Is life all about pleasure? Debating the Experience Machine

Would you opt for a life with no pain?

Philosopher Robert Nozick famously posed a question challenging the philosophy of hedonism—the idea that maximizing pleasure is the greatest good in life. His thought experiment imagined people could plug into a machine that would give total pleasure, suggesting the idea itself is not a compelling or desirable one. Learn the arguments and ideas in this short video.

Friedrich Nietzsche theorized that we will live our lives over and over again: the myth of eternal recurrence

Rather than a theory of physics, the idea is designed as a moral argument. While Nietzsche famously eschewed the Christian afterlife, he wanted to avoid the nihilism that results from no longer having such an ultimate horizon. In a mystical moment, the philosopher came to believe that the fleeting moments of our lives would be repeated, presenting a test: would you want to relive this moment? If not, he would argue, you're not living well.

An essay exploring how living day-to-day with a brain implant helps restore a sense of identity

Companies like Neuralink are experimenting with volunteers who have lost control over their bodies. Many of the program's participants claim the most significant benefit from the tool is the ability to perform simple, mundane tasks, such as playing video games or shaking hands, rather than more obvious milestones like walking or eating. This essay explores what it's like, day to day, to use a brain implant.

The neurobiology of meaningfulness: the benefits of psychedelics

Psychedelics produce powerful emotions in its users, including a profound sense of meaningfulness. The philosopher William James called this sense "noetic" in the late 19th century, but for decades researchers avoided studying the effects of such drugs on the brain. However, the recent resurgence in psychedelic research has heightened interest in the relationship between this noetic sense resulting from the therapeutic use of drugs. Learn what researchers have found out here.

Unpacking the famous argument in the 'Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?' paper

In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom published a paper in a journal arguing the technological possibility that humanity is living in a simulation. The argument, while popularly mocked (or cheered), is presented seriously in the paper. This podcast episode explores the contours of the arguments in an accessible way.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well

In today's society, SpongeBob's life as a single man, line cook, and town fool may not seem appealing. But SpongeBob is perhaps the happiest creature in Bikini Bottom, because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

When your 9-to-5 becomes optional

You've seen the headlines. But what would actually happen if everyone's 9-to-5 became optional? We dug into the data. Traced automation philosophy back thousands of years. Examined what happened when elevator operators disappeared. Looked at Alaska's 40-year experiment paying every citizen. And investigated the Philippines, where 89% of call center jobs are now at risk. What we found was more positive than bleak. This video explores three questions: What does the data actually show? What does history tell us about this kind of disruption? And what happens when work becomes optional?

What rodent cars can tell us about human joy

Neuroscientist Kelly Lambert and her colleagues taught rats to drive in a mini car. She writes her findings from this unconventional experiment, sharing that positive and fun experiences can sculpt the brain just as powerfully as stressful ones. Click to learn more about how the apparent joy of these rodents seemed to enhance their neuroplasticity.

Anthropic's staff philosopher discusses the importance of teaching ethics to AI

Amanda Askell's work focuses on the behavior and values reflected in Claude, the company's AI chatbot, and how its character can better align with how the "ideal person" would act in Claude's position. She also emphasizes the importance of humans being ethical in their interactions with current models, from which future ones will be built.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Jean-Paul Sartre believed 'existence precedes essence'

The existentialist figurehead argued that humans are not born with an identity or purpose; instead, they develop them throughout their lives. For Sartre, this meant making meaning for oneself rather than relying on authorities (like religion or government) to provide it.

The free will versus determinism debate: major thinkers weigh in

Do we have free will in our actions or are we totally determined? An all-star cast of contemporary thinkers share insights on the crucial debate.

'Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised.'

- Legendary athlete Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956)

Why Le Corbusier called a house a 'machine for living'

Modernist architects aimed to boil design down to its essence, stripping ornamentation and frivolity. One of the most famous designers of that movement was Le Corbusier, who famously called a house a "machine for living in." This resource breaks down Le Corbusier's architectural theory and highlights where it can still be found today.

'The opposite of addiction isn't sobriety—it's human connection'

This thought-provoking TED talk from journalist Johann Hari challenges conventional wisdom about addiction, with a special focus on his global research investigating its root causes. Through personal stories and scientific evidence, Hari debunks some of the most common myths around addiction.

'Follow your enthusiasm. It's something I've always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing.'

- "Muppets" creator Jim Henson (1936-1990)

A trip to Burning Man offers many once-in-a-lifetime experiences

Burning Man operates on a de-commodified, gift-based economy and allows drugs, nudity, and other unconventional practicers. Burners return to their normal lives with wild stories that can't be replicated outside of the festival.

Optimal human functioning requires movement

There is now ample evidence to back the centuries-old hypothesis that exercise is critical to human health. This review article explores the latest discoveries in exercise science, including how exercise is intrinsic to maintaining our organ systems throughout life.

Efforts to build touch-enabled machines highlight the complexity of human touch

The challenges that engineers are facing as they try to reproduce a human's ability to touch and also give robots the ability to interpret that kind of sensory flow are furthering our understanding of the myriad intricacies of human touch—and the challenges in emulating it.

In defense of the advertisement economy

Advertising is frequently reviled for how it clutters up public spaces and our everyday experiences. Nonetheless, it allows for vast amounts of goods and services to be rendered free to millions of users—and gives users the option to pay with money or time and attention.

Jeff Bezos uses a ‘regret minimization framework’ for making decisions

When Bezos is making a decision, he asks himself a simple question to minimize regret: “When I’m 80, will I regret not doing this?” The decision-making framework has become popular since Bezos began speaking publicly about it.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Critics argue social media made 'foodie' culture increasingly superficial

For 40 years, being a "foodie" meant possessing knowledge and expertise about ingredients, restaurants, and flavors. Now, the author argues, being a foodie has more to do with documenting aesthetically pleasing meals than critical consumption. She argues for increased attention toward the complex systems that bring food to our tables.

The career risk of being a people-pleaser

While people-pleasers tend to be kind and thoughtful, researchers say they are at risk of burnout at work because they are unable to set boundaries and disregard their own feelings when asked to complete a task. Read this brief, helpful article on the signs of people-pleasing and how to overcome the tendency.

'Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.'

- Author Philip Roth (1933-2018)

People are making careers out of playing claw machines

As it turns out, winning at a claw machine arcade game over and over again makes for great social media content. Influencers like Erik Kane are taking advantage of this—and making money off of it, too.

Some theorize that horror's artifice turns fear into enjoyment

The “excitation transfer theory” suggests that the unpleasant feelings a jump scare might elicit (like shortness of breath) are quickly relieved when the audience member remembers what they’re witnessing is fake.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.