“One way of thinking about science is that it’s a check against the natural human tendency to see patterns that might not be there. It’s a way of knowing when a pattern is real and when it’s a trick of your mind.” — Jason Fagone, The Woman Who Smashed Codes
In science, when we learn something new and useful in one field, it sometimes proves useful in other fields.
That’s one lesson from the remarkable life and accomplishments of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, probably the greatest, yet least-known American codebreaker in history.
As a self-taught cryptanalyst, she deciphered enemy codes during World Wars I and II; in between, she helped the Treasury Department take down gangsters including Al Capone.
Journalist Jason Fagone’s book quoted above is an entertaining and informative biography of this extraordinary woman’s story, and there also is a PBS documentary series, The Codebreaker, that is excellent.
Understanding the difference between patterns, real and imagined, can be applied to thinking about an entirely different matter than cryptology — and that is the endless conspiracy theories that pollute so much of our current public life.
From the claims by Laura Loomer and her ilk that immigrants were eating our pets to the anti-vaccination pronouncements by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to the utter nonsense fostered by many of the others around Donald Trump, a sizable portion of the public has been buying into baseless theories that are demonstrably false. The Kirk assassination has set off a whole new round of noise pollution.
And that is precisely what sets real journalism apart from the junk too many consume on Fox News and social media.
"So little was known in this country of codes and ciphers when the United States entered World War I, that we ourselves had to be the learners, the workers and the teachers all at one and the same time," Friedman once said of her work.
That is an accurate summation of the state of the ill-informed American public today. So little is broadly known of the facts in our society that we all need to become learners, workers and teachers at the same time. That’s why we desperately need to bring back as many real, honest journalism as possible to help us do what the codebreakers did — save our democracy from an unacceptable alternative — authoritarianism.
(This essay is heavily edited and updated from when I first published it two years ago.)
HEADLINES:
Trump says he's ready to put 'major sanctions' on Russia if NATO nations do the same (NBC)
NATO to bolster eastern flank after Poland downs drones (Reuters)
'We escaped certain death': Israel intensifies Gaza City bombardment, forcing families to flee (BBC)
UN endorses two-state solution declaration that condemns Hamas (Reuters)
People are losing jobs due to social media posts about Charlie Kirk (NPR)
The New McCarthyism: Kirk Disciples Warn Critics to Mourn Him Properly or Else (Daily Kos)
Workers are getting fired, placed on leave over Charlie Kirk posts (WP)
‘It’s unacceptable’: Inside growing concerns about Patel’s FBI leadership (CNN)
FBI director draws criticism from the right over handling of shooting (WP)
Patel faces congressional hearings after missteps in Kirk assassination probe and turmoil at FBI (AP)
You don’t have to say something about every terrible thing (Silver Bulletin)
E.P.A. To Stop Collecting Emissions Data From Polluters (NYT)
Taliban claim an agreement reached with U.S. envoys on a prisoner swap as they seek better ties (CBS)
Protesters demand release of former Berkeley worker, 73, detained by ICE (Berkeleside)
Octopuses prefer to use different arms for different tasks, scientists find (Guardian)
What a street-style photographer sees when she goes out in San Francisco (SF Standard)
Outsiders Love Mocking Marin County. Now, It’s Laughing at Itself. (NYT)
Pete Hegseth Buys Bar Round Of F-22 Fighter Jets (The Onion)
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