Free will is a notoriously thorny issue
Does the world need my book? It might sound conceited even to ask the question, since strictly speaking the answer is almost always no…
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Not every venture has a happy ending – and that’s OK
In Hollywood, every failure simply serves to make the eventual success more inevitable. In real life, every past failure should be a reminder that a happy outcome was never guaranteed. Our failed relationships, terrible jobs and bad holidays reflect our characters and the reality of our lives at least as much as the good times, which often hang on a thread.
ReadReview: The Age of Genius
The main weakness of the book is that its impressive erudition is not sufficiently ordered, filtered and edited to make it serve the central argument. In his enthusiasm to gather and share his evidence, Grayling has neglected to turn it into a convincing case.
ReadIf you want trust, stick to commonsense morality
Morality is a form of common sense: the sense we have in common of what we all owe to each other. It can only work if we refuse to make ad hoc exceptions, no matter how intellectually justified they appear to be.
ReadWhy we want underdogs to have their day
In zero-sum games such as sport, for one to rise, another must fall. But if our love of the underdog is not to turn poisonous, we should try always to focus more on our delight for the victor rather than gloating over the one who has been toppled.
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