Search
Philosophy
8mins
The history of music from bone flutes to Beyoncé.
4mins
From superstition to religion, we are surrounded by supernatural thinking. Is that a bad thing?
John Templeton Foundation
A second Enlightenment would have a far bigger task: Saving civilization itself.
Proponents of transhumanism make big promises, such as a future in which we upload our minds into a supercomputer. But there is a fatal flaw in this argument: reductionism.
Quantum communication offers a surer path to sending an interstellar message, as well as receiving one. But can we do it?
7mins
"Supernatural thinking is actually an important part of being a complete human being."
John Templeton Foundation
Ideas often taken for granted in the United States and Europe about what it means to be a person are, quite simply, not shared with other cultures.
4mins
Rituals come as much from religion as they do from the way Earth spins around the Sun.
We live in a four-dimensional Universe, where matter and energy curve the fabric of spacetime. But time sure is different from space!
It’s not a huge leap to imagine we could target the biological processes that mediate our behaviours.
3mins
People in the East and West really do think differently, especially when it comes to self-identity. Depending where you live, either associative or distinctive thinking will shape your sense of self.
John Templeton Foundation
More than 20% Americans live in a state with access to a medically assisted death.
Livestock now outweighs wild mammals and birds ten-fold.
The psychology of alien contact largely revolves around the concept of "otherness." We need to learn to be comfortable around strange things.
In the philosophy of Star Wars, the Sith are evil because they surrender to passion. But is a life of total rationality a “good” life?
"Politics is weird. It’s the only business in the world in which you take a really, really important position, and you give it to someone with no qualifications." —Tony Blair
Gradualism rejects the idea of a "bright line" in the abortion debate.
The fictitious 31st-century world portrayed by the series is actually quite a bit like our own in the 21st century.
In the wake of the pandemic, the crystal industry boomed, with customers hoping the stones might relieve a little anxiety.
We often laugh at inappropriate things, but not when we are emotionally invested. Laughter cannot be serious. So, can we ever laugh at death?
When you're a genius, how do you make ends meet?
The role of the Devil’s advocate was to argue against the beatification of mystics. Contrary to popular belief, they did not wear Prada.
It is all too easy for humans to fall into the cognitive trap of thinking that an entity that can use language fluently is sentient or intelligent.
It might seem like science and faith are at war, but the two have a historical synergy that extends back in time for centuries.
John Templeton Foundation
Science and the sacred both allow us to retain our sense of wonder, even as disaster seems to swirl around us.
It is little more than a fancy excuse for escapist fantasizing.
82% of professionals say they'd take a lower-paying job to work for an organization with more ethical business practices. This is just one of the reasons to offer ethics training for employees.
The weird and wild ways mummy fever swept through Europe.
Unlike other world rulers, Genghis Khan was laid to rest not inside an elaborate mausoleum but an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia. Maybe.