Is modern asceticism about conformity or quiet revolution?
From detoxes to slow food, today’s asceticism is often about fitting in. But we can rediscover its transformative power
by Iryna Mykhailova
Fairness and equality
A lawyer’s view of irrelevant influences in the courtroom
Psychology studies cast doubt on old assumptions about legal objectivity. Lawyers and laypeople alike should take notice
by Samu Czabán
The curious paradox in how we address each other today
While honouring people’s preferred pronouns, we’ve begun to neglect forms of formal address. Perhaps we need a rethink
by David Benatar
The ‘masculinity crisis’ is actually a crisis of self-esteem
There’s a modern belief that talent or effort can carry anyone to the top. It’s a myth that’s especially harmful to men
by Leo Rogers
In more prosperous societies, are men and women more similar?
How much the sexes differ psychologically depends on how fair and wealthy a country is. But not in the way you’d think
by Kåre Hedebrant & Agneta Herlitz
Teaching self-confidence can backfire and perpetuate inequality
It’s true that self-confidence is beneficial, but the way in which it’s often taught is misguided and can be harmful
by Eddie Brummelman & Kelly Ziemer
The cult of being confident and why it doesn’t help women
By making women solely responsible for their own empowerment, the culture of confidence masks the true causes of inequality
by Rosalind Gill & Shani Orgad
The power of Langston Hughes’s ‘melancholy citizenship’
Langston Hughes’s poetry offers a guide to the sort of melancholy citizenship that can help us weather democratic heartbreak
by Robert L Tsai
Let everyone sparkle: psychotechnology in the year 2067
In the year 2067, the decorations are not the only things that sparkle. We ourselves glow and fizz with psychotechnology
by Eric Schwitzgebel
Why we shouldn’t push a positive mindset on those in poverty
Living in poverty is not caused by a faulty mindset, it’s a response to scarcity and marginalisation
by Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington
Musonius Rufus: Roman Stoic, and avant-garde feminist?
For Musonius Rufus, the Stoic feminist, enduring things as they are is no obstacle to striving for things as they should be
by Massimo Pigliucci
In sport, as in life, tactical fouling is fundamentally wrong
Tactical or professional fouling is a familiar, accepted practice in team sports. But is it ever the right thing to do?
by George Letsas & Saladin Meckled-Garcia
Quit the millennial bashing – generationalism is bad science
‘Boomer’ and ‘Gen Z’ seem like handy ways of sorting people, but they are more cultural creations than natural phenomena
by Cort W Rudolph
Should we be concerned that the decisions of AIs are inscrutable?
Machine learning is a black box – even when the decision is correct, how the algorithm arrived at it can be a mystery
by John Zerilli
The mathematical case against blaming people for their misfortune
Complexity science reveals the hard limits of our predictive abilities, and makes a mathematical case for compassion
by David Kinney
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