Category: ideas

The notion of reality is one of the most basic and most abstract ones we have. Raising questions about the very idea of what’s real has led to some of the most important, classic work in philosophy – from Parmenides to Aristotle to Avicenna to Aquinas to Immanuel Kant. It also, however, has a tendency to produce the kind of frustrating, easily caricatured work that leads people – including many philosophers – to wonder whether certain questions are simply pointless or even illegitimate, and to adopt a kind of skeptical stance towards abstract questions in general. – Aeon

Lists, of course, are always subjective, and of course you’re meant to quibble. That’s kind of the point. But really? Mohammed bin Salman? And get aload of the “artists and activists” category. Barely an artist to be found. And these are “the big ideas of those who shape our understanding of the world?” – Foreign Policy

Philosopher Simon Critchley visits the Athens park that’s still called “Akadimia Platonos” and ruminates on what the site and its ancient proprietor were and were not — and what the place is now. (Yes, almost everyone he saw there was smoking weed.) — The New York Times

“No culture and few individuals live without ritual. … And here’s the thing. Rituals work – even for people who say they do not believe in them. [Researchers have found that] rituals alleviate grief, reduce anxiety, increase confidence, … [and] aid self-control.” Jay Griffiths examines the power of ritual in action, especially on an island where one sees it everywhere. — Aeon

“We are outnumbered and out-posted by other people and it can make us feel unequivocally terrible if we let it. It’s never been easier to be insecure about ourselves and our achievements thanks to the ever-present torrent of ‘updates’ posted by mostly well-meaning people seeking opportunities for connection and validation.” – The Conversation

“A nation whose citizens have no knowledge of history is asking to be led by quacks, charlatans, and jingos.” – The New Yorker

And we’re sure blocking that off in any way we can, not just for adults, but for children, too. They need boredom (and so do we). – The New York Times

If every age has its version of apocalypse, the soft tragedy of our own is that it can no longer be safely situated in the future. Our end-times, instead, lurk among us, furtive and fierce and all too present-tensed, waiting, watching, lingering, biding—understanding, far better than we allow ourselves to, how little it takes to turn the good place into the bad. – The Atlantic

First, an idea, while unpleasant, may well be correct or true, in which case we gain insight by being exposed to it. And even if it is only partially true, it can help us reach a more complete understanding of the whole truth. Second, even if the idea is simply wrong, we benefit from hearing it and having to think through why it is wrong. This connects to the third point, which is that even true or useful ideas need to be contested and re-evaluated if they are to remain fresh and avoid calcifying into rigid dogmas.  – Quillette