We are different from all other humans in history
Countless experiences that have become routine for us are unprecedented in the history of our species. Here's why that matters.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Countless experiences that have become routine for us are unprecedented in the history of our species. Here's why that matters.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Brown's new book doesn't offer award-winning literary prose. But intellectual snobbery and review elitism is foolish in an era of growing cultural ignorance and counterproductive political sneering.| www.forkingpaths.co
Political violence is surging in the United States. Here's how to understand it.| The Garden of Forking Paths
New research reveals the primate origins of alcohol consumption—and how a single boozy mutation may have helped give rise to social complexity and large-scale civilizations.| www.forkingpaths.co
I was baptized at the church where kids were murdered. It's a canary in the coal mine for a dystopian America, where people blame everything but the real cause: a country awash with unlimited guns.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Move over Gilded Age. In the 21st century, hucksters and swindlers are exploiting mass stupidity and conspiratorial thinking—and getting filthy rich in the process. Why is this happening?| www.forkingpaths.co
How geography and geology shapes our destinies.| www.forkingpaths.co
Alzheimer's breakthroughs of mice and men, the stranger-than-fiction phenomenon of comb jelly intelligence, RIP Dobby, and three recommendations.| www.forkingpaths.co
Dictators routinely lie about economic growth. Trump just took a page from their playbook in appointing an unqualified, Nazi-admiring, January 6th hack to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics.| www.forkingpaths.co
Philosophers have long tried to develop clear moral principles to govern the conduct of warfare. Here's why they're engaged in a fierce debate over Gaza.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Humans weren't made to tick off checklists and clear inboxes. We've lost sight of who we are, amid the mindless excesses of hustle culture and a drive-thru existence. Here's the case for slowing down.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Murdered by Donald Trump and his acolytes, as they embrace dictators and declare open season on global election rigging.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Why strongman presidents become weaker—to everyone's peril—when they remove constraints on their own power.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Decades ago, scientists warned about the cascading risk of space collisions. Now, Musk is making it much worse—and Trump is eliminating the tracking capability that could help avoid those disasters.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Old trees, new forgeries, insider trading on war, the evolution of lactose-induced nightmares, and how I fell in love with seals.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Reflections on American identity after visiting a gun range and a hipster speakeasy in deep Trump territory — and a cultural guide to the United States, a maddening, dysfunctional, wonderful place.| The Garden of Forking Paths
A progressive who wants to tax the rich just won the Democratic primary in NYC. Critics say hiking taxes causes an exodus of wealth from high tax jurisdictions. Is that true?| The Garden of Forking Paths
One professor's reflections on the end of an era, as AI tools such as ChatGPT have murdered the student essay (RIP). Here's why that threatens the future of human cognition—and how to save ourselves.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Virtually every dog breed you see today is the byproduct of a bizarre social experiment in Victorian Britain—one with profound lessons for modern social change.| The Garden of Forking Paths
Lessons from dictators and despots on the eve of Trump's military birthday parade.| The Garden of Forking Paths
What would society be like if humans could live to be 200 years old?| www.forkingpaths.co
As human creativity comes under threat from artificial intelligence, we're unilaterally disarming, as the creative industries avoid risk and herd toward guaranteed, boring hits: the surefire mediocre.| www.forkingpaths.co
One man randomized his life. He teaches us why we need much more trial-and-error experimentation—in our lives and in public policy. Here's how it might work.| www.forkingpaths.co
We have become disciples of a flawed creed. To chase passion and value people is a much wiser way to live; or Ikigai, Detectorists, and the real meaning of life.| www.forkingpaths.co
Data analytics are increasingly defining our world. In some systems, that's wise and wonderful. In others, it laces catastrophic risk into a complex world that's more Calvinball than Moneyball.| www.forkingpaths.co
To understand billionaires, you need to understand horizontal inequality, illusory control, self-selection bias, quantified self-worth, and the evolution of overconfidence.| www.forkingpaths.co
