In 2014, Ursula Le Guin accepted the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, saying: “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”
Harfoush reflects on this quote often. It underscores the fact that “this world we’ve created is ultimately a choice”, she says. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Like in statistical thermodynamics, the collective choice of an ensemble is not a choice at all. Individually, we do have degrees of freedom. The larger the aggregate, the less degrees of freedom.
Like in statistical thermodynamics, the collective choice of an ensemble is not a choice at all. Individually, we do have degrees of freedom. The larger the aggregate, the less degrees of freedom.