Laura Pike Seeley

The Enlightenment changed the course of human history, placing reason at the center of culture. Our current project of civilization is failing and needs a new direction. Learning about life in the Universe highlights the uniqueness of our planet and of life here. This knowledge should pave the way to a new Enlightenment, one with the goal of... See more

Like many people I thought Covid, with its stopped clock and blunt force, would bring a major reckoning. A reckoning with small things, like what we wear, and with large things, too – how we relate to each other, for example, how we consume and, crucially, how we work. But what seemed to happen, and very quickly, was that people rushed back to try... See more

The more I think about it, the more I think this is why so many of us, myself included, are attracted to data-based optimization. We’re painfully aware that we are vulnerable, fallible creatures. Our shame about that is reflected in Western religious traditions: The Bible tells us that upon first creating the world, God “saw that it was good,” but... See more

"A lot of our older spaces had a sea of desks and no one wants that anymore," she said.

Your milieu is not the same as your sister’s. It is an ever-shifting, individual configuration of information flows. The Twitter feed you have curated is a milieu. Your friend group (which is not the same as the friend groups of the other people in that group!) is a milieu.

It is by changing your milieu that you change yourself.

Living in an age of digital distraction has wreaked havoc on our brains—but there’s much we can do to restore our tech–life balance.