In Awe of Wonder
October 19, 2025
Descartes said that the purpose of wonderment is “to enable us to learn and retain…
Mind Tagged Episodes
Making and Breaking Habits
October 12, 2025
We often hear that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” The idea seems…
Elisabeth of Bohemia
October 5, 2025
Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia is best known for her correspondence with René Descartes. In her letters,…
The Power of Prediction
May 11, 2025
You’re standing at the top of a mountain, surveying the vast landscape below. The information…
The Legacy of Freud
May 5, 2024
Did you really want to eat that last piece of cake, or were you secretly…
What Has Replaced Freud?
August 6, 2023
Although the concept that we can have thoughts and desires hidden from consciousness can be…
Pet Ethics
November 6, 2022
Many of us, even the staunchest animal activists, usually take it for granted that keeping…
Conscious Machines
June 5, 2022
Computers have already surpassed us in their ability to perform certain cognitive tasks. Perhaps it…
Philosophy of Sleep
March 17, 2019
“Blessed are the sleepy ones,” writes Nietzsche, “for they shall soon drop off.” Sleep is…
Altered States
March 3, 2019
Aldous Huxley explains his conception of the brain as a “reducing valve” of consciousness in…
Diseases of the Mind: Philosophy of Psychiatry
November 19, 2017
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is the primary reference catalog for mental health illnesses. But…
The Phenomenology of Lived Experience
April 23, 2017
Phenomenology is the philosophical study of experience and consciousness, performed by philosophers ranging from Sartre…
The Limits of Self-Knowledge
June 26, 2016
Descartes considered the mind to be fully self-transparent; that is, he thought that we need…
Memes: Viruses of the Mind?
April 24, 2016
Gangnam style, Lolcats, and Chuck Norris’ superhuman feats are all memes – units of cultural…
The Technology of Immortality
September 27, 2015
Some futurists believe we are not far from a time when technology and medicine will…
The Psychology of Partisan Politics
July 5, 2015
Are you a tax-raising, soy latte-drinking, Prius-driving, New York Times-reading, Daily Show-watching, corporation-hating liberal? Or…
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