Issue: Human Society

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human

Posted by | Oct 13, 2020 | |

Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet the world of story has long remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. Now Jonathan Gottschall offers the first unified theory of storytelling. He argues that stories help us navigate life’s complex social problems–just as flight simulators prepare pilots for difficult situations. Storytelling has evolved, like other behaviors, to ensure our survival. Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology, Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal and explains how stories can change the world for the better. We know we are master shapers of story. The Storytelling Animal finally reveals how stories shape us.

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Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy

Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy

Posted by | Oct 4, 2020 | |

This study, first published in 1958, offers Michael Polanyis’ epistemological insights. Polanyi, originally a chemist and chemical physicist, is widely acclaimed for his epistemology which opposes the prevailing positivist approaches. His discussion of tacit knowledge has proved to be influential in many fields from theology to artificial intelligence. This text represnts a contribution to 20th-century thought, and continues to make valuable insights to our understanding of how knowledge functions.

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Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe

Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe

Posted by | Sep 27, 2020 | |

Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all means: our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are. He examines what we know about the universe into which – without any choice in the matter – we are propelled at birth and from which we are expelled at death, the stories we have told about where we come from, and the stories we tell to get through this muddling experience of life.

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Sapiens?

Sapiens?

Posted by | Sep 23, 2020 | |

Homo Sapiens means ‘wise man’ in Latin, but our species is not always behaving wisely in the face of current challenges. This post introduces the web site insearchofwisdom.online.

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Sapiens?

Sapiens?

Posted by | Sep 23, 2020 | |

Why homo sapiens needs to raise its game to counter current challenges, and the need for wisdom to do it.

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