1791 Alexander Hamilton

We have some interesting table-talk among John Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton. They are discussing British politics, it’s constitution and corruption.

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Mr. Adams observed, “Purge that constitution of its corruption … and it would be the most perfect constitution ever devised by the wit of man.” Hamilton paused and said, “Purge it of its corruption … and it would become an impracticable government. As it stands at present, with all its supposed defects, it is the most perfect government which ever existed.”

-- Ron Chernow, “Alexander Hamilton”

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Mr. Chernow notes that Jefferson took Hamilton’s comment to be a good indication of the suspect nature of his political ideas. Chernow says that Hamilton was merely arguing that the Crown needed to use its patronage to balance its power against Parliament’s power of the purse, whereas Jefferson took it to show Hamilton’s bias towards monarchism. Obviously, Hamilton was a hard-nosed realist.

Gendered Brains

We have some brain-scanning that shows scientifically that men's and women's brains are different, in case anyone doubted this.

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By analyzing the MRIs of 949 people aged 8 to 22, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania found that male brains have more connections within each hemisphere, while female brains are more interconnected between hemispheres.

-- Olga Khazan at The Atlantic

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No one knows what that difference means, but there you go.