“Invention matters, but implementation matters more.”

Today’s technologist archetypes share a blind spot. Brendan McCord, founder of the Cosmos Institute explains why “philosophy is essential” when building planetary-scale technology.

“By not focusing on the outcome and instead designing a tiny experiment, what you can do is letting go of any definition of success, letting go of that binary results that you're looking for, and instead focusing something that makes you feel curious and that you want to explore.”

Philosopher Meghan Sullivan challenges the idea that religious texts can’t be taken seriously in modern philosophy. She explains how parables, scripture, and debate have always been connected to asking life’s biggest questions:

“Could black holes be the key to a quantum theory of gravity, a deeper theory of how reality, of how space and time works?”

"We've sent out one or two little messages, but we certainly aren't investing billions of dollars shouting out into the cosmos saying, "Hey, we are here. Come say hi.""

The ocean is evolving, and it’s not based on the ‘survival of the fittest.’ Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar explains how it’s not competition that has kept the ocean alive, but collaboration.

"Virtually everything we're taught about sexuality for the first two decades of our lives is wrong."

"It's a very, very beautiful calculation, but it's the best example I know of the relationship between these rather abstract quantities perhaps and something that you can look at in a telescope."

According to philosopher Meghan Sullivan, effective altruism may overlook the moral importance of seeing others as individuals. She explains how love should guide how we care for both present and future humans.

“Fraud never sleeps. It's really a global problem. Fraud is a trillion dollar problem, about $5 trillion today, with that number increasingly rising annually.”

"You can't possibly exaggerate how much better it is to live in a peaceful, orderly society, and to be wealthy, and healthy, and surrounded by people who you love."

Rediscovering competition in an unexpected place helped her rewrite what was possible — and go on to win gold.

“CIA classifies their secrets according to different terminology. There's confidential secrets, there are secret level secrets, and then there are top secret secrets. And the way that they define each of these different levels actually has to do with the impact that would occur if the secret became public knowledge.”

We may be close to finding life beyond Earth. But would we even recognize it if we did? Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar explains what signs NASA is looking for.

“We know that as little as 10 minutes of walking can improve your mood, that is getting that bubble bath with the dopamine, serotonin, endorphins going, anybody can do that.”

From the printing press to the internet, every technological revolution in history has reshaped human thought. Now, with AI accelerating by the day, philosopher Meghan Sullivan asks: Are we ready for the philosophical shift that must follow?

Why do we fall in love with one person over another? The late biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher unpacks the evolutionary roots of romantic love, sex, and attachment.  Using research […]

"If we did create beings that were more like non-human animals, we ought to treat them much better than we now treat non-human animals."

“You might as well go for it. You might as well do the thing that you dream about doing for heaven's sake.”