Curated playlist
Broad-concept articles
- MindIn Old English, the word mind originally meant only memory. Over centuries it grew to cover every form of mental life.
- ViolenceThe World Health Organization says a threat can count as violence, even with no visible wound.
- TimePhysicists define time as what a clock reads. They chose it because other definitions tend to go in circles.
- InfrastructureWhy does the United States grade its own infrastructure a D-plus? Engineers grade sixteen categories, bridges to dams.
- InterdisciplinaritySome interdisciplinary programs with healthy enrollment were closed after thirty or more years.
- Peer reviewIshaq ibn Ali al-Ruhawi described what may be the earliest peer review, of physicians' patient notes.
- CommunicationDoes lying count as communication? Philosopher Paul Grice's intention-based view makes deception a sharp puzzle.
- De factoAustralia, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom have no officially designated national language.
- PeerageAfter King James II and VII was deposed, his exiled followers kept granting noble titles.
- CausalityA mistranslation from ancient Greek has muddied the idea of causality ever since Aristotle.
- SecrecyClaude Shannon sorted secrecy into three kinds in 1948. One hides that a message exists at all.