Philosophy

The way we think about thought is political. This much was evident at the birth of the modern study of the mind, when Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia wrote to René Descartes in 1643 to question his account of cognition. Her self-deprecation will be familiar to any woman who’s dared to dispute with an eminence, and knows that the best way to begin is... See more

The experience of affective friction is similar as well: a loss of fluency combined with negative emotional signals arising from the gap between social expectations and realities. Even when the difference between an old norm and a new one replacing it seems trivial, the disruptions caused by the shift can create feelings of anxiety, awkwardness –... See more

To give birth, to nourish,

to bear and not to own,

to act and not lay claim,

to lead and not to rule:

this is mysterious power.

Who Am I?

Look deep into the recesses of your being, and identify everything you think makes you, you.

Traverse all your mind’s pathways, and locate every desire and thought. Summon every opinion and belief, every interest and passion, and interrogate each and every one, relentlessly.

Ask them where they came from, and who planted them. Ask them if... See more