Some last and some don’t, yet we cling to them in times of change.  Illustration by Lily Padula If you’ve ever watched a show like “The Great British Bake Off,” you may have felt inspired to attempt a magnificent cake of your own—but you’ll quickly run into obstacles if you don’t know some basic rules of baking. Get the right temperature, avoid substitutions, don’t skip the salt. After all, rules, some inconsequential and others monumental, govern how we live. In a fascinating piece, Rivka Galchen reviews the book “Rules: A Short History of What We Live By,” by the science historian Lorraine Daston, and examines why rules exist, why we follow them, and how their history can express, in part, the history of humanity itself. Galchen offers a delightful study of rules across time and literature, including the “shape-shifting rules” of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” sumptuary laws in France (yes, there was a law about who could serve a dessert composed of more than fruit and cheese), and the sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict, which provides guidance for questions such as “How much wine should be drunk daily?” and “Should one wear a belt to bed?” Plus, learn the difference between “thick” and “thin” rules, and why some strictures are repeatedly violated, no matter how stringent the consequences might be. —Jessie Li, newsletter editor Support The New Yorker’s investigations of modern life and literature. Subscribe today » | 
No comments:
Post a Comment