Does a Craving for General Explanations Limit Our Capacity to Think? — Every day we encounter beauty. I write this after noticing the silhouettes of geese gliding low in formation over the shimmering Thames river. Their reflections stream over the golden winks of the ripples, lit up by the early morning sun. What is beauty? It’s not a thing by itself. We’ll…

Why “Artificial Intelligence” is a Contradiction in Terms — Plato tells the story of a god, known as The Craftsman, who fashioned order from chaos. He had no inspiration to work with except the perfection of heaven and so he produced a copy of heaven. But no creation can come close to the real thing, and so the world…

Do Passion and Reason Really Conflict? — When we try to make sense of the world, its ravings, joys and torments, we begin to understand one thing. People don’t decide by reason. When we talk of gut feelings, passions and intuitions, we’re trying to put our finger on motivational forces that defy our full understanding. …

Rubens’s Adoration of the Magi is a noisy masterpiece that melds religion and politics — Peter-Paul Rubens’s gigantic painting loudly contradicts the folkloric silent night. This typically muscular painting by the Flemish master is deafening. The Holy Family greet a huge commotion when the Magi arrive to offer gifts to the divine king of Christian belief. The enormous entourage of camels, braying donkeys, war horses…

Ibn Sina’s “Proof of the Truthful” — Why is there something rather than nothing? It’s a question that we all ask many times in our lives. It’s often said that philosophy begins in wonder, and the child is the greatest philosopher because the child isn’t too afraid to ask, “why?” The ultimate question is “why anything?” It’s…

Data-Driven Giving is Logical, but is it Wise? — It feels good when you give to charity, doesn’t it? It’s different, though, from showing generosity to a friend. Few of us know or check where or how that money is being spent. Instead, your cash seems to be banked in some abstract realm we can vaguely describe as moral…

Find Your Purpose and Focus in Under an Hour — Branding is everything when it comes to success. We commonly think of branding as the most superficial parts of your business — the design of your logo, the colours and typefaces of your “house style”, maybe you come up with a snappy tag line. But successful branding cuts far deeper…

History Shows the Tipping Point for Mass Murder is Closer Than You Might Think — It has always rings hollow to me when people are accused of “inhumanity” when they partake in organized murder. Dehumanization is a very human phenomenon. We choose who of our kind must be relegated out of it. It starts in the denial of the full humanness of a people, lurking…