Symbolic Meaning

Symbolic Meaning

Two faceless busts face each other. One, representing AI, has digital lines on its face, while the other exudes cognitive meaning with flowers and leaves emerging from its surface.
Cognitive neuroscientist and AI researcher Christopher Summerfield explores the differences, and similarities, of how AI and humans make meaning of the world.
Tolkien's imaginative world encompassed a square and stationary earth.
Narnia and early Middle-earth were pancake-esque — but their creators took differing views on de-globalization.
A painting of a man with a hat and fruit.
Using peach and eggplant emojis as shorthand for sex may seem like a new thing, but Renaissance artists were experts at using produce to imply intercourse.
A woman poses in front of the letter x in a black and white photo.
The use of the letter x as an unknown is a relatively modern convention.
a black and white photo of an animal skull.
Researchers discovered something modern humans had never before seen—a flashy Neanderthal horn collection.
Étienne-Louis Boullée, Cenotaph tomb for Isaac Newton
From the Palace of the Soviets to The Illinois, these unmade buildings would have taken the art of architecture to whole new heights.
Its apples taste bad, but institutions all over the world want a descendant or clone of the tree, anyway.
Scallop shells have accompanied pilgrims to and from Santiago de Compostela for centuries, for more than one reason
Symbolic gestures often speak to our psyche in ways no rational action could ever speak to our intellect.
Bernini created art for 8 different popes. In the process, he helped reinforce and redefine Christianity’s visual culture.
Silhouette of a person standing on a field at night, gazing at a clear sky filled with stars and glowing celestial objects, evoking the wonder described by Jim Al-Khalili.
Popular media often frame scientists as having a cold, sterile view of the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
John Templeton Foundation