What is intellectual humility? How intellectual humility unlocks learning and understanding
In the records of Indian folklore, there is a timeless story about six blind men discovering an elephant for the first time. As each man touches a different part of the elephant – its trunk, tusk, or tail — they generate vastly different conceptions of the creature. "It's like a snake," one Read More...
Meet Wisdom, the 70 year old albatross that just hatched another chick
When biologist Chandler Robbins first tagged Wisdom the Laysan albatross in 1956, he probably had no idea that the oceanic bird would long outlive him. But here we are in the year 2021, and Wisdom is still alive and mating. In fact, Wisdom has just hatched another chick at the tender age of 70. Read More...
Scientists have discovered an inverse relationship between loneliness and wisdom
Loneliness is a dangerous feeling to experience, and combating it may play an important role in improving well-being and prolonging life. Although controlling your feelings and the way you react to certain phenomena seems like a difficult task, working on certain personality traits may actually Read More...
In the beginning was the joke
John Lloyd | August 2009 issue There’s a mysterious passage in the Bible, that goes like this: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." This passage has the unmistakable ring of truth, which is curious, because it also appears to be meaningless gibberish. Read More...
Childhood's end
Schools train children to remain children all their lives, John Taylor Gatto argues in his new book. There’s another way: Teach them to become leaders and adventurers. John Taylor Gatto | October 2008 issue I taught for 30 years in some of the worst schools in New York City, and in some Read More...
Stop the presses!
News gives people a false sense of wisdom. Knowing what goes on in the world does not make anyone more knowledgeable about what really matters. In fact, suggests Ode editor Marco Visscher, less news is a prerequisite for greater wisdom. How about tuning in to our own lives, instead of the lives of Read More...