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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Dennis “Thresh” Fong talks to us about battling Elon Musk in Quake in the ‘90s, his undefeated record as a pro gamer, and using AI to detoxify gaming.
If philosophers really enjoy one thing, it’s a good debate — but not an argument.
Religion is a product of, and not a source of, our evolutionary moral dispositions.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.
"What modern science has taught us is that life is not a property of matter."
Life arose on Earth early on, eventually giving rise to us: intelligent and technologically advanced. "First contact" still remains elusive.
Evidence shows that “centaurs” — human–AI teaming — produce better performance than either people or software can achieve alone.
How “Catastrophe and Social Change” (1920) became the first systematic analysis of human behavior in a disaster.
The Universe is 13.8 billion years old, going back to the hot Big Bang. But was that truly the beginning, and is that truly its age?
Is it ever possible for God to violate the laws of nature?
8mins
Biological evolution in humans has slowed. Can AI, culture wars, and modern tech explain why?
Many contrarians dispute that cosmic inflation occurred. The evidence says otherwise.
You could call this rectangle covering parts of Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula the “Oven Window.”
A simple semantic device — invented by a forgotten senator — can help us break “the curse of knowledge.”
Absence makes the heart (and public opinion) grow fonder.
He peppers his sentences with words like “neat” and “cool,” he’s not great at working the room after dinner — oh, and he's a peerless visionary.
The original principle of relativity, proposed by Galileo way back in the early 1600s, remains true in its unchanged form even today.
Most stars in the Universe are located in big, massive, Milky Way-like galaxies. But most galaxies aren't like ours at all.