Since 1960, the world has lost hundreds of languages — and gained thousands.

The trouble with believing anything and nothing at the same time

Romantic love as a cultural invention that’s making us miserable.

All the President’s Portraits

DM Good morning! Based on our many prior related conversations, today I'd like to share a differing, perhaps more expansive, perspective of the Universal Holophren™. Attached you'll see: 1) A "hierarchical arrangement" graphic (as opposed to the prior "relational" or integrated view we've discussed extensively); thus consider: 2) How Holoprhrens engage WITHIN Pantakinesis™ , ... but only to the limits of respective "vanishing points; " 3)The various "contexts" of vanishing po

Philosopher Sven Nyholm on reclaiming achievement from the machines. Excerpt: " Above all, Nyholm pushes back against a seductive illusion. AI summaries and tidy three-point answers may free up time — perhaps, he adds wryly, for watching more TikTok videos — but they do not produce mastery. They can create the appearance of learning without its substance. When people later face situations that demand real judgment, they discover the gap. Excellence, Nyholm reminds us, grows

DM Regarding our many past conversations regarding Holphrenic™ implications of Hoffman's "Fitness Beats Truth" (F>T) and my "Fitness Equals Truth™" (F=T™) conjectures, and merits thereof; as I now advance my incubation on these topics, I am coming to realization the differences of these have far more substance, implications and applications. This is especially so when you add a third construct of "Truth Beats Fitness™," (T>F™) ... which also is prevalent in personal and colle

The decline of reading and the rise of social media are again transforming what it feels like to be a thinking person.

Some people attribute mystical powers to positive thinking, but you can harness a practical version to gain real benefits.

DM Is color foundational, causal and perhaps to be found at the roots of Pantakinesis (as but one form of motion), or is it a "fabricated effect" of our consciousness, perhaps to differentiate experiential phenomena? (There seems to be many incoherent thoughts, and related inherent conflict regarding this topic, ranging from our past and present thinkers and to our classrooms, such as from ancient times to Newton and Goethe to frequency and quantum differentials today.) Yes

The well-off have no experience with the job market that might be coming.

DM Today I want to wander about a bit, so please tolerate what may initially seem as unfocused rambling. To begin, what do you think about Danial Quinn's thoughts, such as those he espoused in "Ishmael" and " Story of B ?" Daniel Quinn is a genuinely provocative thinker, and his work rewards serious engagement even when — perhaps especially when — you ultimately disagree with parts of it. The central move Quinn makes, across Ishmael, My Ishmael, and The Story of B, is to ref

Selected by Andrew Burstein, the author of ‘Being Thomas Jefferson.’

For most of the 20th century, pop culture was the glue that held the U.S. together. But what will it mean now that everything has splintered?

Why Alfred, Lord Tennyson feels so modern

More than 50 years ago, psychologists began documenting a strange phenomenon among animals, including pigeons, raccoonsand rats. Although they didn’t realize it at the time, this behavior would help to explain why our society has developed such an intense and often uncontrollable need for our phones.

What I learned when I finally started assigning the hard reading again.

DM Our last conversation regarding "Durable Unknowing ," and its related research document, was certainly sobering!   I'd now like to dive back into these waters, doing so in a particular context which seems to possess a depth, a degree of mystery, and perhaps extraordinary relevance to our prior conversation, and many others which I've enjoyed.   This relates to a formidable "thought dichotomy" which has prevailed as strong and stable since the ancients and now throughout t

Good morning! I've increasing concerns regarding cognitively myopic, limited, narrow and/cloistered phenomena of "The Sciences" within modern societies. Here I refer widespread institutional prejudice, paradigmatic hobbles, reductionist fiefdoms, mathematics worship, overt hubris and empirical tethering, all of which which seems to be failing today's humanity (as to the myriad wastes, needless sufffering/despair and onto dangerous trajectories). There were pre-enlightenment w

Leslie returns with a look at the psychological power of self-disclosure. She says the moments of oversharing that we often consider “TMI” can actually strengthen our relationships. Then, in the second half of the show, listeners share their thoughts and questions about the expectations we put on modern marriages.