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The asymmetry of the historical record

Published by Silveira on 2026-05-21

“Yeah, I think that, I think it is important to recognize that much like the present, the past is largely a chronicle of misery.

I mean, people suffer. And the people who suffer the most leave the least evidence behind. And so, any history that begins with what survives has a real challenge to arriving at any proper perspective on the human condition.

I think that is the asymmetry of the historical record, right? The people who were wealthiest and most literate and had the greatest resources, not only left, not only made a lot of records, they managed to have their records preserved. And everyone else disappears and just vanishes, their remains are gone.

And I think it puts a special obligation on anyone who’s trying to write history or tell a story about the past to be attentive, to not give up in the face of the asymmetry and to try to repair the historical record by finding other kinds of evidence, the evidence that does survive, that makes sure that we understand the lives, both of the powerful and the powerless.”

Jill Lepore said in the podcast 99% Invisible: 100 Objects #1: The Century Safe, May 19, 2026.


“Morning Bell” by Iman Mersal

Published by Silveira on 2023-08-15

The eye opens like a curtain rising
In the dark, feet search for something real
Consciousness hasn’t happened yet
And the floorboards are skin temperature
A fresh repetition, today will be one more or one less
An impromptu concert strikes up in the kitchen
Maybe this black coffee is the morning bell-
the prize you win for returning safe from sleep

Published by Silveira on 2022-04-12

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

Apply this list to movies, rock music, word processors and mobile phones to work out how old you are.

by Douglas Adams in “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet”, August 29th 1999.

Published by Silveira on 2017-12-12

is a Fearful Thing

‘Tis a fearful thing
to love what death can touch.

A fearful thing
to love, to hope, to dream, to be –

to be,
And oh, to lose.

A thing for fools, this,

And a holy thing,

a holy thing
to love.

For your life has lived in me,
your laugh once lifted me,
your word was gift to me.

To remember this brings painful joy.

‘Tis a human thing, love,
a holy thing, to love
what death has touched.

Yehuda HaLevi