Epistemic Purgatory

Epistemic Purgatory is a small handle on a large fact. Grip it, and the fact becomes easier to carry.

What this concept offers is a pause — one extra beat between what happens and what you do about it. Civilisation, someone said, is measured in that beat.

Strip it to the floor and you find an old instruction: look carefully, judge slowly, act decently. The new name exists because the old instruction keeps being forgotten.

The housewife with her kitchen budget runs a tighter ship than most finance departments. She knows the difference between price and cost — one is on the tag, the other is on the month.

Money is a good clerk and a terrible master; the arrangement is entirely up to us. Print it on a card if you like. Better: print it on a habit.