Ideas | Neuroscience
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Chapter one
Words
Biology | Linguistics
The Communication We Share with Apes
Hand gestures signal the emergence of human language.
Culture | Linguistics
The Strange Persistence of First Languages
After my father died, my journey of rediscovery began with the Czech language.
Culture | Linguistics
Language Both Enraptures and Deceives Us
An interview with linguist and writer Julie Sedivy.
Chapter two
Thoughts
Biology | Linguistics
This Simple Structure Unites All Human Languages
Language builds meaning through self-similarity.
Ideas | Philosophy
Angst and the Empty Set
We can experience nothingness, but does it actually exist?
Biology | Linguistics
Talking Is Throwing Fictional Worlds at One Another
A linguist exposes the inner truths about language.
Chapter three
Actions
Biology | Neuroscience
Consciousness Doesn’t Depend on Language
We share the basic experience of life with all mammals.
Biology | Neuroscience
Language Is the Scaffold of the Mind
Once we acquire language, we can live without it.
Culture | Archaeology
Why Symbols Aren’t Forever
The removal of cultural emblems is not the erasure of history but part of it.
Chapter four
Worlds
Ideas | Artificial Intelligence
Would You Survive a Merger with AI?
The cost of brain enhancement may be your identity.
Culture | Linguistics
Why Red Means Red in Almost Every Language
The confounding consistency of color categories.
Biology | Sociology
How Freedom Divides
An expert on animal societies on what sets human societies apart.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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Matter
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Culture
Why Campaigns to Change Language Often Backfire
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Culture
Making a Future Among the Stars
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Culture
How to Get Evangelicals to Care About Climate Change
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