Unknown Knowns

A Closer Look at Simone de Beauvoir's Ethics of Ambiguity

Exploring the concepts of freedom, oppression, and ethical decision making in a complex world

Posted on 2023/02/27

“Man exists. For him, it is not a question of wondering whether his presence in the world is useful, whether life is worth the trouble of being lived. These questions make no sense. It is a matter of knowing whether he wants to live and under what condition.” [Read More]

Tags: Philosophy Existentialism

Escaping the Malthusian Trap

A summary of "Famine" by Cormac Ó Gráda

Posted on 2023/01/13

The prospect of a famine-free world hinges on improved governance and peace. It is as simple - or as difficult - as that. Cormac Ó Gráda [Read More]

Tags: Science Food Security

Against the dominance of gap-spotting in research

A review of “Constructing Research Questions”

Posted on 2022/12/05

Almost all researchers use “gap-spotting”, a process that only creates boring research questions [Read More]

Tags: Science Research Questions

Global warming above 2°C

How concerned should we be?

Posted on 2022/06/29

How warm will it get? This question is probably on the mind of every person dealing with the issue of climate change. It is so important because all other consequences of climate change depend on it. The less the earth warms, the better mankind will cope with it. In the... [Read More]

Tags: Climate Change Existential Risk

The universal Anthropocene

Things we can learn from exo-civilisations, even if we never meet any

Posted on 2022/04/26

“How do we know there is such a thing as a long-term version of our kind of civilization?” Adam Frank [Read More]

Tags: Science Fermi-Paradox