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Never in human history have there been so many ways for privacies to be violated – or, often, just given away freely and without much thought. Using the thinly veiled metaphor of an animated alien planet teeming with terrible hovercar drivers, this animation from TED-Ed explores the value of privacy, and especially what we can lose or gain when we relinquish it. Spanning the work of philosophers ranging from Plato, who saw little value in the concept as we understand it today, to modern thinkers like the Israeli philosopher Ruth Gavison (1945-2020), who believed that certain privacies were necessary for modern democracies to function, the short asks viewers to consider both privacy’s worth and its very meaning in the modern world.
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Meaning and the good life
Why Orwell urged his readers to celebrate the spring, cynics be damned
11 minutes
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Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
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History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Leading 1950s thinkers on the search for happiness in trying times
29 minutes
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War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes