Another Battle of Ideas
TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT IRONY? A film of a discussion at the 2013 Battle of Ideas I took part in with Edward Docx, Tiffany Jenkins and John Waters, chaired by Jacob Reynolds.
ReadTag: Reason & rationality
The social animal
Human beings are born social. We live in families, tribes and nations, and increasingly as part of an interconnected global community. The problem is that these groups make different and often competing demands on us. We may well be social animals but our habitats are changing, and we haven’t yet adapted to them.
ReadCan you be too intelligent?
The question of whether someone can be too intelligent in any sense is entirely hypothetical in my own case. And lack of intelligence is a much more serious and common problem than too much of it. Nonetheless, it’s worth remembering that even intelligence can be excessive, as a reminder that just because something is good, that does not mean more of it is always better.
ReadDo strengths or weaknesses matter more?
It can take an exceptional mind to come up with a real insight but the processing part of thinking well usually requires no mental gymnastics. All you need to do is make no mistakes. To do that for even a single day requires exceptional mental rigour.
ReadOn avoiding rare risks
Psychologists and risk experts are always telling us that we fixate far too much on unusual dangers and not enough on the hazards that we confront every day. The Glasgow helicopter crash will no doubt provide another opportunity to highlight our supposed irrationality as people demand inquiries to avoid a repeat of an accident that killed at least eight people, while five people die every day on the UK’s roads. But is it really illogical to worry about unusual causes of death and serious injury? I’m not convinced it is…
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