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Ideas

Imagination

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Impressionist painting of a family in a garden, with a child learning to walk, assisted by an adult, as another adult crouches down with outstretched arms.

Values and beliefs

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A philosophical approach can help you identify what truly matters

We’re often taught to live according to our values, but this is easier said than done without pausing to reflect deeply

by Valerie Tiberius

Two people look at a scientifically based recreation of a Neanderthal man’s head, adorned with feathers and fur, enclosed in a glass case at a museum. The setting is under strong indoor lighting with a blue wall background.

Communication and language

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This is what a Neanderthal conversation would have sounded like

Neanderthals had language, but it differed from ours in an important way that could help explain our superior art and tech

by Steven Mithen

Side profile of a bearded person with sunlight creating multicoloured rainbow flares across the image and a blurred garden background.

Neurodiversity

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Psychedelics could give a mind’s eye to those who’ve never had one

Case reports suggest psychedelics might reverse aphantasia (a lack of mental imagery), but is that necessarily a good thing?

by Shayla Love

A grey car is parked next to a purple brick wall with some plants growing at the base. The sky is overcast and buildings are in the background.

Mind and brain

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This is how your brain distinguishes reality from imagination

In terms of brain activity, imagining something is very similar to seeing it, so why don’t you confuse the two more often?

by Shayla Love

Vintage image of a woman and a man looking fearful in front of sheet music, while a shadowy figure with a gun and bouquet looms in the background.

Stories and literature

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Why the concept of invisibility so captivates the imagination

From ancient fables to the latest science theory, invisibility represents some of humankind’s deepest fears and desires

by Greg Gbur

A display of multiple white masks with various facial expressions arranged in rows, with a brick wall visible through an oval gap in the centre.

Imagination

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In the architecture of the mind, where lies human imagination?

In the architecture of the mind, is imagination a built-in structural feature or a result of cognitive remodelling work?

by Michael Omoge

Painting of large trees with exposed roots in a verdant forest, a wooden fence and a distant cabin partially obscured by foliage in the background.

Imagination

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Aphantasia can be a gift to philosophers and critics like me

Aphantasia veils the past and the future from the mind’s eye. That can be a gift to philosophers like Derek Parfit and me

by Mette Leonard Høeg

Illustration of a blond man in medieval attire watching a blonde woman in a pink dress reclining on a bed, surrounded by flowers.

Stories and literature

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Young women were the true originators of the Grimms’ Tales

Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella – the old fairy tales are full of female lust and hope, and most were told by women

by Christine Lehnen

Person in a blue hat reading a book on a bench in a forest, surrounded by birch trees and greenery.

Stories and literature

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There is an unseen smuggling operation between fiction and reality

Fiction is not quarantined from reality, as experts have long proposed. There is constant trade between the two worlds

by Daniele Molinari, Valentina Petrolini & Wolfgang Huemer

A person standing and looking at a large, detailed projection of the cracked surface of the Mona Lisa’s face.

Philosophy of art

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Engaging with an artwork leaves you and the art transformed

When you engage with an artwork, a form of cognitive coupling takes place in which your mind and the art are transformed

by Miranda Anderson

A photo of a colourful mosaic composed of various broken ceramic tiles with intricate floral and geometric patterns.

The self

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You’re not a computer, you’re a tiny stone in a beautiful mosaic

Let’s ditch talk of computers and bank accounts. Positive mind-metaphors emphasise our embodied inter-connectedness

by Anna Katharina Schaffner

Blurry photo of a seascape with a cloudy sky, calm water, and a sandy shore with rocks and patches of green algae.

Neurodiversity

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I have no mind’s eye: let me try to describe it for you

With aphantasia, my mind’s eye sees only darkness, not images. It’s like missing a sense, and only imagination can compensate

by Neesa Sunar