Word: tetrodotoxin
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...What am I talking about? Here's a metaphor: to the Japanese, the highly-dangerous Fugu fish is a great delicacy. Handled and prepared carefully, it can be relished without concern. But the fish contains a fatal poison in its skin known as tetrodotoxin, which can kill in minutes. So it is with our relationship to the past: if we approach it thoughtfully, it can provide a kind of nourishment for our lives in the present. The great danger of history is cheap nostalgia, seducing us into loving the past simply because...
What am I talking about? Here's a metaphor: to the Japanese, the highly-dangerous Fugu fish is a great delicacy. Handled and prepared carefully, it can be relished without concern. But the fish contains a fatal poison in its skin known as tetrodotoxin, which can kill in minutes. So it is with our relationship to the past: if we approach it thoughtfully, it can provide a kind of nourishment for our lives in the present. The great danger of history is cheap nostalgia, seducing us into loving the past simply because...