philosophy
Take a seat. Take a breath. Take a break.
Our “embodied minds” suggest an eventual escape from mortality via computer is unlikely.
Is there a force keeping humanity in check?
Rhetorical mastery is within everyone’s reach — equipped with some basic techniques you can rock it like Aristotle.
A researcher weighs in on who’s accountable, when and why, in the eyes of the law — and whether the measures work as intended.
Neuroscientist Christof Koch on human minds, AI, and bacteria.
Redemption is the journey towards becoming a better person. It’s the story of human life.
The philosopher Skye C. Cleary explores what being authentically happy looks like in a world where so many can’t be.
Just being a pessimist, cynic, or apathetic doesn’t make you a nihilist.
The acceptance of death is deeply embedded in our culture; it’s time to overthrow that idea.
God is not a vending machine, but is it wrong to treat him like one?
While weltschmerz — literally “world-pain” — may be unpleasant, it can also spur us to change things for the better.
A reader asks whether we have an ethical responsibility to always debate bad beliefs, especially those that come from our elders.
The road from Kant to modern cognitive psychology has taught us much about our mental filtering systems.
33 years ago, the theoretical biologist Robert Rosen offered an answer to the question “Is life computable?”
If music is a window onto truth, what does screaming reveal?
How heavy is the mask that you wear?
The burial spot was found in one of the Herculaneum scrolls charred by Mt. Vesuvius.
The “Shopping Cart Litmus Test” is a popular meme about morality. What does it really reveal about one’s character?
Nobody likes the uneasy feeling of being watched — so can there be any workplace benefit to the all-seeing eye?
Voltaire’s wonderful satire, Candide, remains a useful work-life antidote to bogus platitudes and naive optimism.
At a fundamental level, only a few particles and forces govern all of reality. How do their combinations create human consciousness?
Big Think recently spoke with Nick Bostrom about how humans might find fulfillment in a post-scarcity world.
You’ve got to know when to fight and when to laugh.
Leadership evasion might seem like a plan for workplace freedom but it isn’t a good thing — it’s a denial of opportunity.
Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine? Well, it depends.
Tough and cutthroat leaders are celebrated in a results-driven culture — but there is another path to C-suite success.
Even with the best technology imaginable, you’d probably never be able to exist as a consciously aware brain in a vat.
Bob Dylan gave us the paradoxical gem “there’s no success like failure, and failure’s no success at all.” He had a point.
From Taoism to hedonism, philosophers have devised all sorts of ways to live your best life.