Snowhendge

Welcome, fellow illusions.

Perhaps because reality has become increasingly unattractive of late, I’ve been thinking, reading, and writing about the illusory nature of reality. It’s a fascinating topic. 

I won’t go into the science of it today, but I’ve always enjoyed art that challenges reality and frame of reference. Claus Oldenburg’s giant sculptures of everyday objects fascinated me in my youth because they encouraged me to realize the power of one’s perspective: I am enormous compared to an ant, and I am smaller than a molecule compared to the Milky Way Galaxy. And a galaxy is a quark compared to the universe.

That leads me to wonder if there’s anything our universe is tiny compared to, and anything a quark might seem gigantic next to.

My comic above touches on my fascination with scale. How much would you love to stumble upon that scene in the wilderness unexpectedly? You’d probably assume it was built by normal humans, but for a few seconds, you might be tempted to look over your shoulder for any colossal children hiding nearby.

I think of this kind of size differential when I see a teacup Chihuahua being walked on a leash through a heavily trafficked area like Manhattan at rush hour. I’m not sure I’d be capable of that level of courage.

While Oldenburg’s objects were fun and impressive, the current champion of mind-blowing relativity sculpture is Ron Mueck. I once saw a few of his sculptures in person, and they are alarming.

From a scientific, subatomic perspective, all matter—including humans—is something of an illusion, so Mueck’s sculptures become an illusion of an illusion, constructed of substances that are also illusions. The mind reels. 

But, illusion or not, this is our reality for the time being, and to help you navigate it, I’d like to recommend a newsletter on Substack by another historian. I’ve recommended the wonderful “Letters from an American” by historian Heather Cox Richardson before, and here’s another.

I’ve found the work of historian Emily Glankler to be a useful companion. With a casual, engaging style, “Anti-Social Studies” provides historical insight into the daily headlines with more clarity and detail than you’ll get from corporate-owned media. Her articles are not too long or difficult to understand for us laymen, and she’s good about delineating fact and opinion. (She also presents information via video posts, but I’m old-school and prefer the written material.)

I’m recommending her because I’ve gotten a lot out of her posts, and I also happen to know her personally and can vouch for her dependability and depth of knowledge.