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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
Don’t let them fool you | Aeon
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essay

Social psychology

Don’t let them fool you

The fear of being duped is ubiquitous, but excessive scepticism makes it harder to trust one another and cooperate

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

The science of cuteness | Aeon
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video

Human evolution

Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature

6 minutes

Matrimony and the market | Aeon
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essay

Economic history

Matrimony and the market

The sexual revolution promised new norms of intimacy based on egalitarianism. So far, only the rich have cashed in

Daniel Tutt

Beautiful! | Aeon
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video

Family life

On a whirlwind morning, a couple learns if they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy

7 minutes

The sonnet machine | Aeon
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essay

Stories and literature

The sonnet machine

A sonnet contains an emotional drama of illusion and deception, crisis and resolution, crafted to make us think and feel

Timothy Hampton

Eliminative materialism | Aeon
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video

Philosophy of mind

Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no

5 minutes

Drawings of my BF | Aeon
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video

Love and friendship

When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love

7 minutes

Reckoning with compassion | Aeon
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essay

Philosophy of religion

Reckoning with compassion

After an abuse scandal destroyed my Buddhist community, I had to reconsider what it means to live an ethically attuned life

Jessica Locke

The joy of sulk | Aeon
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essay

Mood and emotion

The joy of sulk

Full of implicit rules and paradoxes, sulking is a marvellous example of intense communication without clear declaration

Rebecca Roache

Ndagukunda déjà (I love you, already) | Aeon
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video

Family life

In Rwanda, Sébastien finds traces of personal history in the wake of national tragedy

21 minutes

A thickness in the air | Aeon
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essay

Neuroscience

A thickness in the air

The spooky sensation that someone or something else is right there haunts us all. But what does this felt presence mean?

Ben Alderson-Day

The diver | Aeon
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video

Love and friendship

A decade after his wife was swept away in a tsunami, Yasuo still searches the sea

9 minutes

Self-satisfaction | Aeon
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essay

History of ideas

Self-satisfaction

The ancient Cynics taught that masturbation is about more than pleasure: it suggests how to live simply and autonomously

M D Usher

Disorient yourself | Aeon
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essay

History of ideas

Disorient yourself

Now associated with childhood fun, the swing has a near-universal history of ritual transgression and transformation

Javier Moscoso

Three ways to think about free will | Aeon
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video

Philosophy of mind

We may never settle the ‘free will’ debate, but tapping into it is still worthwhile

32 minutes

In praise of irritation | Aeon
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essay

Mood and emotion

In praise of irritation

Unlike anger, irritation has neither glamour nor radicalism on its side. Yet it might just be the mood we need right now

Will Rees

Octopus time | Aeon
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essay

Biology

Octopus time

We humans are forward-facing, gravity-bound plodders. Can the liquid motion of the octopus radicalise our ideas about time?

David Borkenhagen

Ain’t no time for women | Aeon
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video

Politics and government

Join the spirited debate at a women’s hair salon before a pivotal election in Tunisia

19 minutes

Animal, vegetable, mineral | Aeon
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Consciousness and altered states

Animal, vegetable, mineral

Cruel and unscientific, the ‘vegetative state’ diagnosis stems from a hierarchical and bigoted view of all living things

Ben Platts-Mills

The art of two-way art | Aeon
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video

Language and linguistics

A master palindromist spells out his 40-year ‘love affair with reversibility’

6 minutes

TV on Shetland | Aeon
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video

History of technology

The long-awaited arrival of TV to Shetland sparks debate in this vintage clip

9 minutes

Honey, I sold the kids | Aeon
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essay

Family life

Honey, I sold the kids

We have laws to protect children from factory work. Why aren’t they protected from parents who monetise their lives online?

Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

Are coincidences real? | Aeon
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essay

Metaphysics

Are coincidences real?

I am an unequivocal rationalist and yet I still want to see something strange and wonderful in life’s weird coincidences

Paul Broks

Unschooling | Aeon
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essay

Education

Unschooling

It takes nerve to go against the grain and take your child out of school. But, for some, that’s when learning really starts

Naomi Fisher & Heidi Steel