Ambit

By Deane Barker tags: definition
Updates
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Definition: the bounds of a physical or conceptual space

An ambit could be around a physical or geographic space. But it could also refer to the limits of knowledge or influence.

Why I Looked It Up

In The Fifth Risk, the author wrote about scientific agencies were discounted by the Trump administration:

[…] and moving its offices from the Old Executive Building, right next to the White House, to the Siberia of rented quarters outside the White House ambit.

In this case, it might be referring to physical proximity to White House, or perhaps it’s referring to the sphere of influence to the administration, for which physical distance is a reasonable proxy.

Update

Added on

From The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth:

First on talk radio, then on cable television, and eventually online, conservatives built a media counter-establishment. In some respects, that was a welcome development, diversifying the information supply and widening the ambit of received opinion.

Clearly, “ambit” in this case is a conceptual space, not a physical one.

Links from this – The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy May 27, 2021
Kind of an odd book, but really interesting and entertaining, far beyond the original point. The book starts out as a condemnation of the Trump administration, on a specific point – they didn’t bother to staff important agencies. Lewis paints a portrait of a man who honestly didn’t think he’d win...
Links from this – The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth September 22, 2022
This is a polemic against misinformation. It was written post-Trump, and Trump informs and motivates a lot of it. The author is retaliating against what he sees as the basic corruption of truth. We’ve arrived at a point in society where we can simply deny any truth that we don’t like and limit...