Plotinus Knew: Mental Chaos Breeds Insight
A Nature Communications study finds brain entropy on psilocybin predicts lasting insight and well-being, no permanent brain change. Discover what Plotinus knew.
Wisdom
137 articles - Timeless insights from great thinkers
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Spinoza Knew: Contentment Doesn't Need a Partner
A 2026 study tracked 2,930 singles for 11 years and found 90% stayed satisfied. Discover why Spinoza said contentment never required a partner, in 1677.
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Wollstonecraft Knew: Smart Women Get Punished
A 2026 study finds high-ability women get rated hostile at work while equally smart men get rewarded. Discover why Wollstonecraft saw this coming in 1792.
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Mozi Knew: Favoring Your Group Shrinks Empathy
A University of Zaragoza brain scan study links hierarchy preference to less gray matter in the empathy-related insula. Discover what Mozi argued in 400 BCE.
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Nietzsche Knew: Meaninglessness Breeds Violence
Discover how a 7-study, 2,245-person program found one belief predicts violent extremism across ideologies — the thing Nietzsche warned about in 1888.
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Boethius Knew: Fortune's Wheel Turns Both Ways
Discover how one Swedish lottery windfall lifts men's marriage odds while nearly doubling married women's short-term divorce risk. Boethius saw it coming.
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Mencius Knew: Why a Daughter Changes Who Gets Hired
A Review of Economic Studies paper finds male managers hire and pay women more after a daughter is born. Discover what Mencius said 2,300 years earlier.
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La Boétie Knew: We Volunteer for Our Chains
A 2026 study of 331 US adults found celebrity admiration predicts submission to authority. Discover what La Boétie warned about tyranny back in 1576.
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Heraclitus Knew: Character Is Destiny, Not IQ
A meta-analysis of 29,102 West Point cadets found conscientiousness beats IQ at predicting leadership. Discover what Heraclitus knew 2,500 years earlier.
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La Rochefoucauld Knew: Strategic Kindness Is a Weapon
A 2026 study of 103 women found strategic kindness toward rivals tracks Machiavellianism, not warmth. Discover what La Rochefoucauld argued in his 1665 Maximes.
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Burke Knew: The Sublime Needs a Little Danger
A new UCL study had 39 students rate classical piano pieces and images for sublimity and beauty at once. Discover what Edmund Burke mapped out back in 1757.
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Festinger Knew: Fans Protect Idols, Not the Climate
A Sep 2026 study found devoted Taylor Swift fans rationalize her jet emissions instead of judging her. Discover what Festinger's 1957 theory predicted.