Thinking
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The Swedish philosophy of lagom: how “just enough” is all you need
Be more like Goldilocks.
Most Americans today are choosing cremation – here’s why
We're still using 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid a year, but burials are becoming far less common.
Do parents really have a moral obligation to their children?
Why, exactly, should you die for your child?
Why Nietzsche envied (and pitied) the stupidity of animals
Nietzsche both wished he was as stupid as a cow so he wouldn’t have to contemplate existence, and pitied cows for being so stupid that they couldn’t contemplate existence.
Lost touch with someone? Reach out – your friend will likely appreciate it more than you think
People tend to underestimate how much a friend they’ve lost contact with would enjoy a simple note saying "hi."
Why free will is like whiskey
There are two conceptions of free will: "straight" and "mixed."
Rousseau explained: What his philosophy means for us today
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Swiss Enlightenment philosopher who praised a simple life and inspired the worst of the French Revolution.
5 of the most misunderstood quotes in philosophy
That Nietzsche quote might not mean what you think it does.
What does it mean to be a “person”? Different cultures have different answers
Ideas often taken for granted in the United States and Europe about what it means to be a person are, quite simply, not shared with other cultures.
Could “moral enhancement” technology improve the human condition?
It’s not a huge leap to imagine we could target the biological processes that mediate our behaviours.
Philosophy of Star Wars: Are Darth Vader and the Sith really all that bad?
In the philosophy of Star Wars, the Sith are evil because they surrender to passion. But is a life of total rationality a “good” life?
Healing crystals are nonsense. Why are they still so popular?
In the wake of the pandemic, the crystal industry boomed, with customers hoping the stones might relieve a little anxiety.
Go ahead and laugh at a funeral. Nietzsche says it’s okay
We often laugh at inappropriate things, but not when we are emotionally invested. Laughter cannot be serious. So, can we ever laugh at death?
Why the paradoxes of infinity still puzzle us today
Since at least 600 BC, people have been mesmerized by the concept of the infinite.
Blaming “evil”: a philosophical paradox, unpacked
A philosopher unpacks the paradox in using the word "evil."
Greek has at least 4 words for love. Arabic has 11. Here’s what they have in common
You can love a romantic partner, but also a pet, a book, God, or the sound of someone’s voice. We need many more words for love.
Why changing your mind is a feature of evolution, not a bug
If argumentation led to nothing, it would soon be thrown into the evolutionary dustbin.
“Just asking questions”: How healthy skepticism morphed into toxic denialism
Media provocateurs and conspiracy theorists insist that they're "just asking questions." No, they aren’t.
You are probably a naive realist. Try not to be
We tend to assume our view of the world is objective and accurate rather than subjective and biased — which is what it really is.
5 philosophy jokes that will actually teach you something
Jokes so cheesy even French philosophers will love them.
Read this book if you want to understand what drives inventors, engineers, and scientists
"The Soul of a New Machine" provides a rare level of insight into the minds and decisions of humanity's greatest thinkers.
Golden Balls: How one man broke a UK game show using game theory
Game theory is a unique combination of math and psychology. Its applications turn up everywhere, from nuclear war to Tinder to game shows.
Can Bionic Reading make you a speed reader? Not so fast
In the age of distraction, don't we all want to read faster and more efficiently?
Instead of the death penalty, let’s put dangerous criminals in a coma
Prison is an unreliable method of punishment. Let's do better.
Thinking fast and slow about ethics: When is it okay to cut in line?
Sometimes breaking a rule is the ethical thing to do.
What does “pro-life” even mean anymore?
Regardless of political ideology, one of the few things that many people seem to have in common is a moral hypocrisy that arises from a fundamental lack of self-reflection.
4 categories of pseudoscience — and how to talk to people who believe in them
Pseudoscience is science’s shadow.
Is China’s communism a new ideology or traditional philosophy rebranded?
Did traditional Chinese thought pave the way for the philosophy of Maoism?
Too much choice: The strange phenomenon of “analysis paralysis”
When faced with too many choices, many of us freeze — a phenomenon known as "analysis paralysis." Why? Isn't choice a good thing?

