“Ignorance is our natural state; it is a product of the way the mind works.” Statements like that, proffered by cognitive scientists Philip Fernbach and Steven Sloman in the New…
Tag:
human brain
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It’s near sunset, and the light subtly changes on a gray, cold day. Sky, trees and land brighten, as if lit by a florescent lamp. The white bark of a…
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It’s widely known that some Neanderthals buried their dead, inspiring some anthropologists to deduce that Neanderthals were religious. Perhaps we should find out what it means to be religious before…
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Last week I had a possible insight that changed my perspective on the human crisis. I’m still questioning and thinking through it, but essentially, it is that Homo sapiens has…
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A woodpecker lands across the stream shortly after I arrive. I’ve never seen one drinking at the water’s edge before. Something about the late afternoon light, the rippling water, the…
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Still a young man, he spent 9 years in a Japanese monastery. With shaved head and monk’s dress he looks the part. But from the start of the conversation he…
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Since a grasslands fire swept leapt the creek about a decade ago, the great sycamore on its banks has been slowly dying. Sitting under it now is a reminder that…
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How are terrorism and climate change related? Are they two facets of the same crisis facing humanity?