Rowan's Future of Choice

My grandparents relaxing on holiday in Ontario

On the front porch of the Grandview Inn near Huntsville, overlooking Fairy Lake, late 1940s.

What will the finger write?

"The study of decision making… is a palimpsest of intellectual disciplines."  (Source: Buchanan, L., O'Connell, A., (2006). A brief history of decision making. Harvard Business Review, 84(1).)

Say what? It turns out that for centuries, wise men and women have been re-using paper, papyrus, or whatever material they had to write on, replacing old information with new. Webster’s calls these palimpsests ('pa-l&m(p)-"sest), or "writing material (as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased." The word comes from the Greek, meaning "scraped again."

Omar Khayyam (who clearly did not use palimpsest) wrote this poem.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

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