Science & Tech Archives

(The Climate Reality Project)

Let a Thousand Green New Deals Bloom

February 26, 2019June 1, 2020 12 min read Charlie Deist Climate Change, Environmentalism, Politics

We don’t need a Green New Deal so much as many green new deals.

(Yosh Ginsu)

What Earthquakes Teach Us About Embracing Uncertainty

January 22, 2019June 1, 2020 12 min read Nicole Carloni Environmentalism, Epistemology, Essential Reading, Nature

For natural disasters large enough to reshape society, Dr. Lucy Jones explains, “The best fit to the data is that it’s random. And we hate it. Random makes people really upset.” But such uncertainty doesn’t have to leave us feeling helpless—we should embrace the inherent chaos of the universe.

(Lucrezia Carnelos)

Virtual Reality Is Not an Empathy Machine

October 29, 2018June 1, 2020 7 min read Erick Ramirez Empathy, Racism

Virtual reality can help us better understand the experiences of others but we should remain skeptical whether it can create true empathy.

(Jared Rice)

The Brain Can Be Rewired Through Meditation and Mindfulness

September 3, 2018April 30, 2021 25 min read Rick Hanson Ancient Wisdom, Buddhism, Essential Reading, Mindfulness, Neuroscience

Neuroscience increasingly validates Buddhist practices, like meditation, which unlock the ability of the mind to change the brain.

(Roman Mager)

Economists with Physics Envy Are Harmful

August 2, 2018June 3, 2020 6 min read John Rapley Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Physics

Observing the acclaim physics was having, economists embraced a physical view of human behavior hoping to replicate similar success. However, unlike physics, the social nature of human beings makes any laws of behavior tentative and contextual.

A New Romanticism Erraticus Albert Bierstadt Storm Rocky Mountains

("Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie" by Albert Bierstadt, 1866)

‘Enlightenment Now’ Demands a New Romanticism

July 31, 2018June 3, 2020 5 min read Jim Kozubek Environmentalism, Nature, Neuroscience, Romanticism, William James

There are many who say that Romanticism is dead. But the tensions between Romanticism and the soldiers of the original Enlightenment are rising up again.