Hiding acoustically
Aren’t you excited about the party you’re at, what, with all the small talk and the mingling and the catching up on life and work? People are decked out in ill-fitting jeans and comfortable shoes, cracking dad jokes…
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Essays, interviews and ideas from New Philosopher.
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The age of noise
“The twentieth century is, among other things, the Age of Noise. Physical noise, mental noise, and noise of desire – we hold history’s record…
Organised sound
Interview with Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, award-winning neuroscientist, musician, and best-selling author. Zan Boag: I’d like to start with one of your books,…
Interference and noise
Signals are information worth attending to. Noise is interference you ought to ignore. When I’m talking to you on the phone, the sound of…
From Being Human
Received wisdom
It’s difficult to say when and how my children first became aware of the concept of a prison. It was certainly very early, well…
The price of immortality
The Continental adventure was not going to plan for John Polidori. A young English doctor dreaming of literary acclaim and resentful of his father’s…
Akin to mindfulness
Ellen J. Langer is a social psychologist, writer, and Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, widely regarded as the founder of the psychology of…
Winners of the 50 prizes for our 50th edition
To celebrate the publication of our 50th edition, we're giving away 50 prizes to subscribers, with first prize a 50-edition subscription (up to our…
Taking flight
Award-winning wildlife and landscape photographer Michael Poliza Zan Boag: You have spent many years of your life on the road, moving from one…
Travelling identities
Over the last few years Scott had vacationed to countries like Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and other destinations in Asia. He hunted out new vistas…
Lessons from stupidity
It is unclear just how the “Man from Song” (Songren) acquired his reputation, but classical literature is replete with stories of his stupidity. These…
Invisible experience
In our current cultural moment, when the boundaries between public and private have been largely erased, Calle’s investigations are prescient. In…
NFN: Seeing
“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” – Marilyn vos Savant A botanist and a…
