Sharpen Reason | Filter the Noise

Coming this autumn… The Modern Erasmian reintroduces Desiderius Erasmus, the 16th-century Dutch Humanist, Educationalist, Satirist, and Philosopher, as a guide for the digital age. Each essay and story stages the Renaissance humanist in present-day scenes—from a debate with an algorithm engineer to a conversation with a doom-scrolling teenager—so readers see timeless ideas tested against real modern pressures.

Posts follow a three-act dialogue format: scene, confrontation, and takeaway. Along the way, brief sidebars offer practical tools, such as the ‘Three Erasmus Questions’ for spotting deceit and a five-second pause ritual for healthier sharing. A closing section translates the episode’s insight into concrete steps readers can try the same day.

Over the first cycle, we’ll cover several pressing themes: disinformation, digital distraction, youth mental health, AI ethics, climate anxiety, leadership integrity, consumerism, inequality, loneliness, education, burnout, and cultural fracture. The subject changes… the goal remains: help the reader think clearly and act decently when noise encourages neither.

Style matters. Each installment runs about 2,000 words, mixing vivid dialogue with source notes from In Praise of Folly, The Education of a Christian Prince, and Erasmus’s letters. Historical quotations appear only when they illuminate the point; they’re rendered in present-day English, so no Latin footnotes slow the pace.

You can read The Modern Erasmian article-by-article or wait for the collected print edition. We are also exploring a podcast version.

Whatever the format, the promise remains steady: sharper judgment, quieter feeds, and the satisfaction that your clicks and shares follow reflection rather than reflex.

Reason can gain ground in chaotic times.