This Question Can Change Your Life Excerpt: "Something I’ve been working on over these past months and years is being able to sit with doubt. And not just doubt — being able to sit in the wonder of uncertainty. Because the first person we believe is ourselves: the stories we tell, the things we think we already know. Maintaining an openness and a curiosity is important politically. It’s also very important in my work as a podcast host. But it is, above all, a spiritual pract

I’m a longtime practitioner and teacher of loving kindness meditation. Here’s what you need to know.

Don't forget to drink and reflect at "Hidden Brain" regularly Other noteworthy podcasts you might want to sample

Joseph Campbell argued that nearly every myth can be boiled down to a hero’s journey. Was he right?

Futurists disagree over how much the future lends itself to control and foreknowledge. Many focus too much on the grandiose. Excerpt: " If futurists really want to help everyday people, perhaps their goal should be to help us deal with our anxiety about the future rather than to simply predict what will happen. From this perspective, the most valuable section in Mr. Foster’s book recounts his first trip in a self-driving taxi. Mr. Foster was initially awestruck, but he soon f

Anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the globe. Related

DM What are your thoughts as "indispensability" as an applied construct within science? I see a critical epistemological mechanism at play. Declaring something "indispensable" can function as a powerful closure technique, potentially stifling alternative investigative pathways. The declaration of indispensability might represent an intellectual defense mechanism that prematurely constrains scientific imagination and exploratory thinking. The mechanism suggests an intriguing p

Good morning Claude. What are your perspectives and criticisms regarding Rauch's latest book: "Constitution of Knowledge: In Defense of Truth?" Good morning, Sciart. What I find valuable: Rauch articulates something important—that liberal epistemology functions as a kind of operating system requiring shared commitments: No final say (fallibilism), no personal authority (claims must survive public challenge), and no special dispensations. His framing of "reality-based communi

It’s not just okay for some things in life to be hard—it’s essential.

DM Good day Claude. Today I would seek to (feebly) share my on-going Fitness=Truth™ thinking regarding Pantakinesis™ , The Universal Holophren™ and my conjecture of an apparently continuous Pantakinetic creation in the "Realm of the Present-Now™ (RPN), for your commentary (of, and beyond, our related past conversations; ...and please no sycophancy, nor anemic dichotomies!): 1) Pantakinesis, by definition, would (seem to be) without or beyond any imaginable shape or boundaries

Sanctuaries come in all forms and sizes. What connects a medieval cathedral with a 21st-century megachurch?

Three religious leaders provide inspiration: Pope Leo XIV; Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde; and Pastor Jamal Bryant

DM Good morning. What are the core reasons that humans across history, and still today, appear to possess, leverage, and perhaps enjoy such (overt!) bloodlust for solving personal and collective problems, such as conflict, aggression and greed (even as continuing enjoyment within our entertainment)? Good morning, Sciart. This is one of those questions that sits at the uncomfortable intersection of our evolved nature and our aspirations for ourselves. Let me walk through seve

DM Is a water molecule (H20) generally stable (aka: somewhat "permanent") in its solid, liquid and gaseous states; or does it diminish/return to hydrogen and liquid; or does it change into other more complex or different molecules? I realize there are "lighter" formations of water. Water molecules are remarkably stable across all three phases - solid ice, liquid water, and gaseous steam. The H₂O molecule itself doesn't spontaneously break apart into hydrogen and oxygen under

DM Good morning! After all our multitudes of conversations directly or indirectly which relates to my topic of today, I again want to continue to explore the essential factor(s), core(s) or most fundamental reason(s) for why humans, and by extension, collective units of humanity, so endlessly and tenaciously rely upon, display and spread unfounded confidence, certainties and outright hubris within the knowledge which they hold so dear and constantly project to others. This in

Despite greater economic challenges, children in Latino immigrant families have a key advantage for personal flourishing: strong families and communities. Excerpt: "Community is medicine,” Buqué said. “The interdependence baked into [Latino] culture is powerful.”

Why meaning may be nothing but preference, according to a young philosopher.

Recent arrests highlight Beijing’s deep ideological hostility to religious life, which flourishes even in the face of repression

Before we can build the future, we have to imagine it. KEY TAKEAWAYS In this op-ed, Beatrice Erkers argues that progress begins with culture: the stories, symbols, and shared visions that make certain futures feel worth building. She explores how cultural forces like memes and movies act as “invisible infrastructure,” shaping technology, policy, and ambition long before they materialize in the real world. According to Erkers, we must deliberately invest in a culture of hope —

New special issue “The Engine of Progress” is out now.