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Collaboration

A Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Fable*

Posted on February 18, 2026February 19, 2026 by John Lubans

 “A HEN who had lost her sight, and was accustomed to scratching up the earth in search of food, although blind, still continued to scratch away most diligently. Of what use was it to the industrious fool? Another sharp-sighted hen who spared her tender feet, never budged from her side, and enjoyed, without scratching, the…

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Vision vs. the “Box”

Posted on February 11, 2026February 22, 2026 by John Lubans

In January 2014 an unprecedented cultural event involving 30,000 people took place in Riga, Latvia. I wrote about it with photos in a 2014 post, “The Spontaneity of Well-Meaning Crowds”*. What was the event?: The “Grāmatu draugu ķēde” (The Chain of Booklovers) which moved some 2000 gift and duplicate books, hand over hand in a…

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The Bumptious Among Us & How They Get That Way

Posted on January 2, 2026February 7, 2026 by John Lubans

The word, bumptious, has found recent currency, mostly in political discourse, but the Trumpian allusion is not what I’ve in mind. Nor will this be a plea for others, always others, to be kinder and more considerate. Rather, I’ll explore the seeming lack of courtesy (rudeness) which is central to being bumptious. What promotes rudeness?…

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Bierce’s Philosophers Three fable*

Posted on November 28, 2025November 29, 2025 by John Lubans

  A Bear, a Fox, and an Opossum were attacked by an inundation. “Death loves a coward,” said the Bear, and went forward to fight the flood. “What a fool!” said the Fox.  “I know a trick worth two of that.”  And he slipped into a hollow stump. “There are malevolent forces,” said the Opossum,…

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John Lubans

John Lubans (WSJ portrait)
WSJ rendering from a photo by Eva Baughman.

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