› added 3 days ago

TIL that Socrates reckoned that writing would weaken people’s memories and encourage only superficial understanding.

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Q6Ve TIL that unlike James Bond, real MI6 agents don’t need a license to kill because everything they do outside the UK is already illegal. The UK spy agency makes Bond-like gadgets for operatives but, as one said after retiring, they “frequently fail to work upon arrival at our destination”.
xZl1 TIL the Pixar movies “A Bug’s Life,” “Monster’s Inc,” “Finding Nemo,” and “Wall-E” were all brainstormed during one lunch in 1994 by the writers of “Toy Story.”
nGlB TIL that as part of their training, 18 month old circus elephants are chained together and made to stand still for 23 hours a day
xMYo TIL That the Sacramento Public Library started a “Library of Things” earlier this year, allowing patrons to check out, among other things, sewing machines and other items that patrons may find useful, but don’t need to own long-term.
1aXwD TIL it took 200,000 years for humanity to reach 1 billion people, but only 200 years to reach 7 billion.