~aeon | Bookmarks (104)

What drives us to create zoos and natural history museums – is it a curiosity about the world, or a need to dominate it? - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

What distinguishes fiction from nonfiction? The answer to this perennial question relies on how we understand reality itself - by Hannah H Kim Read at Aeon

Diving into the ring of darkness beyond things easily answerable, asking ‘Why?’ questions is what make humans awesome - by Eric Schwitzgebel Read at Aeon

A British Museum curator explains why making sense of archeological ruins is like finding a single brick in a huge soil heap - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

‘We share and feel the same pain’: the mothers looking for their children who disappeared in Mexico en route to the US - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

Despite decades of inaction we can avert the climate Hellocene and restore the atmosphere to keep our world habitable - by Rob Jackson Read at Aeon

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith agreed that vanity was all too human. But one saw it as a vice; the other, as a necessity - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

Nurses experience deep suffering when they can’t act according to their moral compass. Our research shows a way forward - by Cynda Hylton Rushton Read at Aeon

All of our religions, stories, languages and norms were muddled and mixed through mobility and exchange throughout history - by Inanna Hamati-Ataya Read at Aeon

Returning to the cold case of the disappearing frogs of Costa Rica, a biologist reveals a hard truth about life on Earth - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

Praying is a cognitive practice full of problem-solving resources. You can learn from it even if you don’t want to do it - by Eleanor Schille-Hudson Read at Aeon

The history, development and force of the sublime in Western art shows how what we fear and wonder at changes over time - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

We surveyed thousands of scientists in four countries and learned just how important beauty is to them - by Bridget Ritz & Brandon Vaidyanathan Read at Aeon

The stories of two Muslim immigrants who fought for the Union show that the American Civil War was an international fight - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

Knitting and embroidery are laden with stereotypes of domestic femininity – and the subversive potential for protest - by Gemma McKenzie Read at Aeon

In his work on republicanism as a living idea, J G A Pocock showed that contesting history is part of a robust civic life - by Rosario López Read at Aeon

The self-sacrifice of ants to save their colonies is an allegory and a euphemism in one family’s story of fleeing Vietnam - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

By testing the boundaries of reality, Spanish-language authors have created a sublime counterpart to experimental physics - by Joshua Roebke Read at Aeon

A portrait of the Texas coastline occupied by SpaceX reveals the footprints we leave on Earth in the quest to reach beyond it - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

Metamorphic rocks are our emissaries from the deep, travelling to alien realms and revealing the restless nature of Earth - by Marcia Bjornerud Read at Aeon

When you aim a powerful macroscopic camera at everyday items, the micro-world around us becomes only faintly familiar - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon

The British Empire used a great democratic ideal to manufacture racial difference and rationalise colonial domination - by Kanika Sharma Read at Aeon

Often metaphorical and allusive, the philosopher’s work will long be remembered for how it grappled with everyday thought - by Tim Bayne Read at Aeon

‘That’ll be a thing to remember’ – a soldier’s account of the ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914 in a stirring letter to his wife - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon