Music
idea
I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians
If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in
by David Rothenberg
Emotion regulation
idea
Are emotionally resilient people also skilled at soothing others?
Research on the social side of emotion management is showing what’s distinctive about it – and its benefits for all involved
by Christian Jarrett
Communication and language
idea
Censoring offensive language threatens our freedom to think
The modern obsession with textual purity stems from a misapplication of the philosophies of Wittgenstein and Derrida
by Paul Ham
Place
idea
The divided self: does where I live make me who I am?
At home in Delhi, I am a more social, interactive person. A quiet balcony in Frankfurt gave me space to be by myself
by Anandi Mishra
Play
idea
The achievement society is burning us out, we need more play
This is about more than a self-help switch – it will take structural changes to reject capitalism’s productivity obsession
by Alec Stubbs
The self
idea
What my mother’s sticky notes show about the nature of the self
Dementia accelerates a process we all experience, as our memories become increasingly externalised into the world around us
by Crispin Sartwell
Knowledge and reason
idea
Ancient Greek antilogic is the craft of suspending judgment
Sophists like Protagoras used the rhetoric of antilogic to escape from the illusion of truth and make room for uncertainty
by Robin Reames
Communication and language
idea
Why listening well can make disagreements less damaging
Offering undivided attention and curiosity not only lowers the temperature of a conversation but can change its outcome
by Guy Itzchakov
Communication and language
idea
Beyond dogwhistles – racists have a new rhetorical trick
How are so many politicians today able to get away with overtly racist utterances? By using rhetorical ‘figleaves’
by Jennifer Saul
Friendship
idea
Is it better to have friends who are like you or different from you?
Studies of longterm friends offer surprising insights as to whether friends who are more or less alike tend to endure
by Christian Jarrett
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
Virtues and vices
idea
Why so many plagiarists are in denial about what they did wrong
So often people claim ‘I didn’t mean to’, yet they fail to realise that plagiarism is more like speeding than theft
by Philip Reed