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Ideas from philosophy at work in real lives, studies and decisions.

In 1978, psychologists predicted lottery winners would be no happier than other local people. The 22 winners they interviewed weren’t significantly happier, and they rated ordinary pleasures lower

By Mal James · October 17, 2026

Human Nature

In a 2013 study spanning more than 19,000 adults aged 18 to 68, people expected far less personal change over the next decade than people 10 years older reported experiencing over the same years of life

By Mal James · October 17, 2026

Carl Jung suggested life splits into two halves, and the surprise is what the second is for — not more career or identity, but an inward turn he called individuation, reclaiming the parts of yourself the first half left behind

By Sanchana Charles · October 16, 2026

Researchers studied 286 penalty kicks and found goalkeepers almost always dive left or right, even though staying in the center would stop more shots, because a goal hurts more when you didn’t move

By Brendan Brown · October 16, 2026

Human Nature

Falling in love feels like your life is getting bigger, but Robin Dunbar's research suggests it usually costs you about two close friends, because the inner circle most people can sustain holds only around five, and a new partner has to take someone's place

By Nato Lagidze · October 15, 2026

Human Nature

In 2009, off Antarctica, a biologist watched a humpback whale roll onto its back and lift a Weddell seal onto its chest, out of reach of the orcas hunting it; researchers have since gathered 115 accounts of humpbacks interfering with orca attacks

By Brendan Brown · October 15, 2026

In 1974 Nozick asked whether you would plug into a machine that could give you any experience you desired, and he took it for granted that you would refuse.

By Justin Brown · October 14, 2026

The trolley problem began in Philippa Foot's 1967 paper, with a runaway tram that could be steered toward one man instead of five. MIT's Moral Machine put it to driverless cars and logged about 40 million decisions in 233 countries and territories.

By Justin Brown · October 14, 2026

Aristotle warned that a long silence seems to make friends forget their friendship, but research suggests the friend on the other end would be happier to hear from you than you think

By Chris Jeremia · October 14, 2026

Human Nature

Montaigne argued that humans are far too sure of their superiority over animals, and he admitted that when he played with his cat, he couldn’t tell whether he was amusing her or she was amusing herself with him

By Brendan Brown · October 14, 2026