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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
Jelena’s song | Aeon
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video

Wellbeing

Through a poetic account of childhood trauma, one woman reclaims her past

28 minutes

Party poster | Aeon
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video

Politics and government

‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai

20 minutes

Stuck with the soul | Aeon
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essay

Consciousness and altered states

Stuck with the soul

The idea of the soul is obviously a nonsense, yet its immaterial mysterious nature has deep hooks in the human psyche

David P Barash

The problem with English | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

The problem with English

Is Earth’s most-spoken language a living ‘gift’ or a many-headed ‘monster’? Both views distract us from the real dilemma

Mario Saraceni

Namesake | Aeon
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video

Earth science and climate

A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse

6 minutes

A manly divorce | Aeon
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Gender and identity

A manly divorce

Straight men rarely write about the end of their marriages. Our enduring ideas about gender explain this silence

Joshua Coleman

After the mother tongues | Aeon
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Global history

After the mother tongues

Cultural exchange between Iran and India led to the creation of literary histories that inspired modern nationalism

Alexander Jabbari

Medieval babycare | Aeon
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History

Medieval babycare

From mansplaining about breastfeeding to debates on developmental toys, medieval parenting was full of familiar dilemmas

Katherine Harvey

My theatre | Aeon
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video

Film and visual culture

The old-time cinema experience endures in a quiet corner of Japan

5 minutes

What has feelings? | Aeon
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Computing and artificial intelligence

What has feelings?

As the power of AI grows, we need to have evidence of its sentience. That is why we must return to the minds of animals

Kristin Andrews & Jonathan Birch

The space between us | Aeon
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Psychiatry and psychotherapy

The space between us

In order to understand and heal mental distress, we must see our minds as existing in relationships, not inside our heads

James Barnes

Still the one | Aeon
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video

Gender and identity

‘I didn’t fall in love with a couple of body pieces’ – on marriage and transition

3 minutes

Selected before birth | Aeon
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Bioethics

Selected before birth

Embryo risk screening could lower the odds of illnesses ranging from depression to diabetes. Can it be ethically done?

Todd Lencz & Shai Carmi

Secrets hurt their holders | Aeon
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essay

Mental health

Secrets hurt their holders

Holding back the truth can take a huge toll on your relationships and your mental health. Why? And is there a better way?

Michael Slepian

Under the mkone tree | Aeon
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Mental health

Under the mkone tree

When I returned to Kenya, where I grew up, I found biomedicine and traditional medicine in conversation about mental health

Priya Basil

Elephant food is for the strongest teeth | Aeon
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video

Sports and games

The brutality and beauty of the West African martial art of ‘dambe’

15 minutes

Super-cooperators | Aeon
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Philosophy of mind

Super-cooperators

Clear and direct telepathic communication is unlikely to be developed. But brain-to-brain links still hold great promise

Gary Lupyan & Andy Clark

We’ve always been distracted | Aeon
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History of technology

We’ve always been distracted

Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself

Joe Stadolnik

My Duduś | Aeon
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video

Animals and humans

What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own

8 minutes

The doll | Aeon
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video

Life stages

At 14, Asal is excited about her engagement. Her relatives all have their own opinions

33 minutes

Learning styles don’t exist | Aeon
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Teaching and learning

Learning styles don’t exist

A teaching approach that is based on students’ preferences sounds laudable. But this misunderstands how learning happens

Carl Hendrick

Everything is going to be fine | Aeon
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video

The future

What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?

15 minutes

Disarming transphobia | Aeon
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Gender and identity

Disarming transphobia

‘Rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ is a popular weapon in the anti-trans arsenal. It is nothing but unscientific bunk

Quinnehtukqut McLamore

Born that way | Aeon
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essay

Personality

Born that way

Confident or shy, our temperament is mostly baked-in from birth. But how that influences our lives is up for grabs

Gina Mireault