Yuval Noah Harari is a thinker of big ideas. An Israeli historian, he wrote Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011), about how we got where we are. Where we’re going was addressed in the... Read More

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? —“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen At our current rate of technological advancement—especially in the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence (AI), and video rendering—it may only be... Read More

One sometimes gets the impression that religious and nonreligous people alike consider agnosticism a more rational and sophisticated creed than atheism. On the contrary, agnosticism differs from atheism in name only. The distinction between the... Read More

“Life’s a bitch, and then you die.” At least, that’s the gospel according to acclaimed rapper Nas. I can’t remember the circumstances that placed that song on a music roster generally made up of Elton... Read More

“Walk a mile in my shoes,” singer-songwriter Joe South advised back in the (highly overrated) peace and love days of 1969.       If you could see you through my eyes Instead of your... Read More

BEHAVIORISM is psychology’s variant on physicalism, the idea that physical events explain all mental or physiological events. It’s the view that all your private thoughts and experiences—moods, dreams, flights of art and fancy, and what... Read More

We’ve all been told we’re supposed to “be good.” But why? So your god can reward you? Such religious reasons have no evidentiary basis for their competing and occasionally destructive morals. Should you be good... Read More