essay
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
essay
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
essay
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
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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