The irrational and uncanny
![Photo of a blurry suburban street with detached houses and a neatly trimmed lawn with another image faintly overlaid of two children and two houses](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/f6778b1c-0961-4532-8324-98fdeb94fab6/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Altered states
idea
Déjà vu is just one of many uncanny kinds of déjà experiences
What can the many types of déjà experiences that most people have tell us about reality, memory and the gaps in between?
by Art Funkhouser
![Man in a dark suit sitting on a chair against a wooden wall with a blue, shattered glass window panel next to him.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/26481dc5-b7e1-48e7-a402-96c7286cf69b/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
The nature of reality
idea
For neuroscience, magic opens a doorway to multiple realities
The transition in magic from possible to impossible can answer some of the key questions in philosophy and neuroscience
by Luis M Martínez & Jordi Camí
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/2df6f182-8885-4236-aa46-12d56d88851f/original.png?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Mindfulness and meditation
film
Everyone is waiting, watching. What for remains captivatingly unclear
Directed by Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot
![Video screen showing DeepFakes: an original image of a man in a suit labelled “Putin” and an altered image labelled “Trumph on Putin”.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/61c1b7c2-9aca-4343-b1ef-c2f0a3fa6e4b/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Technology and media
idea
Why we should rethink our moral intuitions about deepfakes
Deepfakes unsettle established categories of deception and authenticity, but that doesn’t necessarily make them unethical
by Adrienne de Ruiter
![A man in a white outfit stands in front of a building with the sign “UFO land.” He is wearing a large pendant and a wristwatch, looking upwards.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/83437ba9-ba26-4185-b9c9-29a3c94d3a46/rt-gettyimages-525421610.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Spirituality and religion
idea
UFO belief is a modern outlet for ancient spiritual yearnings
Even when it’s not explicitly religious, belief in alien visitors resembles our oldest ways of making sense of the world
by Francesco Dimitri
![Animation of a girl in a red cap sitting in a tree, with a fox below and vibrant plants and mushrooms surrounding them.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/14bdf0a6-7862-4b15-9484-a582e0aaaeaa/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Happiness
film
Martha’s adventures through the washing machine looking-glass
Directed by Hannah Jacobs
![A moody cityscape with dark buildings and bright yellow-lit rooms, featuring silhouetted figures inside.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a06a551e-2101-4070-973d-6232b9702769/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Altered states
film
An odyssey into the Parisian night reflects the allure and anxieties of cities
Directed by Adrien Mérigeau