See below for the lesson Time is, without doubt, a real thing in some sense. We all use it, organise our lives around it, and often find that we don't have enough of it. When I talk about the "illusion of time" I am not saying it doesn't exist in any way whatsoever; I am rather making a point about what it is not, and how we imagine it to be something it is not. I do this especially because I believe that mistaken ideas about what time is lead to wild misunderstandings about

Self-development books seem to be all the rage at the moment, while novels and storybooks seem to be going out of fashion. A great many people apparently devour the former while saying they have no time to read the latter. I believe this to be misguided. For my part, I have found that really good novels have taught me much more about life and how to improve mine than self-development books ever could. Self-development books basically give you general theories about life and s

Films have changed drastically in recent years. I noticed this distinctly when, after a long period of not going to the cinema, I went to watch James Bond – No Time to Die in the summer of 2021. One scene in particular stood out to me as remarkable. It was the one where Bond, as he’s about to kill some villain and avenge his CIA accomplice, Felix Leiter, says: “I had a brother. His name was Felix Leiter!” I was hit by cringeworthy images of “fans” gushing over this moment

When a "chatbot" gives us an answer or a solution to a problem, we tend to forget what is actually happening behind the scenes in terms of human labour and natural resources. Machines solve that problem for you. These are machines that have to be built, maintained and operated by humans, out of materials that have to be taken out of the earth by humans, and powered by energy that has to be produced by humans. There is a peculiar temptation, even among those to whom all of the

Vocabulary 1. Exasperating Definition: Extremely annoying or frustrating. Example: His constant interruptions were exasperating during the meeting. 2. Ditches Definition: (Informal) Abandons or gets rid of something. Example: The company ditched its old logo for a modern design. 4. Emphatically Definition: In a forceful or strong way. Example: He emphatically denied the accusations. 5. Gag Definition: A joke or humorous moment, especially in films or shows. Example:

I often think that etymology is underappreciated and underused. When you check the etymology of a word, you see its ancestry , and how different concepts are connected. Etymology lets even native speakers of a language understand the meaning of words that they have used for decades much more deeply. By the way, I Swear is authentic and inspiring. But I feel that saying this doesn't quite do the film justice, especially in a world where reviews are so often void of genuine op

Start by watching the film. If all else fails, you can rent I, Robot on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEhHemwOoxI Now read the review below. Robocoup! "I, Robot" 12 Years On There are many reasons why I, Robot seemed a good choice for a film to review and discuss with students. It's very watchable, and the plot is easy enough to understand at the basic level -- robots turn against us and try to take over the world, but it's for our own good. It is also easy

In mainstream science, individual intelligence and collective intelligence have generally been regarded as distinct phenomena. Individual intelligence is believed to include things like humans, fish, plants, etc., and collective intelligence includes swarms of bees, societies, and so on. However, developmental biologist Michael Levin argues that in fact all intelligence is collective. He points out that we, as human organisms, consist of a collection of trillions of cells, e

There's a wonderful Polish phrase which there is no proper equivalent for in English: dystans do siebie, literally: distance to yourself or oneself. It is very widely used here, and regarded as something unequivocally positive. In fact, in Poland, it may well be the most commonly given answer to the question of what quality in other people is the most important/valuable. As for the meaning, that's somewhat elusive. Answers to the question of what having dystans do siebie actu

Human beings endlessly demonstrate that with enough motivation, records can be broken, tides can be turned, history can be made, and the world can be changed. It is no surprise then that teachers and schools care greatly about student motivation: about generating, influencing, and maximising it. Higher motivation clearly means better results, and extraordinary motivation usually means extraordinary results. That said, I have often found conversations relating to the question