Philosophy

it is our knowledge that we have to die that makes us human

The idea of dialogue is overrated- sometimes you have to fight. There are certain issues we mustn't depoliticise, sometimes we must fight, and sometimes that fight is physical… that's just reality. As for 'building bridges' with fascists, sometimes there are no bridges, you cannot befriend someone who is trying to kill you.

Turkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy

Our system has never defined what it means to be 'good' – what is the ideal human being in capitalism? Is it Jeff Bezos? Is it Steve Jobs? They thrived, they profited, are they 'moral'? The ideal human profile of capitalism does not fit with our basic human dignity.

Turkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy

Even in those very difficult moments, I had enough freedom to choose who I wanted to be in the face of that circumstance. For all of us, the challenge is to rise above our experiences and make choices to choose light over darkness.

Former Colombian Presidential Candidate & Hostage Rescue Survivor

I truly believe humans have the capacity to change. That's the definition of freedom… our ability to choose who we want to be.

Former Colombian Presidential Candidate & Hostage Rescue Survivor

Human dignity can seem abstract, but when you are transformed into merchandise, something to be exchanged or bargained with, you need the intellectual, emotional and spiritual tools to cling to your humanity. That's the only way you can retain value in your own eyes.

Former Colombian Presidential Candidate & Hostage Rescue Survivor

I came away from space flight realising that I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. Life is so amazing. Even the simplest organisms have millions of cells that have to randomly align in a perfect way, and those processes are infinitesimally less complex than emotions and consciousness. When you look at the universe and the forces of nature – science has to explain how it all works, but to my mind, there just has to be a creator.

NASA Astronaut & International Space Station Commander

We have a lot of phobias around algorithms. Sometimes this is justified, but in the main, it's like being afraid of cockroaches or spiders. Algorithms aren't spiders or cockroaches, they're an instrument and sometimes will outperform human judgement terrifically well – and sometimes won't. If lives are on the line and it turns out an algorithm reduces the noise of the human decision maker and the bias, then the moral case for using the algorithm starts to look really strong.

Legal scholar & behavioral economist; Obama administration official; "Nudge" theory pioneer

Each person is trapped in their own world and assume that the rest of humanity sees the world the same way that they do. That assumption is incorrect. You see the world differently to me, and that's true for every situation in which we find ourselves. It's a side-effect of how we're built!

Nobel Prize Winner in Economics for Behavioral Economics Research

Even if we could live to 1000 years, life would still be too short for many of us. I'm 51, that went in a blink of an eye. I don't think finding purpose in our lives will be an issue.... Longer life gives us a more purposeful life.

Longevity researcher & Harvard Medical School professor studying aging and lifespan extension

The people who influence the best are the ones who take the advice of the ancient Chinese military expert, Sun Tzu. Every battle is won before it's fought. If you put people in a mindset that is congruent with the major focus of the message you are yet to send them, it opens the door to persuasion.

Influence & Persuasion Expert; Author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

The way I prefer to think of perception is as a processor of active construction, a controlled hallucination. Sensory signals don't come with labels attached. Everything we perceive is a kind of inference, a burst guess about what's out there.

Neuroscientist & leading researcher on consciousness and perception

Consciousness is any kind of subjective experience whatsoever. The philosopher, Thomas Nagel, put it like this, 'for a conscious organism, there is something it is like to be that organism…' – there is something it is like to be me, to be you, to be a dolphin – but there's probably nothing like what it is to be a chair, table, or iPhone.

Neuroscientist & leading researcher on consciousness and perception

Fundamentally, we must slow-down the process of change. We should recognise that most change is not progress- and therefore, it is in our interests to slow down without interfering too much with actual solution making.

Evolutionary biologist and podcaster known for critical COVID-19 vaccine commentary

The thing that makes us so unique is that we, unlike most every other species, have no niche. A niche is an opportunity which a species exploits- and our niche is niche switching. We move from one niche to another, even without major changes to our physical biology.

Evolutionary biologist and podcaster known for critical COVID-19 vaccine commentary

We can become resilient however, and learn to have peace of mind, even when we experience traumatic events. We can learn to have stable peace of mind... happiness? Maybe not. It's unhelpful to say to someone, 'do these 10 things to be happy' – there are things you can do to get peace of mind, increase your probability of happiness, and your probability of having successful relationships.

Psychiatrist and author of "The Chimp Paradox