Boccaccio’s Decameron provides us with the fortitude and inspiration to craft our own renaissance for these uncertain times | Continue reading
With their focus on values and intentionality, the Amish offer a lesson in thinking critically about digital technology | Continue reading
The oldest story in the world, the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’, shows us that the pain of grief is a fundamental part of being human | Continue reading
Plato and Aristotle can help you resist conventional worldly success, direct your energy and find your own highest calling | Continue reading
Hearing aids have always been designed to be concealed, yet they’re a beautiful affirmation of deafness – and should be seen | Continue reading
The best detectives seem to have almost supernatural insight, but their cognitive toolkit is one that anybody can use | Continue reading
In the past, ECT could be violent and brutal. But today, it’s one of the best treatments for severe depression that we have | Continue reading
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not self-indulgent to practise self-compassion. In fact, it helps you to care for others | Continue reading
A ‘trust fall’ prompts an absurd state of simultaneous vulnerability and safety – a paradox that robots can’t compute | Continue reading
How do sensory experiences become meaningful? On the philosopher Wilfrid Sellars and his idea of the ‘Myth of the Given’ | Continue reading
Allocentric design means collaborating with non-human animals and algorithms as full partners in the engineering process | Continue reading
How Rotwelsch, the secret lingo of vagrants who mistrusted big words and official institutions, survived via police archives | Continue reading
Complaining can be socially beneficial, even morally generous. The skill is to use it to build relationships of trust | Continue reading
Pseudophilosophy can result from simple misunderstanding or wilful obscurity. The cure is basic critical thinking skills | Continue reading
There’s more to wellbeing than physical and mental health: we also need epistemic wellbeing, or good access to knowledge | Continue reading
Most of us think that luck just happens (or doesn’t) but everyone can learn to look for the unexpected and find serendipity | Continue reading
Complexity science reveals the hard limits of our predictive abilities, and makes a mathematical case for compassion | Continue reading
Behold a man tortured on the rack, pulled apart by love and hate: how to understand Catullus’s best-known poem | Continue reading
One in three people are introverts, physically present, but culturally absent. We shouldn’t have to change to be heard | Continue reading
Children’s literature thrives on beautiful, imaginative or surprising encounters – so no wonder it shuns the suburbs | Continue reading
Talking out loud to oneself is a technology for thinking that allows us to clarify and sharpen our approach to a problem | Continue reading
Adaptability is as much of a virtue as grit. Overcome any feelings of loss or failure by pivoting toward a new passion | Continue reading
Turn towards the light: contrary to popular belief, nice guys have more success and happiness in the long run | Continue reading
Life is unpredictable. Brace yourself with a suite of coping mechanisms, internal and external, then deploy them flexibly | Continue reading
The malevolent creativity of criminals has many parallels with the benevolent creativity of artists and entrepreneurs | Continue reading
Avoidance will only foster more conflict. Aim for a shared understanding with these techniques from an expert mediator | Continue reading
Knotty problems call for sound advice. Use philosophy to find the intellectually dependable amid the frauds and egotists | Continue reading
‘The appalling silence of the good people’: how the bystander rose to prominence as a morally complicit actor in history | Continue reading
Peter Kropotkin took on social Darwinism, casting evolution in a cooperative light and laying the groundwork for mutual aid | Continue reading
Smooth like chocolate or fruity like a berry, coffee has as many tastes as wine or beer – you just need to know your beans | Continue reading
Sympathy is both key to human psychology and source of much of our misery. For Adam Smith, the philosophical life is the cure | Continue reading
In a disagreement, you must face your opponent: only by verbal jousting will you reach the truth, said Michel de Montaigne | Continue reading
The French Revolution set freedom on a collision course with choice, showing how a break with habit can author a new self | Continue reading
Handcraft lessons in school can stitch empathy, sustainability and resilience to the shared knowledge of communal heritage | Continue reading
Would you be willing to swap your life with that of the least fortunate person in your society? A philosophical test for justice | Continue reading
Friendships give us so much. Be bold, take the initiative, and you’ll be surprised how many people are pleased to connect | Continue reading
Aside from basic needs, your financial priorities are up to you. Resist short-termism by keeping in mind your values and goals | Continue reading
Watching for wildfires merges ancient and modern in our relationship to nature | Continue reading
Whether grieving a death or connecting to colleagues, creativity enables an artful life, according to Chinese philosophy | Continue reading
Stop blaming technology – distraction starts within. Manage your inner triggers to enjoy greater focus and a fuller life | Continue reading
It’s easy for the mind to become closed to new ideas. Cultivating a beginner’s mind helps us rediscover the joy of learning | Continue reading
If you want to inspire people to do the right thing, don’t guilt-trip them. Positive emotions are a more powerful motivator | Continue reading
You exist, but one day you won’t. An Epicurean perspective can help you feel less afraid, and even grateful for life’s finitude | Continue reading
The urge to do everything faster and better is risky. Far wiser to do what’s good enough for the range of possible futures | Continue reading
Accept it: your self-control is weak. You’re more likely to reach long-term goals if you find ways to avoid temptation | Continue reading
One in three people are introverts, physically present, but culturally absent. We shouldn’t have to change to be heard | Continue reading
Modern life can feel too frantic for books. Use these habit-building strategies to carve out time for the joy of reading | Continue reading
Withdrawing from activities you enjoy is both a product and cause of low mood. Break the cycle with behavioural activation | Continue reading