A higher freedom

I am looking at a review of Timothy Ferris’s book, “Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature.” He apparently argues that it was people with a “scientific frame of mind” who ushered in not only the scientific and industrial revolutions, but also the values we associate with democracy and universal human rights. Examples of such freedom-loving nerds include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, and others. I knew I should be thankful to nerds and geeks (who had been unjustly tormented by retarded jocks in school) for giving us the car, the jet liner, the personal computer, the internet, the smartphone, and other indispensable amenities of civilized life. But crediting them with the invention of political and personal freedom as well puts my gratitude at a whole new level. If they created from top to bottom the world we now inhabit, it must be theirs to break.