The sound is unmistakable. Click-clack. Click-clack. Hard plastic striking frozen asphalt. It is the music of 5:00 AM, played out in the dark parking lots of the Dolomites. I was three years old when I first learned the rhythm of it, my small, gloved hand lost inside my father’s palm.
In March 2021, a digital collage file by the artist Beeple sold for an astonishing $69 million at Christie’s auction. The buyer of this NFT (non-fungible token) didn’t receive a physical object or exclusive rights to the art — essentially, they paid for a certificate of ownership recorded on a blockchain.
If you wanted a measure of American assimilation, adherence to imperial/customary units (miles, Fahrenheit, etc.) and the month-day-year system of record would be a good place to start. What follows is a defense of these three American customs that so often become flashpoints in the most Caltech of dinner table conversations.
