society
Is reality real? These neuroscientists don’t think so.
Reality is more distorted than we think.
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Controversy: was the Caribbean invaded by cannibals?
A 2020 study has revived a longstanding controversy over Christopher Columbus' claims of marauding cannibals in the Caribbean.
How humans came to rely on the kindness of strangers
For the ancients, hospitality was an inviolable law enforced by gods and priests and anyone else with the power to make you pay dearly for mistreating a stranger.
Babble hypothesis shows key factor to becoming a leader
Research shows that those who spend more time speaking tend to emerge as the leaders of groups, regardless of their intelligence.
Android has won the phone world war
A global survey shows the majority of countries favor Android over iPhone.
Not just COVID: mortality rates are up from homicides, drug overdoses, accidents
Some of these trends may be due, in part, to the lockdown.
Busting the Easter Island myth: there was no civilization collapse
For decades, researchers have proposed that climate change and human-caused environmental destruction led to demographic collapse on Easter Island. That's probably false, according to new research.
Smart technology (probably) isn’t making you dumber
Technology usually has more pros than cons, but every benefit still carries some risk.
Why “survival of the fittest” is wrong
He's studied apes for 50 years - here's what most people get wrong.
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A comet impact may have paved the way for human civilization
The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis argues that a comet strike caused major changes to climate and human cultures on Earth about 13,000 years ago.
Turn any place on earth into a New York street corner
ExtendNY stretches the Big Apple's gridiron all across the globe – with some bizarre effects
Raccoons love you, but not unconditionally
Some wild animals thrive near humans, but only up to a point.
The science behind ‘us vs. them’
Humans may have evolved to be tribalistic. Is that a bad thing?
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17 min
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The power of conformity: How good people do evil things
Many people believe that in the face of profound evil, they would have the courage to speak up. It might be harder than we think.
A historian identifies the worst year in human history
A Harvard professor's study discovers the worst year to be alive.
COVID vaccine: Where does freedom end and civic duty begin?
Instead of insisting that we remain "free from" government control, we should view taking vaccines and wearing masks as a "freedom to" be a moral citizen who protects the lives of others.
If you hate your job, blame the Agricultural Revolution
Hunter-gatherers probably had more spare time than you.
It pays to be tolerant: Dutch national identity
"It's not always about agreement, more often it's about business."
Long-retracted papers are still cited in major journals
The retraction crisis has morphed into a citation crisis.
How important is civility for democracy? For Habermas, not very.
The public sphere should be open to conflict.
Cannibalistic pantry moths prove a key principle of evolution
Biologists use commonly-found insects that engage in cannibalism to prove a key evolutionary concept.
Legal standards invoke the ‘reasonable person’. Who is it?
The 'reasonable person' represents someone who is both common and good.
Hannah Arendt: Change the world, not yourself
How the German political philosopher called out Henry David Thoreau on civil disobedience.
Bellingcat is transforming investigative journalism with open-sourced information
The independent news collective is teaching a new generation of journalists and citizens to spot the stories in plain sight.
Too loud? In Japan, they’ll map-shame you
'Dorozoku' map crowd-sources the whereabouts of noisy kids in Japan – but who's being anti-social here, exactly?
Butterfly population collapse linked to climate change
If we lose our pollinators, we'll soon lose everything else.
Classical liberalism and three of its founders: explained
Most people seem to enjoy liberalism and its spin offs, but what is it exactly? Where did the idea come from?
Can cats teach us the meaning of life?
And if they could, would they care, asks philosopher John Gray in his new book.
How sci-fi helps humanity avoid species-level mistakes
Technology of the future is shaped by the questions we ask and the ethical decisions we make today.
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