Wednesday Poem: The Artist and His Shadow
He is unfit for this life, thisunduly managed era devoidof poesy and freedom, a timeof useless haste in honor ofthe illusion of progress,a life starving of life, a lifedripping with
Can ChatGPT Mimic Theory of Mind? Psychology Is Probing AI’s Inner Workings
By Shelly Fan at Singularity Hub: If you’ve ever vented to ChatGPT about troubles in life, the responses can sound empathetic. The chatbot delivers affirming support, and—when prompted—even gives advice
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Death of a President: What a Helicopter Crash Means for Iran, the U.S., and the World
Mehdi Hasan at Zeteo: This past weekend, a helicopter crash in the northwest province of East Azerbaijan left no survivors, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. His death comes not only
A Thought Experiment: Does Originalism Make Sense?
In Kyu Chung at Harvard Law Review (HLR): Imagine that the people yesterday gathered to draft a new Constitution, which includes a First Amendment that says: “The government shall not
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What Would a Fair Society Look Like?
by Jeroen Bouterse at 3 Quarks Daily: In 2015, political scientist Larry Diamond warned against defeatism in the face of what he called the democratic recession. “It is vital that
Hell is Necessary
by Shadi Hamid at Wisdom of Crowds: I’m thinking about hell (again). What can I say? I find it a particularly compelling topic. No one talks about hell anymore, or
Tuesday Poem: Confiding With a Hen
I tell her the rye truth.We sit in the morning,dew the soil staining.She cocks her head, I can tell she is listening.Her small eyes fill with tilled earth. When I leave,she pecks the ground,searching.
Mayor Eric Adams Looks to Rome to Solve NYC’s Migrant Problem
By Justin Klawans at The Week: It is no secret that New York City has been dealing with a critical influx of migrants, and Mayor Eric Adams is now looking
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CIA Buys Your Data
Matthew Petti at the Reason: For years, the U.S. government has bought information on private citizens from commercial data brokers. Now, for the first time ever, American spymasters are admitting
A United States of Europe
Fernanda Gallo at Aeon: By 1941, as most European states were under the yoke of authoritarian or fascist regimes, and Nazi troops had just occupied France and were moving towards
Learning a Language Involves the Body, Not Just the Brain
Michael Erard in the European Review of Books: Language as self, language learning as magic, the mortifications of the flesh: these themes run through The Centre, a debut novel by British-Pakistani
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The Rise of Mesoeconomics
William H. Janeway at Project Syndicate: Whether mobilizing for war or (re)constructing advanced manufacturing capabilities in peacetime, success turns on the functioning of complex supply chains. But this truth was