Most COVID-19 legal restrictions in England end on July 19. To celebrate, will you punch a stranger in the face? Probably not. And you certainly shouldn’t. Will you wear a mask on the bus after...
Philosophy
Black Swans And Other Deviations: Like Evolution, All Scientific...
Discussions about the nature of science and scientific theories are often confused by the outdated view that such theories are rendered false when anomalies arise. The notion of a scientific theory...
Rethinking Politics, Populism and Platforms
How can we create a progressive ‘popular force’ in an era of digital media platforms dominated by the innovations of right-wing populism? Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a powerful 18th-century polemicist and...
Nature Versus Nurture: How Modern Science Is Rewriting It
The question of whether it is genes or environment that largely shapes human behaviour has been debated for centuries. During the second half of the 20th century, there were two camps of scientists –...
Can the Laws of Physics Disprove God?
The reader’s question: I still believed in God (I am now an atheist) when I heard the following question at a seminar, first posed by Einstein, and was stunned by its elegance and depth: ‘If...
Leprosy of the Soul? A Brief History of Boredom
We all respond to boredom in different ways. Some may find a new hobby or interest, others may instead rip open a bag of crisps and binge watch a new Netflix show. Boredom may seem to you an every...
From the White House to Ancient Athens: Hypocrisy is no Match...
Donald Trump has spent a lot of time on golf courses during his presidency. That may come across as hypocritical if many of us consider how Trump criticized Barack Obama for playing golf during his...
Is Democracy Sacred?
When record numbers of votes were still to be counted and the election was far from being decided, President Trump falsely claimed victory and was calling for a halt to vote-counting. His...
Could We live in a World Without Rules?
We all feel the oppressive presence of rules, both written and unwritten – it’s practically a rule of life. Public spaces, organisations, dinner parties, even relationships and casual conversations...
If a Robot Is Conscious, Is It OK to Turn It Off? The Moral...
In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “The Measure of a Man,” Data, an android crew member of the Enterprise, is to be dismantled for research purposes unless Captain...
Scientists Just Proved These Two Brain Networks Are Key to...
Consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries of the human species. Where and how does it originate? Why do we have it? Is it even real, or just an illusion? These questions aren’t just hard to...
Is Belief in God a Delusion?
As the pandemic raged in April, churchgoers in Ohio defied warnings not to congregate. Some argued that their religion conferred them immunity from COVID-19. In one memorable CNN clip, a woman...
How Much do Our Genes Restrict Free Will?
Social media algorithms, artificial intelligence, and our own genetics are among the factors influencing us beyond our awareness. This raises an ancient question: do we have control over our own...
The Dangerous Consequences of Believing the World is...
According to the UN, the global population currently stands at 7.7 billion and is predicted to rise to around 9 billion by 2050 with it likely peaking at around 11.2 billion in 2100, some 80 years...
Hide and Squeak: Rats ‘Jump for Joy’ While Playing...
Humanosity says….To most people rats are vermin only good for extermination. We have a long history of deciding that there are good and bad animals – ones worth saving and protecting and...
How America Started to Lose its Religion.
Humanosity says…In the 19th Century philosophers like Nietzsche and Freud predicted that increasing wealth in societies would spell the death of religion and the 20th Century seemed to prove...
I Returned to Uni for Freshers’ Week 20 years After Leaving...
Humanosity says..Analysts think that most people will have to retrain several times during their working lives. This article from the Guardian takes an in-depth look at how life on campus has changed...