Category: readings

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

A non-Standard model. Most cosmologists say dark matter must exist. So far, it’s nowhere to be found. A widely scorned rival theory explains why. (Aeon)

Zebras, bacteria and asteroids. On what’s real and whether whatever it is can be part of a unified science. A very good summary of some fundamental debates in philosophy of science. (The Philosopher’s Magazine)

Tragedy as self-deception. We do it to ourselves. (IAI News)

The paradox of individualism. Individualism has been blamed for the break up of communities, personal alienation and rampant western consumerism. At the same time, with its focus on liberty and human rights, it is lauded as the crowning glory of western culture. (3 Quarks Daily)

Was Marcus Aurelius a persecutor of Christians? The scholarly take. (Harvard Theological Review)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and its connection with the present. (Greek Reporter)

Ideas that work. Truth, knowledge, justice – to understand how our loftiest abstractions earn their keep, trace them to their practical origins. (Aeon)

How we discovered a new tool to help combat vaccine hesitancy. Our social experiment showed the first step is empathy with the skeptical. (Prospect Magazine)

The whitewashing of Rome. White supremacists fetishise ancient Rome – but antiquity was more diverse and polychromatic than racists will admit. (Aeon)

Do Stoic ethics depend on the Stoic worldview? (Modern Stoicism)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

Sometimes, paying attention means we see the world less clearly. (Psyche)

Patriotic Obscenity: Aaron Poochigian and the Comedy of Aristophanes. (LA Review of Books)

Is improving your personality a moral duty or a category confusion? Well, you know what I think of this one… (Psyche)

The role of the arts and humanities in thinking about artificial intelligence. Reclaiming a broad and foundational understanding of ethics in the AI domain, with radical implications for the re-ordering of social power. (Ada Lovelace Institute)

How to think about pleasure. Weirdly hard to define, much less to feel OK about it, pleasure is a tricky creature. Can philosophy help us lighten up? (Psyche)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

As science advances, does Ockham’s Razor still apply? The notion that the simpler explanation is usually right has been useful for centuries. New science may change that. (Salon)

14 common Sophistical tricks Aristotle already “called”, still with us today. (Medium)

Wilfrid Sellars and twentieth-Century philosophy. (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews) [For background, see here.]

The inheritance of nations. To what extent does a work of art belong to the people of the world? (The American Scholar)

Archaeology, architecture, and “Romanizing” Athens. (OUP Blog)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

Why our “wandering brains” are wired to love art and nature. Humans have a built-in “fractal fluency,” probably because of our prehistoric ancestors’ upbringing. (Salon)

Our little life is rounded with possibility. Science expressed only in terms of what happens is getting in the way of progress. (Nautilus)

I created ‘The X-Files.’ Here’s why I’m skeptical of the new U.F.O. report. (New York Times)

Greed and the philosophy of wealth. When does a healthy desire for wealth morph into greed? And how can we stop it? (Big Think)

Brandolini’s law: the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. (Ordre Spontané)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

How to think clearly. By learning to question and clarify your thoughts, you’ll improve your self-knowledge and become a better communicator. (Psyche)

‘How to Tell a Joke’: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The Roman politician and orator Cicero used humor to charm audiences—and humiliate opponents. (Wall Street Journal)

Stoicism isn’t and never was (merely) a rich white man’s philosophy. (APA blog)

How to make sense of contradictory science papers. Published research is less about conclusions than science at play. (Nautilus)

What IS the Problem of Akrasia? Opening up a whole can of interconnected worms. (Medium)

How equality slipped away. For 97 per cent of human history, all people had about the same power and access to goods. How did inequality ratchet up? (Aeon)

The audacity of nope. An epic (and safe) post-pandemic summer depends on your ability to make “no” your favorite word. (Medium)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

‘Belonging is stronger than facts’: the age of misinformation. Social and psychological forces are combining to make the sharing and believing of misinformation an endemic problem with no easy solution. (New York Times)

Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless. (Vox)

The identity politics trap. The dangers of exclusion and how to avoid them. Our social identity is important for our sense of self-worth. But the very concept of social identity implies the exclusion of everyone else. In the political realm, that exclusion can quickly turn into oppression, but also resistance and rebellion. (IAI News)

Is it ever right to do the wrong thing? Let’s look at Batman… (Junkee)

How to deconstruct the world. Don’t believe everything you hear, read and watch. To puncture received ideas about culture, start thinking like Jacques Derrida. (Psyche)

Does quantum mechanics favor Buddhist philosophy? No. But Buddhism and quantum mechanics have much to teach each other. (Big Think)

Beyond the Nation-State. Sovereign states have been mythologized as the natural unit of political order. History shows how new they are—and how we can think beyond them. (Boston Review)

How accurate are personality tests? Precious few personality assessments are known to be reliable, and researchers say their use outside academia is debatable. (Scientific American)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

The miracle of the commons. Far from being profoundly destructive, we humans have deep capacities for sharing resources with generosity and foresight. (Aeon)

The Hume paradox: how great philosophy leads to dismal politics. The Enlightenment genius showed how admirable skepticism in the world of ideas can translate into a miserable reactionary stance in the world of practical affairs. (Prospect Magazine)

Stoicism and the Law. The influence of Stoicism on the doctrine of the Roman jurisconsults. (Medium)

Me, myself and others. Loneliness, solitude and the return to people. (IAI News)

How to experience more wow. Awe might seem an unobtainable luxury to many but, with the right approach, you can enjoy it daily – no mountain required. (Psyche)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

Reductionism vs. emergence: Are you “nothing but” your atoms? Reductionism offers a narrow view of the universe that fails to explain reality. (Big Think)

How to take better notes for information retention. Educational psychologist Kenneth Kiewra has some advice to help you retain and remember more. (inc dot com)

Archaeology society blocks video of lecture arguing for more science-based research. Society for American Archaeology refuses to publish talk after Indigenous archaeologists call it racist and white supremacist. (The College Fix)

Anti-Anti-Anti-Science. A review of Science under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America. (LA Review of Books)

If you’re reading Stoicism for life hacks, you’re missing the point. (New York Times)

Here it is, a rundown of interesting articles I’ve come across recently, to consider for your weekend readings:

Is magic immoral? It played a role in the development of early Christianity. [Not that that’s necessarily a good thing…] (The Conversation)

Brain wifi. Instead of a code encrypted in the wiring of our neurons, could consciousness reside in the brain’s electromagnetic field? (Kin-Keepers)

Ancient Greece’s Army of Lovers. Comprising a hundred and fifty male couples, Thebes’s Sacred Band was undefeated until it was wiped out in 338 B.C. In the nineteenth century, the mass grave of the men was found. (New Yorker)

“Civil War Is the Ongoing Condition of Democracy”: Reflections on Nicole Loraux. (JHI Blog)

The misinformation virus. Lies and distortions don’t just afflict the ignorant. The more you know, the more vulnerable you can be to infection. (Aeon)