The Unspoken Step in an Argument
Two people accept the same facts and still disagree about what they mean. A 1958 idea about how arguments work shows where the disagreement was hiding.
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THE ODD COUPLE SERIES – EPISODE 5
The Meaning of Five Minutes
Birbal and the Monkey wait outside a Hyderabad wedding where everyone is five minutes away. -
When Inflation Falls, Why Do Prices Stay High?
When inflation falls from 20% to 2%, the price in the shop still goes up. This piece shows why those two facts do not contradict each other.
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The Stranger Inside Your Cells
Roughly two billion years ago the ancestor of mitochondria was an organism of its own. Now your cells depend on them.
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Why Does Your Recorded Voice Sound Different?
When you speak, your voice reaches your ears through the air and through your own skull. A recording keeps only the air route. The common claim that the skull route makes your own voice sound lower to you than it does to others rests on an assumption
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Why Is It So Hard to Say No?
Why does a plain no feel so hard to say, and why can’t the person asking see how awkward it is to refuse?
One thread: the moment of the request, for favours -
THE ODD COUPLE SERIES -EPISODE 4
The Meaning of Nothing—-
Birbal and Monkey, one empty glass, and a conversation about nothing. -
GOOD OLD DAYS
Why the Past May Not Have Been as Good as We Remember
Maybe nostalgia isn’t making the past look better. Maybe the comparison itself is unfair. -
EPISODE 3
Why Is Common Sense Not Common?