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Essays

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

Abstract digital art with geometric shapes in various colours, forming the shape of a person’s head and shoulders, featuring black glasses in the centre.

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Ethics

The incompleteness of ethics

Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths. But as Gödel shows, deciding what is right will always be our burden

Elad Uzan

A person in a brown coat sitting alone at a picnic table in an autumn park with fallen leaves around.

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Consciousness and altered states

A simple shift in focus

Life is often experienced as a demanding, ongoing story. But with a little practice, a new space opens for peaceful presence

James Carmody

Painting of ancient Roman ruins with people, cattle and trees under a blue sky with clouds.

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Nations and empires

The rewards of ruin

Societal downfalls loom large in history and popular culture but, for the 99 per cent, collapse often had its upsides

Luke Kemp

A stork and chicks in a nest on a metal pylon above a grassy landscape with a river in the background.

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Animals and humans

To build a nest

Throughout the animal kingdom, the parents of newborns must strive to create snug sanctuaries in a hazardous world

Helen Jukes

Photo of three people in traditional robes, two holding wooden staffs, standing outside a wooden building in sunlight.

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Rituals and celebrations

A life in Zen

Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind

Anshi Zachary Smith

Black and white photo of a man in a suit speaking passionately at a podium with microphones.

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Biography and memoir

The story of Malcolm X

Alex Haley co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X but Haley left out some profound elements of Malcolm’s political thought

Alex White

Photo of a large conference with a speaker on stage in traditional attire and an audience seated facing a large curved screen.

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Politics and government

How to run the world

We need new forms of global diplomacy to transcend the current pathetic bargaining of national and commercial interests

David Van Reybrouck

A round pot encircles a hole in the soil, around the hole are dried leaves, a stone and a stick.

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Anthropology

Spider divination

Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures

David Zeitlyn

A crocodile underwater with mouth open wide showing teeth in a cloudy green environment.

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The environment

Beyond food and people

Nietzsche shows us how to embrace our connection with nature – without denying its essential conflict, strife and suffering

Nicholas E Low

Abstract digital art of a web-like cosmic structure with purple and orange filament patterns, resembling a universe simulation.

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Cosmology

Rivers of galaxies

What are the largest shapes in the Universe? The answer might be found in the most unassuming places here on Earth

Mark Neyrinck

A person in a hospital gown sitting on a bed in a bright patient room, large window and privacy curtain visible.

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Human rights and justice

Knowledge and justice

Any legal system that fails to compensate people for epistemic harm is unjust. Their damage must be named and remedied

Mitch Woolery

Photo of two polar bears exploring a decaying wooden building, one looks out a window, the other stands on the porch steps.

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Animals and humans

Humanlike?

Interpreting the emotional lives of animals requires a subtler and more nuanced understanding of anthropomorphism

Mike Dacey