flâneur

On Talent and Topology

theschillingpoint.com · 1,565 words · saved by 1 readers

Europe Needs One Place

The world’s most important talent is Mercurian. Historian Yuri Slezkine observed that traditional societies typically had two crucial roles: Apollonians named after Apollo, the god of agriculture, order, and law, and Mercurians, named after Mercury, the god of trade, travel, and mediation. Apollonians produced food, maintained rituals, and controlled land and warfare. Mercurians performed services that were mistrusted by Apollonians, such as trading, moneylending, and interpreting texts. Mercurians had to remain outsiders to preserve trustworthiness as mediators between otherwise closed…

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