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Interesting comment on the nature of history: it is easy to explain what happened in hindsight the less you know about a given time (and he adds that this is directly related to the fact that those who witness a point in history —those who know it best— are those who are least able to predict an outcome). He points out that history is chaotic, and that predicting it would cause the predictions not to come true.

Once you start to think of this book as an essay it becomes quite an interesting read.

“Nevertheless—for historical reasons that Columbus would have understood well—some people are concerned about who first sets foot on Mars. If this really worries us, we can arrange for the ankles of the crew members to be tied together as they alight in the gentle Martian gravity.”

“For me, the most ironic token of that moment in history is the plaque signed by President Richard M. Nixon that Apollo 11 took to the Moon. It reads: “We came in peace for all mankind.” As the United States was dropping 7.5 megatons of conventional explosives on small nations in Southeast Asia, we congratulated ourselves on our humanity: We would harm no one on a lifeless rock.”