Culture

A black and white image split into two sections: a half globe on the left and a crowd of people on the right, with the text "More Humans Are Better" in the center and the number 3 in the top right corner.

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto

The overlooked virtues of a crowded world

In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.

Jason Crawford

A graphic titled "Humanity vs. Nature" showing a human evolutionary timeline, biocentrism, ecocentrism, and ethos depictions of nature, including a tree, a bird, and marine life.

The Techno-Humanist Manifesto

Why harmony with nature is a myth

Slowing growth and limiting development isn’t living in harmony with nature—it is surrendering in a battle.

Jason Crawford

Entertainment

How the internet changed news, according to The Onion

Freethink spoke to Onion staffers about parodying news from the print era into the digital age.

Tim Brinkhof and Stephen Johnson

Books

Science fiction books that predicted the future with terrifying accuracy

Science fiction writers have anticipated a variety of modern inventions, from cars to organ transplants. Some books barely seem like fiction.

Tim Brinkhof

Psychology

The most undervalued problem-solving tool? Lateral thinking.

Lateral thinking is a way of approaching problems. It deliberately forgoes obvious approaches in favor of oblique or unexpected ones.

Matt Davis

Animals

Genetic research confirms your dog’s breed influences its personality — but so do you

A dog's breed has a big impact on their personality, but whether they fit your lifestyle is also down to good training.

Melissa Starling

Art

World’s highest-res pictures of snowflakes combine art and tech

Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold custom built a camera system to take the world’s highest-resolution pictures of snowflakes.

Kristin Houser

Planet Earth

Earth’s magnetic field supports biblical stories of destruction of ancient cities

By utilizing the ancient orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field, scientists have been able to piece together the history of ancient Judea.

Elizabeth Fernandez

I used generative AI to create pictures of painting robots, but I’m not the artist — humanity is

Generative AI systems are incredible and hugely important, but they are not creative. In fact, they’re not even intelligent.

Louis Rosenberg

Psychology

If you want people to like you, try talking more, not less

People tend to think they should speak less than half the time to be likable but more than half the time to be interesting.

Quinn Hirschi

Sustainability

Human composting is now legal in five states

California is now the fifth state to legalize human composting, a more environmentally friendly alternative to burial or cremation.

Kristin Houser

History

Laser scans reveal ancient cities hidden in the Amazon river basin

Lidar technology reveals the surprisingly complex infrastructure and urban planning that united Casarabe settlements.

Tim Brinkhof

Books

How to be happy: Aristotle’s 11 guidelines for a good life

In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle proposed that humans are social, rational animals who seek to “live well.”

Scotty Hendricks

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Freethink

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