Showing 247 articles
Is Being the Highest Giving ?
Author: Sukesh MotwaniJuly 20, 2020
Deeply inspired by great philanthropists in our times, one often struggles with the dilemma of how and what we can do in terms of charity or social service. Generally, such noble intentions first veer towards sending supplies and relief material to victims of natural disasters, accidents or riots. One might also perhaps commit a part [...]
Will Being a Vegetarian Save the Planet?
Author: Julian ScottJune 22, 2020
In liberal-thinking circles it is fast becoming almost an article of faith that eating meat is bad for the planet and a plant-based diet is the only ethical way forward. In a book entitled The Vegetarian Myth, however, Lierre Keith, who was a vegan for 22 years before ill-health forced her to change her diet, [...]
Hygeia
Author: Pinar AkhanJune 21, 2020
Along with “unprecedented”, it’s probably one of the words that we have heard most in the last three months since the outbreak of Coronavirus: the word “hygiene”. We have been reminded again and again of the importance of following the rules of hygiene to prevent the disease spreading or increasing infections. Through recent discoveries and [...]
Human Symbiosis with Plants
Author: Gareth KinsellaJune 21, 2020
Over the course of time, there has been a progressive coevolution between plants and humans, with domestication possibly playing an integral role in this symbiosis. Some anthropologists propose that, before plant domestication began, carnivorous hunter gatherers had to seek alternative options during droughts, subsequently tapping into the seasonal cycles, and would have started remembering where [...]
Self-driving Cars and the Transport Revolution
Author: Istvan OrbanJune 21, 2020
Since the Ford T-model appeared on the roads at the dawn of the 20th century, cars have undergone great changes, not just in terms of form, but also regarding performance and safety. Even the fuel has changed and now more and more hybrid and electric cars are running, but one thing has remained: the need [...]
Fortitude in the Face of Difficulties
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánJune 13, 2020
When 2020 began, we did not yet know the extent of the difficult times we would have to face. A short time later came the spread of a pandemic, which affected most – if not all – countries in the world, showing that in such cases what we regard as differences do not exist. We [...]
From Obstacle to Opportunity
Author: Gilad SommerJune 1, 2020
A Story of Exile The year was 65 AD, a little less than a hundred years after the assassination of Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman Empire. Musonius Rufus, the foremost Stoic philosopher of his times, known by some as the “Roman Socrates”, was accused by emperor Nero to have participated in a [...]
Altruism Exists, and We Need to Cultivate it
Author: Sabine LeitnerApril 26, 2020
There are two quotes from the book Altruism – the Science and Psychology of Kindness by Matthieu Ricard that sum up what is wrong with our world. “To change what we do because something is going to happen in one hundred years is, I would say, profoundly weird.” This was a comment made by the [...]
Motivations
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánApril 25, 2020
This subject can be looked at from two angles: being motivated or being unmotivated. Both are expressions that we hear about every day, on different occasions and in relation to many aspects of life. Motivation or lack of motivation affect everyone, including those who have the teachings of a Philosophical Ideal available to them, but [...]
The Spring Equinox
Author: Nataliya PetlevychApril 17, 2020
We all are cheered by days full of the renewing energy of spring – a beautiful time when nature awakens, the days become longer and everything living rejoices. There is a special time in the year when the Sun is exactly above the equator, hence the Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the [...]
The Curse of the Poisoned Soil
Author: Istvan OrbanApril 17, 2020
Soil is the uppermost part of the Earth’s crust, the ground of human civilization. It is one of the most crucial parts of our ecosystem. The home of minerals, nutrients, insects and other animals, our food is produced in the soil. Only half of it contains solid materials, while the other half is filled with [...]
Epigenetics: Taking Responsibility for our Lives
Author: Fernando SchwarzApril 17, 2020
Most scientists used to be convinced that living beings were simply the product of their genes and that we were predetermined and condemned to suffer by a genetic program inherited from our ancestors. The last 20 years of research in the life sciences have completely overturned this belief. They have shown that we can have [...]