Why don’t chimpanzees rule the world? Is storytelling - the mysterious glue that enables millions of humans to cooperate effectively - the answer?
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The unique power of story is like a sharp knife, writes Claire Corbett. It is neither good nor evil, but can cut both ways.
Studies show that feelings of ease and comfort in a given situation – what psychologists call ‘fluency’ – are tied to feelings of authenticity.
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What if cultivating your authentic self doesn’t involve self-reflection, but instead means focusing on what feels good and natural?
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In his latest book, David Brooks questions human exceptionalism, drawing on the work of a wide range of thinkers and writers.
Refugees from Mariupol sit in a bus crossing the Ukraine-Russia border on March 15.
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Written more than 200 years ago, Kant’s Toward Perpetual Peace sets out a plan for peace we can still aspire to achieve.
Zero-sum competitive environments that set up winners and losers may be less appealing to women.
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A focus on raw intellectual talent may unintentionally create a cutthroat workplace culture. New research suggests women’s preference to avoid that environment may contribute to gender gaps in some fields.
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It is important to help young people understand what misogyny is and how it can lead to violence.
Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa.
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Warren Ward’s Lovers of Philosophy thoughtfully, and only a little salaciously, explores the impact of philosophers’ love lives on their thinking.
On International Women’s Day, two women writers discuss feminism, writing in the age of Trump and Covid – and being ‘flabbergasted’ by the absence of birth from Western art and philosophy.
Ama Ata Aidoo.
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Ama Ata Aidoo recognises the differences between humans and the existence of a history in which some humans are dehumanised.
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We need long-term solutions, but the idea has been hijacked by a worldview that downplays climate risks.
There’s a growing belief that teachings from religious faiths belong in the discussion around environmental protection.
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As anxiety over the climate and environmental degradation rises, a scholar argues that teachings from religion and spirituality need to inform discussions on sustainability.
Kwasi Wiredu focused on bringing an African understanding to the study of philosophy.
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Kwasi Wiredu attempted to re-evaluate western philosophical concepts within Akan linguistic and conceptual frameworks to attain greater philosophical clarity.
Banking on bitcoin: El Salvador announced plans to build a Bitcoin City in November 2021.
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Plus, a philosopher explains the history of the idea that we might all be living in a simulation. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
The evolution of the cosmos after the Big Bang.
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Some argue the Big Bang was a rebirth rather than a birth.
Martin Luther King Jr. is among the many big thinkers to question the importance of philanthropy.
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Big donors need to balance their ambitions to address injustices with the constraints on power that democracy requires.
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Bad laws, political tribalism and cancel culture – philosopher Arthur Prior was describing similar things in the 1950s, and his challenge is just as relevant today.
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Did humans invent mathematics or does it exist independently?
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The anti-vax movement is no longer fuelled purely by fears about vaccines and harmful side-effects – there are other forces at play.
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We cannot claim that inducing others to reduce emissions gives us a moral license to emit in their place.
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The novelist and philosopher’s views on love and relationships can help us be better friends.