Thinking and intelligence
Thinking and intelligence
idea
Innovative three-year-olds expose the limits of AI chatbots
New experiments show that very young children are better at solving creative puzzles than ChatGPT and other AI models
by Shayla Love
Sports and games
idea
Sport shows how to use performance benchmarks in a positive way
IQ scores and other contextless benchmarks are suffocating and misleading. We should look to sport for a healthier approach
by Leif Weatherby
Worry and rumination
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If thinking is rational, what makes overthinking irrational?
A philosophical perspective on overthinking offers fresh insights into the mental processes involved in anxiety and OCD
by Pablo Hubacher Haerle
Thinking and intelligence
idea
When the human tendency to detect patterns goes too far
‘Apophenia’ is reflected in pleasant and troubling experiences alike – from seeing faces in clouds to conspiracy beliefs
by Shayla Love
Decision-making
idea
Do you think more clearly when reading or when listening?
How we take in information has a remarkably significant effect on how intuitive or analytical we are in thinking about it
by Janet Geipel & Boaz Keysar
Theatre and performance
idea
Why did Ibsen put ‘philosophers in skirts’ up on the stage?
When Henrik Ibsen put ‘philosophers in skirts’ into his plays, he demonstrated a different way of thinking about the world
by Kristin Gjesdal
Thinking and intelligence
idea
Why academia should embrace ‘Grandma’s metaphysics’
‘Grandma’s metaphysics’ and other sources of wisdom are vital if academia is to embrace diversity and fully benefit from it
by Devin Sanchez Curry
Cognitive and behavioural therapies
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The philosophical roots of CBT help explain its limitations
Not all psychological problems are thinking problems. Trying to solve them purely cognitively, with CBT, won’t help us mature
by Bradley Murray
History of emotions
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The fear that trashy media will rot your brain goes way back
Keeping up with the Faerie Queene: from early modern romances to reality TV, does bingeing ‘lowbrow’ culture rot the brain?
by James Waddell
Laughter and comedy
idea
When will humorous AIs press our buttons with their jokes?
A sense of humour is a tough test of an AI. Our devices won’t be truly smart until they know how to make us laugh
by Tony Veale
Work and vocation
idea
For the Stoic Musonius Rufus, manual work is philosophy too
The Stoic Musonius Rufus practised philosophy by bridging the seeming gulf between intellectual work and manual labour
by Lee Clarke
Human nature
idea
Our innate ideas prevent us seeing what is innate in human nature
We have a great deal of trouble telling what is innate and what is learned in human nature, whether ideas or emotions
by Iris Berent