Lesson1 Power of Architecture
Architecture is to be regarded by us with the most serious thought. We may live without her, and worship without her, but we cannot remember without her. How cold is all history, how lifeless all imagery, compared to that which the living nation writes, and the uncorrupted marble bears! --how many pages of doubtful record might we not often spare, for a few stones left one upon another! The ambition of the old Babel builders was well directed for this world: there are but two strong conquerors of the forgetfulness of men. Poetry and Architecture; and the latter in some sort includes the former, and is mightier in its reality: it is well to have, not only what men have thought and felt, but what their hands have handled, and their strength wrought, and their eyes behold, all the days of their life.
Lesson2 Parent-children relationship by Bertrand Russell
The value of parental affection to children lies largely in the fact that it is more reliable than any other affection. One's friends like one for one's merits, one's lovers for one's charms; if the merits or the charms diminish, friends and lovers may vanish. But it is in times of misfortune that parents are most to be relied upon, in illness, and even in disgrace if the parents are of the right sort. We all feel pleasure when we are admired for our merits, but most of us are sufficiently modest at heart to feel that such admiration is precarious. Our parents love us because we are their children and this is an unalterable fact, so that we feel safer with them than with anyone else. In times of success this may seem unimportant, but in times of failure it affords a consolation and a security not to be found elsewhere.
Lesson3 The Computer and Privacy
In the last 20 years, the productivity of the computer has increased over 1,000%. With this kind of technological advance, the possibility of storing more and more information at a central point is growing at a phenomenal rate. But so is the possibility of gaining access to the stored information. And that raises serious questions regarding personal privacy. For some time now, there has been a growing effort in many European countries to preserve the individual's privacy in the face of expanding requirements for information by business, government and other organizations. In some countries, legislation has been enacted to protect the individual's privacy. In others, it is under study. In searching for appropriate legislative guidelines, private and governmental groups have explored many avenues and considered many aspects of the problem. Solutions must be found. And they will call for patient understanding and the best efforts of everyone concerned.
Lesson4 Work
In the laws of political economy, the alienation of the worker from his product is expressed as follow: the more the worker produces, the less he has to consume; the more value he creates, the more valueless, the more unworthy he becomes; the better formed is his product, the more deformed becomes the worker; the more civilized his product, the more brutalized becomes the worker and the more he becomes nature’s bondsman.Political economy conceals the alienation inherent in labour by avoiding any mention of the evil effects of work on those who work. Thus, whereas labour produces miracles for the rich, for the worker it produces destitution. Labour produces palaces but for the workers, hovels. It produces beauty, but it cripples the worker. It replaces labour by machines, but how does it treat the worker? By throwing some workers back into a barbarous kind of work, and by turning the rest into machines. It produces intelligence, but for the worker, stupidity and cretinism.
Lesson5 A Tip for Readers Living Alone
For years my Great Aunt Maud lived alone in a remote cottage beside a road in the Welsh hills. Yet she was never afraid of being attacked or robbed because she had devised a unique way of protecting herself. Hanging in the lobby of her house, and visible from the front door was a policeman's hat. Naturally anyone calling at the house immediately noticed the hat and assumed that there was a policeman living there. Aunt Maud never had any trouble from doorstep dodgers or people calling at the house to try and find out if it was worth burgling. She felt quite safe.After her death, her cottage was cleared out, and the policeman's hat was packed away in a suitcase and forgotten. Just the other day I came across it, and remembering Aunt Maud's idea, I hung it on a peg in the hall for any caller to see as soon as the door opens. I really feel safe and snug now that it's there!