The reading collection
Psychology, geopolitics, philosophy—and everything in between.
2,048 readings · 373–384
The Selfish Gene by Dawkins is an ambitious project that seeks to explain how and why evolution selected for the behaviors, characteristics, and ideas that are now prevalent in any society. The gene is the basic unit…
“Dopamine Nation” by Dr. Anna Lembke explores the role of dopamine, the neurochemical linked to pleasure, in contemporary society’s rapidly increasing addiction to everything from drugs to food and technology.
“Against Heresies” (Adversus Haereses) is a seminal work of Christian theology written by Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, in the late 2nd century. The text is primarily focused on refuting Gnostic beliefs and…
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” The quote is from a post-apocalyptic novel called “Those Who Remain” by the author G. Michael…
In the long sweep of human history, empires have risen with brilliant promise only to crumble into dust. Their collapse is neither sudden nor simple. Rather, it unfolds like the slow receding of a tide, marked by the…
Get While the Getting’s Good Life is suffering. Enjoy it while you can. We may be licensed to reason in this way since there is no denying the initial proposition, but it isn’t only that life is suffering.
The Chinese Room problem has long been a subject of debate and discussion in the fields of philosophy and artificial intelligence.
Thomas Szasz was a physician who later became a psychologist. The Myth of Mental Illness is a controversial book, and it is famous for having changed the way people have viewed psychiatry for decades.
The escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China has entered a new phase since what many in policy circles now refer to as the “deepseek moment” – a turning point after which tariff measures have…
Munchhausen’s Trilemma is a philosophical problem that arises from the question of how we can know that the things we experience are not just products of our imaginations.
Rousseau’s first literary success came to him rather late in life. The Academy of Dijon offered a prize for the best essay on the question: Have the arts and sciences conferred benefits on mankind? The First Essay…
In ancient Chinese rituals, straw dogs were used as sacrifices to the gods. ‘Gaia’ is the name of a goddess in Greek mythology, and the Gaia principle, by Lovelock, suggests that the earth is a self-regulating,…