The Digitalization of Society
Author: Julian ScottJanuary 3, 2021
During the lockdown, some of you may have come across a short story by E.M. Forster called The Machine Stops, which made it into the news due to its extraordinary prescience. Written in 1909, five years before the cataclysmic event of the First World War, the author describes a future world in which people ‘self-isolate’, communicate with each other via screens and can control the environment [...]
All the Time in the World
Author: Sivan BarzilayDecember 27, 2020
For many of us who live in big cities, Time is something we always lack. We find ourselves struggling to reach places on time, to submit our work on time, to wake up on time, and the list can go on and on… If only someone could give us a little more time to complete everything we want to. If only someone could teach us how to stop time from always moving forward, as if it is falling through our [...]
Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are
Author: Manjula NanavatiDecember 27, 2020
One of the foundations of how we conceptualize our sense of self today, perhaps came from the 17th century philosopher Rene Descartes’ most famous maxim, cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am. Taken to an extreme that Descartes himself may never have meant, we are conditioned to prioritize self-interest, applaud the pursuit of our own happiness, and promote personal freedoms dictated by [...]
Courage to Be A Daily Hero
Author: Vasant Sanzgiri & Samarth ShettyDecember 27, 2020
The word ‘hero’ comes from an ancient Greek root, which literally translates to ‘protector’ or ‘defender’. Dictionary.com defines the word as “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character”, and popular perception recognizes a hero as one who performs deeds that are not commonly possible, or one who exhibits virtues or values that makes them stand out. So, we [...]
It’s Not About Producing Antibodies
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánDecember 9, 2020
We live in a polluted world, and we have become used to it. The level of environmental pollution, especially in large cities, increases day by day, but because we cannot abandon them as our obligations are still anchored there, we have simply adapted to this situation. Our bodies have produced antibodies, and almost naturally, we got used to the unnatural. However, the process is more [...]
The Rise and Fall of Mayan Civilization
Author: NA El SalvadorDecember 9, 2020
The people of Mayan society built large cities, sumptuous temples, and towering pyramids. At its peak, around 900 AD, the population was estimated at about 200 people per Sq km in rural areas, and more than 800 people per sq km in cities (comparable to the modern Los Angeles County). This vibrant "Classic Period" of the Mayan civilization thrived for approximately six centuries. Then for [...]
The Ancient City of Alexandria
Author: Nataliya PetlevychNovember 19, 2020
Once there was a city known as “the greatest emporium in the whole world” (Strabo, Geography). For generation after generation it attracted the finest scholars, philosophers, poets and inventors. It was a truly international centre that brought together Egyptians, Greeks and Jews, as well as Babylonians, Persians, Gauls, Phoenicians and Romans. In a spirit of tolerance, they worked towards [...]
The Politicization of Spirituality
Author: Sabine LeitnerNovember 19, 2020
Does a circle have sides? - Not really. We can ‘project’ sides onto it but the fact is that there are no sides, only a circumference on which every single point has the same distance to the centre. Is spirituality left or right wing? Well, I also don’t think that it makes sense to ‘project’ a fairly modern concept onto something that seems to be as old as humanity itself. However, there [...]
The Choices We Make
Author: Angela DiacoOctober 16, 2020
The end of a decade approaches. For those who choose to acknowledge that a much larger cycle is coming to a close, the next few days are charged for reflection. Philosophers have always asked: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? It’s important that we continually ask these questions and be brave enough to face the answers. What have we built in the last 10 years? How have [...]
A Diary of a Struggling Ecologist
Author: Ubai HuseinOctober 14, 2020
This journey started with my love for food, which prompted me to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts. There, in addition to simply cooking, I was introduced to the various aspects about growing and producing food before it enters the kitchen, including the entire mechanism of factory farming and the resulting destruction caused to the environment. Fortunately, I was also introduced to the other end [...]
Living the Samurai Myth
Author: Shraddha ShettyOctober 14, 2020
The word Samurai originally meant ‘those who serve’, although individuals of this elite warrior class in medieval Japan were also referred to as Bushi, or warrior. And Bushido was the code of morality which the Samurai were meant to follow, not just in battle, but also in day-to-day activity. Speaking of this code in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, which is widely considered to be an [...]
Why Philosophy Matters in Times of Crisis
Author: Sabine LeitnerOctober 1, 2020
We seem to be living more and more in times of permanent crisis: terrorism, armed conflicts, unprecedented waves of desperate refugees, crises in practically every field of public life, including financial and economic, environmental, political, cultural, educational, institutional, (mental) health, etc. There is hardly any area which is not affected by some crisis in one form or another. The [...]