7 philosophers who were exiled from their societies

Being ahead of the curve can be a dangerous place. These 7 thinkers were driven from their homelands over it.

  • Many thinkers have been killed for their ideas. Some got away with exile.
  • Most of the ones we'll look at here were driven out by the government, but others fled for their own safety.
  • The fact that some of these thinkers are still famous centuries after their exile suggests they might have been on to something, even if their countrymen disagreed.
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Flu kills 12,000 in 4 months. Is coronavirus panic overblown?

The CDC estimates that more than 210,000 people in the U.S. have been hospitalized by the flu this season.

Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images
  • The 2019-2020 flu season, which began in late September, is estimated to have already killed 12,000 to 30,000 people in the U.S., according to the CDC.
  • The death toll for the new strain of coronavirus remains far lower, prompting some people to argue that the public's concern about coronavirus is misplaced.
  • Still, there are valid reasons to be concerned about the new virus.
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Coronavirus: Track the virus' spread with this world map tool

The Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) created an online dashboard map that provides up-to-date data on reported cases and deaths worldwide.

Visualization: JHU CSSE
  • A new strain of coronavirus has spread from China to at least 19 countries, including the U.S.
  • It remains unclear how bad the outbreak will become, but the World Health Organization has stopped short of calling it a global health emergency. (Update Jan. 30 2020: The WHO has declared a global emergency)
  • The new coronavirus is less deadly but more contagious than SARS.
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Wuhan coronavirus confirmed to be transmissible between humans

The new strain of coronavirus that has spread across Asia is causing concern ahead of China's Lunar New Year.

(Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
  • A new strain of the coronavirus — similar to SARS — is spreading across China and to nearby countries, including the U.S..
  • Although it's relatively early on, the virus appears to be fairly infectious and capable of human-to-human transmission, a serious concern given the many travelers expected to visit China for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
  • The World Health Organization intends to convene an emergency committee in the near future to determine whether the outbreak should be considered a public health emergency of international concern.
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#8: Technology doesn't win wars. Why the US pretends it does. | Top 10 2019

Big Think's eighth most popular video of the year reveals what the real future of war could look like.

  • Number eight on Big Think's list this year says the future will not even look like wars to the traditional mind. The worst threat is systemic. It's growing entropy in the global system.
  • Today, when Russia wants to shake up Europe — the world — its operatives weaponize refugees. That is, by bombing civilian centers, they create an avalanche of refugees, which, in turn, creates Brexit and the rise of right-wing national parties that want to disembowel the European Union.
  • High-tech is not the savior that many futurists pretend it is when it comes to warfare. As a matter of fact, McFate contends, much of our investment in it is ludicrous. "You know, we have not fought, we have not had a strategic dogfight since the Korean War. So why do we need more fighter jets? I do not know. . . . We've spent $1.5 trillion on the F-35. That's more than Russia's GDP."
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