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Black-and-white photo of a uniformed military officer with a moustache standing in profile outdoors against a blurred landscape.

Thinking and intelligence

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Why some of the smartest people can be so very stupid

Struggling to understand is perfectly honourable. Being wilfully stupid is something else and we should strive to fix it

by Sacha Golob

Black and white photo of a man and woman in swimwear relaxing on a sandy beach with rocky cliffs in the background.

Love

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Love shouldn’t be blind or mad. Instead, fall rationally in love

Blind, all-consuming love goes against your interests and impedes your flourishing. Submit your love to rational scrutiny

by Berit Brogaard

Black and white photo of a thoughtful child in a classroom sitting with hand on chin, other children nearby.

Learning and education

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Why good teachers allow a child’s mind to wander and wonder

The experience of wonder is essential to the task of education – it opens up the world. That’s why teachers should foster it

by Anders Schinkel

A painting of people in top hats and formal attire walking in a dimly lit street at night with buildings in the background.

Anxiety

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Anxiety isn’t a pathology. It drives us to push back the unknown

‘I’m anxious, therefore I enquire.’ Anxiety isn’t a problem to be solved; it drives philosophical enquiry and makes us human

by Samir Chopra

Black-and-white photo showing a desk with a laptop displaying a portrait of Michel Foucault between two monitors.

Thinkers and theories

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Pseudophilosophy encourages confused, self-indulgent thinking

Pseudophilosophy can result from simple misunderstanding or wilful obscurity. The cure is basic critical thinking skills

by Victor Moberger

Two men posing for a picture, one in a red jacket and the other in a colourful suit and dark sunglasses, while another man takes their photo.

Fairness and equality

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Adam Smith warned us about sympathising with the elites

Sympathy is both key to human psychology and source of much of our misery. For Adam Smith, the philosophical life is the cure

by Blake Smith

Two people stand under a lit entrance at night with cars parked outside and a colourful cloud mural in the background. Lights reflect on surfaces.

Mind and brain

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Time doesn’t flow like a river. So why do we feel swept along?

Physics tells us that time doesn’t flow like a river, as Heraclitus claimed. Why then do we feel like we’re swept along?

by Nick Young

Protesters holding signs against cashless society, media and climate emergency. Signs include “ONLY BY STANDING TOGETHER WILL WE BE FREE” and “TIME TO WAKE UP”.

Knowledge and reason

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Our big problem is not misinformation; it’s knowingness

Everybody knows we live in an age of misinformation. But everybody’s wrong, and here’s why it’s our age’s biggest problem

by Jonathan Malesic

Four people sit on the side of the street at night, engrossed in their mobile phones, the screens casting light on their faces.

Knowledge and reason

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The antidote to fake news is to nourish our epistemic wellbeing

There’s more to wellbeing than physical and mental health: we also need epistemic wellbeing, or good access to knowledge

by Kenneth Boyd

A fridge covered in word magnets in the foreground next to two people having a meal at a table with sticky notes on the wall blurred in the background.

Autism

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Autistic people challenge preconceived ideas about rationality

While cognitive biases commonly sway decision-making, Autistic people might be less susceptible to such biases

by Liron Rozenkrantz & Anila D’Mello

Abstract black-and-white image of a spiralling, tunnel-like structure with concentric circles, framed by a vintage-style border.

The nature of reality

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Uncertainty isn’t a human flaw, it’s a feature of the world

They bring contrasting perspectives, but a literary scholar and a physicist agree on the wisdom of embracing uncertainty

by Richard C Sha & Nathan Harshman

Sepia photo of a girl in worn clothing standing on a dirt path between houses, two people walking by, and another child sitting on a step.

Childhood and adolescence

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Young children use reason, not gut feelings, to decide moral issues

It’s not just ‘gut feelings’: humans form moral judgments that align with moral principles and beliefs from a young age

by Audun Dahl