Science & the Big Questions

Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?

As society gets richer, people chase the wrong things.

The Atlantic

Topics: Happiness Meaning Progress Purpose

The Rise and Rise of Creativity

Once seen as the work of genius, how did creativity become an engine of economic growth and a corporate imperative?

Aeon

Topics: Creativity Genius Progress

Visions of a Better World

Noam Chomsky, Richard Dawkins, Martin Rees, and others answer the question: What’s your utopia?

Cross-Check, Scientific American

Topics: Progress

How to Do Good Better

The case for effective altruism, according to one of its founders.

Future Perfect, Vox

Topics: Altruism Ethics Morality Progress Values

Steven Pinker Thinks the Future Is Looking Bright

The Harvard psychologist says he is no starry-eyed optimist. It’s just that the data don’t lie.

The New York Times

Topics: Flourishing Progress Rationality

Steven Pinker Interview

Steven Pinker is the author of, most recently, Enlightenment Now.

The Panpsycast

Topics: Flourishing Progress Rationality

Are These Dots Purple or Blue? Your Answer Might Not Be As Reliable As You Think

When blue dots or threatening faces become rare, people’s concepts of “blue” or “threat” expand.

Science

Topics: Ethics Progress

Questioning Truth, Reality and the Role of Science

In an era when untestable ideas such as the multiverse hold sway, Michela Massimi defends science from those who think it hopelessly unmoored from physical reality.

Quanta Magazine

Topics: Progress Reality

What Are the Most Important Moral Problems of Our Time?

Will MacAskill is a co-founder of the effective altruism movement, a philosophy that tries to answer the question: How can we do as much good as possible?

TED

Topics: Altruism Ethics Morality Progress

The Rise and Fall of Cognitive Control

Reasoning, problem-solving, symbolic language, planning — these faculties are fundamental to virtually all of our individual and societal accomplishments.

Behavioral Scientist

Topics: Cognition Progress

Optimism Is the Engine That Moves Society Forward

Skepticism has a place, but it's optimists who decide the future, says Kevin Kelly.

Big Think

Topics: Optimism Progress

Giving ‘Good’ a Rigorous Inspection

Joshua Greene, Steven Pinker, and Peter Singer trade ideas on how to be moral — and happy.

The Harvard Gazette

Topics: Cooperation Ethics Happiness Joshua Greene Morality Progress Values