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Essays

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Longform Essays written by serious and creative thinkers on philosophy, psychology, science, society and culture

Black and white photo of a vintage propeller aircraft flying in a clear sky.

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Philosophy of science

The forces of chance

Social scientists cling to simple models of reality – with disastrous results. Instead they must embrace chaos theory

Brian Klaas

Painting of a man and woman in elegant 18th-century attire sitting on a pink sofa with ornate decoration.

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History of ideas

Settling accounts

Before he was famous, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Louise Dupin’s scribe. It’s her ideas on inequality that fill his writings

Rebecca Wilkin

Photo of shattered glass with multiple cracks against a black background.

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Philosophy of mind

Rage against the machine

For all the promise and dangers of AI, computers plainly can’t think. To think is to resist – something no machine does

Alva Noë

Ancient mosaic depicting two figures with instruments on a blue stone background.

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Food and drink

The fermented crescent

Ancient Mesopotamians had a profound love of beer: a beverage they found celebratory, intoxicating and strangely erotic

Tate Paulette

Photo of two grey birds on a rock by water, one standing and the other appearing to crash land into the rock, neck bent with wings raised; green reeds in background.

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Philosophy of science

Life makes mistakes

Hens try to hatch golf balls, whales get beached. Getting things wrong seems to play a fundamental role in life on Earth

David S Oderberg

Blurry photo of a person lying back with head tilted, set against a red and dark background.

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Sex and sexuality

Sex and death

Our culture works hard to keep sex and death separate but recharging the libido might provide the release that grief needs

Cody Delistraty

A street with an American flag a mural of a vintage town scene and a black pickup truck passing by.

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Politics and government

The spectre of insecurity

Liberals have forgotten that in order for our lives not to be nasty, brutish and short, we need stability. Enter Hobbes

Jennifer M Morton

Black and white photo of a group of people standing outdoors on a slope by a pond with trees and bushes in the background.

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Religion

The script creator

Pau Cin Hau dreamt of an alphabet for a language that had never been written down. So began the religion of Laipianism

Bikash K Bhattacharya

Photo of a galaxy with a bright centre emitting a blue jet of energy against a background of numerous stars in space.

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Cosmology

Stars behaving absurdly

For centuries, the only way in which to illuminate the mysteries of black holes was through the power of mathematics

Steve Nadis & Shing-Tung Yau

A Pacific National train engine in yellow and blue with “Make time to ask R U OK?” message on its side.

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Mental health

Constant confession

Mental health campaigns place huge trust in people’s ability to act as therapists. But when should professionals step in?

Aaron Neiman

A smiling elderly man in a cluttered electronics shop with various gadgets and boxes surrounding him.

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Home

The joy of clutter

The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’

Matt Alt

A man in yellow shorts floating on his back in a swimming pool, with dark lane markings and reflections in the water.

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History of science

Forwards, not back

Medicine aims to return bodies to the state they were in before illness. But there’s a better way of thinking about health

Kate MacCord & Jane Maienschein