Category: ideas

Many metaphors for conflict and resolution seem to revolve around walking or moving together. But maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised by this – research shows that moving in time together with another person can result in positive social consequences. – The Conversation

Philosophers of science tend to irritate practicing scientists, to whom science already makes complete sense. It doesn’t make sense to Michael Strevens. “Science is an alien thought form,” he writes; that’s why so many civilizations rose and fell before it was invented. In his view, we downplay its weirdness, perhaps because its success is so fundamental to our continued existence.” – The New Yorker

Regardless of how you view it, one thing is certain. We have an insatiable desire to fit reality within the limits of our understanding. If we don’t comprehend something, we strive to make it comprehensible. “I don’t know” is a less acceptable answer than “I will figure it out.” It’s unclear whether this attitude is culturally mediated, or if it is drilled deep into our genetic code. – Human Parts

We tend not to associate aging with creative bursts. Historically, critics saw advancements by elderly artists as peculiar. According to twentieth-century art historian Kenneth Clark, the work of older artists conveyed a feeling of “transcendental pessimism,” best illustrated in the weary lined eyes and pouched cheeks of Rembrandt’s late self-portraits. – The Walrus

Leading philosophers and researchers are debating whether the events that occur in our century could shape the fate of our species over the next thousands if not millions of years. The “hinge of history” hypothesis proposes that we are, right now, at a turning point. Is this really plausible? – BBC

These tools work to flag and categorize potentially harmful comments before a human can review them, helping to manage the workload and reduce the visibility of toxic content. Another approach that’s gained steam is to give commenters automated feedback, encouraging them to rethink a toxic comment before they hit publish. – Wired

Male white-crowned sparrows around the San Francisco Bay Area exploited the sudden drop in anthropogenic noise when the region went on strict lockdown in April and May. From their field observations during previous years, the researchers had lots of data to show that urban birds sacrifice song quality for higher amplitudes—basically, they’re yelling to be heard in a noisy environment. When that din suddenly died down, the birds switched to songs that more closely resemble the softer, higher-quality calls of their nearby rural counterparts. – Wired

The examined human life reflects, we suggest, a new kind of relationship with our own expectations and uncertainty. Yet it is one that we have somehow constructed within the inviolable bounds of a biologically bedrock drive to minimise long-term prediction error. How is this neat trick possible? – Aeon

Today, those wishing to sow discord don’t need bots to post and spread their falsehoods and distortions. They have plenty of unwitting people to do that, their beliefs and actions warped by a “behavioral modification system. That mistrust has destabilized democracy around the world. – Wired