Philosophy

Philosophy

Examine life’s biggest questions, from ethics to existence, with curiosity and critical thinking.

Illustration of a human brain in pink tones shown in profile view, set against a solid green background.
5mins
We are ~99% genetically identical to chimpanzees. But there are three key traits that separate us.
4mins
A productivity expert explains how you can be creative and a powerhouse of productivity.
Drake equation
The Fermi paradox (along with the subsequent Drake equation) is so difficult that even brilliant thinkers can make little dent in it.
Intellectual humility demands that we examine our motivations for holding certain beliefs.
John Templeton Foundation
dark energy
Dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in all the Universe. Is there some way to avoid "having to live with it?"
"The School of Athens" by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
Though ultimately incorrect, the ancient Greek philosophers blazed a conceptual trail for humankind to understand the nature of reality.
Roger Penrose conformal cyclic cosmology
Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose, famed for his work on black holes, claims we've seen evidence from a prior Universe. Only, we haven't.
ChatGPT doesn’t understand physics, but it memorizes very well and puts in extra effort.
Can ChatGPT help you power through writer's block?
An abandoned church in a field
If you lost your religion, it might be because the internet and social media are having a secularizing effect on American society.
8mins
Why we keep giving power to the wrong people, according to political scientist and associate professor Brian Klaas.
This year marks 2,000 years since the birth of the Roman author of the first natural encyclopedia.
"I am an anthropologist, and for years, I have spoken to people who have had these experiences."
John Templeton Foundation
EHT event horizons
Since its observation discovery in the 1990s, dark energy has been one of science's biggest mysteries. Could black holes be the cause?
When you combine the Uncertainty Principle with Einstein's famous equation, you get a mind-blowing result: Particles can come from nothing.
entanglement across space
Are quantum fields real, or are they simply calculational tools? These 3 experiments show that if energy is real, so are quantum fields.
Samuel Johnson by Joshua Reynolds
Art criticism is inherently subjective. Still, many critics have tried to make a case for why some of the world’s most celebrated books are in fact terribly written. 
4mins
This productivity hack comes with an asterisk, explains note-taking guru Tiago Forte.