts.

But I don’t want to just copy someone else, which is what I did with the current version that uses Iowan Old Style. ChatGPT was sadly lacking in font recognition skills. When I showed it a screenshot of this website it said the font was Georgia. When asked whether it might be Iowan after all, it had this to say: Upon closer inspection, the typeface in the image does indeed have characteristics that are more aligned with Iowan Old Style rather than Georgia. Which is some master-work backtracking and a sign of an expert BS-er.Not knowing much about typefaces, I asked someone who might.

Me: What is a high-quality publicly available serif typeface highly regarded by most if not all experts?

ChatGPT-4o: One of the most highly regarded publicly available serif typefaces is “Cormorant.” This typeface is available on Google Fonts and is praised for its elegance and versatility. Designed by Christian Thalmann, Cormorant is inspired by the classic Garamond typefaces but with modern refinements that make it suitable for both print and digital use.

Cormorant is highly regarded for its high contrast, sharp serifs, and a wide range of styles and weights, making it a versatile choice for various design needs. It’s well-crafted and respected among designers for its beauty and readability.

Me: Can it be used as a body typeface? If not, is there a typeface that I can use as body typeface?

ChatGPT-4o: While Cormorant is beautiful and highly regarded, it is generally better suited for display use (e.g., headlines, titles) rather than as a body typeface. This is because of its high contrast and intricate details, which can make it harder to read at smaller sizes, particularly in large blocks of text.

For a high-quality serif typeface suitable for body text, I recommend “EB Garamond.” This typeface is also publicly available on Google Fonts and is an excellent choice for body text due to its readability, classic design, and balanced proportions. EB Garamond is a revival of the original Garamond typeface from the 16th century, known for its timeless elegance and clarity, making it an ideal choice for both print and digital use.

EB Garamond is widely praised for its legibility, even at smaller sizes, making it an excellent option for body copy in various design projects.

Me: What is a good monospace typeface equivalent to EB Garamond?

ChatGPT-4o: A good monospace typeface equivalent to EB Garamond, in terms of quality and readability, would be “IBM Plex Mono.”

IBM Plex Mono is part of the IBM Plex typeface family, which was designed with clarity, neutrality, and versatility in mind. While it’s a monospace typeface, it maintains a sense of elegance and professionalism that aligns well with the qualities of EB Garamond. It has well-balanced proportions and is highly legible, making it suitable for coding, technical documents, or any design where a monospace font is needed.

IBM Plex Mono is also publicly available on Google Fonts, making it easily accessible for a variety of projects. Its modern design and attention to detail make it a strong choice for anyone looking for a high-quality monospace font.

Why ChatGPT would be hawking Google Fonts is a question beyond my pay grade, but hey, it’s free and easily implemented, so I might as well try.

Back in 2008, Tyler Cowen wrote about the stupidity button, in response to some rabble-rousing rhetoric:

When I see people writing sentences of this kind, I imagine them pressing a little button which makes them temporarily less intelligent. Because, indeed, that is how one’s brain responds when one employs this kind of emotionally charged rhetoric.

As you go through life and read various writers, I want you to keep this idea of the button in mind. As you are reading, think “Ah, he [she] is pressing the button now!”

I’ve pressed that button myself many times, and always regretted it.

When I first saw Patrick Collison’s “vague tech cannon”, the preponderance of biographies and Silicone Valley histories seemed like too much navel gazing. Tanner Greer had a more charitable perspective:

To study the great men of a community’s past is to study what greatness means in that community. That I think is half the purpose of these biographies of Roosevelt and Rockefeller, Feynman and Oppenheimer, Licklider and Noyce, Thiel and Musk. These books are an education in an ethos. Such is the paıdeía of the technologists.

Roosevelt, Rockefeller, Feynman — yes. But Thiel and Musk?

Daniel Frank writes about agreements and disagreements:

There’s something to be said for the blissful ignorance of not knowing every opinion held by every person in our lives and for spending less time dwelling on divisive topics. If you got along well with your work colleague until you discovered their view on topic X, then maybe discussing topic X isn’t wise.

Right! That’s one way to avoid condemnation games.