The centerpiece of the chapter is an effort to redeem the promise that I have earlier attributed to the lawyerly virtues—in particular to fidelity and its attendant negative capability—by setting these virtues in a political context.

A planular projection of a three-dimensional object is its projection onto a plane.

Once judgmental biases are identified, researchers start trying to eliminate them using one of two strategies. The first accepts the existence of the bias and concentrates on devising schemes, such as training programs, that will reduce it. The second claims that the bias is not very robust and important and concentrates on devising experimental situations in which it will not appear. Together, these strategies circumscribe the universe of debiasing procedures.

The resilience of mankind in Antarctica is inexorable; even the constant bleating of those who whine for permanent silence and infinite pristineness dissipates into an insignificant Buddhist drone beneath the soothing rumble of fleets of machines with pulsing hydraulics.