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Mind & Meaning
The psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes — and what frontier life teaches us about being human.
Wild blonde capuchin monkeys — an endangered species in Brazil's dry Caatinga forest already known for using sticks to fish termites — were filmed cracking food open with stones, the first record of stone tool use in this species anywhere
Thought of the day: a line widely attributed to Albert Camus — “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion” — has no verified source in his published work
Thought of the day from Stoic philosopher Seneca: "he suffers more than is necessary, who suffers before it is necessary"
Britain imports biscuits from Europe while simultaneously exporting British biscuits back across the same borders — economists call it intra-industry trade, and it happens because shoppers don't just want biscuits, they want particular ones
Thought of the day from Lao Tzu: "He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others has physical strength; he who conquers himself is truly powerful."
Danes have led European life-satisfaction surveys for over 30 years, but when researchers tested the explanations, the one that stood out was not wealth, weather or genes — it was consistently low expectations
Seoul is increasingly becoming a city built for one — nearly four in ten households now have a single occupant, giving rise to solo apartments, restaurants designed for one and an entire vocabulary for eating, drinking and living alone
We treat enjoying our life as the reward for finishing everything else — Alan Watts thought that was the whole mistake, and that we're quietly cheating ourselves the whole time
The Chinese diaspora is the largest in the world, with an estimated 50 million people of Chinese descent living outside mainland China — spread across more than 150 countries, many in communities that have persisted for six or seven generations
An end-of-life caregiver spent eight years with people in their final weeks, and the regret she heard most often wasn't about what they'd done — it was living the life others expected instead of the one they truly wanted
