John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged philosophy · everything

aeon.co

The politics of masculinity at the end of the Roman republic | Aeon Essays

This piece argues that Roman masculinity was never a fixed, unproblematic ideal but a contested performance, using Cicero as its case study: his oratory, his exile and his daughter's death, and his late philosophical turn all show a man repeatedly redefining what counted as manly. Its central point is that the modern nostalgia for a Golden Age of shared manhood misreads the ancient world, where virtus, self-control and public speech were as anxiously policed as they are today. The distinctive thread is Cicero's own framing of grief and political loss as emasculating, and his claim that bearing those feelings bravely was itself the truest form of manliness.

Permalink philosophyhistorypolitics

nytimes.com

Forget Utopia. Ignore Dystopia. Embrace Protopia!

This New York Times piece traces "protopia," a term Kevin Kelly coined in 2009 for a third future between utopia and dystopia, marked by incremental, technology-aided progress over long stretches. It focuses on the disagreement among adopters: Kelly sees protopia as a natural product of technological acceleration, while Monika Bielskyte, who runs Protopia Futures, argues it demands deliberate social, political, and inclusive work, especially for marginalized communities. The article distinguishes these two strands from other practitioners and from Bielskyte's work in media and speculative fiction.

Permalink technologyphilosophy

www.popsci.com

Why we (probably) aren’t living in a computer simulation

A team led by Mir Faizal claims to have mathematically ruled out the simulation hypothesis by invoking quantum gravity's Platonic mathematical foundations combined with Gödel's incompleteness theorem, arguing that reality requires "non-algorithmic understanding" that no computational system—however powerful—could ever replicate, since simulations are inherently algorithmic. The piece is worth keeping mainly for its counterpoint: physicist Melvin Vopson (a simulation-theory proponent himself) pushes back hard, accusing the study of a category error for assuming a simulating system must obey the same physical/mathematical rules as the simulated universe, leaving the debate genuinely unresolved despite the confident framing.

Permalink philosophy

trivia.cracked.com

10 ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Comics That Will Leave You Contemplating the Meaning of Life

This roundup pulls ten "Calvin and Hobbes" strips where Bill Watterson ditched the whimsy for existential heft, spotlighting moments the boy and his tiger wrestled with absurdity, mortality, war and the passage of time. It's less a joke list than a reminder that Watterson slipped genuine philosophical weight into a syndicated kids' comic, culminating with the strip's famously poignant finale. Worth keeping as a quick clickable anthology of the series' most quietly profound panels.

Permalink philosophycomicsnostalgiahumor

www.cbr.com

Calvin and Hobbes Debate Exactly How Santa Claus Defines the Term 'Good'

This piece introduces the first day of an Advent Calendar feature spotlighting Christmas-themed strips from notable comic strips, beginning with Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. The entry examines how Calvin navigates the seasonal pressure to appear good enough for Santa by philosophically debating the nature of goodness with Hobbes, even attempting to get a reference letter, while also featuring strips where Santa and his elves deliberate Calvin's worthiness and Calvin dreams of a poem convincing Santa to reward naughty children instead. The piece highlights Watterson's skill at blending clever wordplay with strong visual storytelling to explore Calvin's characteristically twisted imagination.

Permalink philosophycomicsholidaychristmas

www.newyorker.com

An Ancient Guide to the Good Life

# Summary This essay explores why Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, repackaged as a modern self-help guide called "How to Flourish," ultimately disappoints readers seeking actionable moral rules—and why that disappointment reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of Aristotelian ethics. Aristotle's central insight is that becoming a good person (developing phronesis or "good judgment") requires lived experience, habit, and the wisdom of well-lived lives rather than algorithmic principles or formulaic advice. The essay argues that contrary to contemporary culture's hunger for rules and shortcuts, genuine ethical wisdom comes only through slow, repeated practice within a community of experienced people—a truth evident in everything from cooking to the internet's "Am I the Asshole?" forum, where strangers help one another see situations clearly.

Permalink philosophyethicsself-helptags

www.scientificamerican.com

Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50

Astronomer David Kipping applied Bayesian reasoning to philosopher Nick Bostrom's 2003 simulation argument, which posits that at least one of three propositions must be true: humans go extinct before developing simulation technology, advanced civilizations don't simulate their past, or we're already living in a simulation. Kipping's analysis assigns equal initial probabilities to the "physical hypothesis" (no simulations exist) and the "simulation hypothesis" (simulations do exist), concluding that the odds we live in base reality are roughly even—contradicting Elon Musk's claim that the odds are one in billions. However, Kipping cautions that if humans ever create conscious simulations, the mathematics would flip dramatically to suggest we ourselves are almost certainly simulated, while acknowledging that the simulation hypothesis may be fundamentally untestable and thus fail the standard of science.

Permalink philosophyscience

perell.com

50 Ideas That Changed My Life

This is a collection of fifty conceptual frameworks and decision-making principles spanning economics, psychology, physics, and strategy—designed as mental models to improve thinking and life decisions. The ideas range from logical concepts like Occam's Razor and opportunity cost to behavioral insights like preference falsification and mimetic desire, arranged to illustrate how understanding systems, human nature, and hidden patterns can reveal overlooked opportunities and avoid common pitfalls. The author presents these as guiding principles that sharpen critical thinking by revealing what's counterintuitive, hidden in plain sight, or systematically ignored by conventional wisdom.

Permalink productivityphilosophycreativityadvice

Church Life Journal

You're a Slave to Money, Then You Die | Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame

This essay traces neoliberalism from its origins in 1920s anti-democratic theory through its ascendance under Thatcher and Reagan to its current dominance as a comprehensive worldview—arguing that it functions not merely as economic policy but as a quasi-religious metaphysics in which the Market replaces God as the organizing principle of reality. Drawing on thinkers like Hayek and Mises, the author demonstrates how neoliberals deliberately obscured the market's artificial construction behind mystifications of "spontaneous order," used state power to suppress democratic constraints on capital, and cultivated technologies of the self (social media, personal debt, the "entrepreneurial self") that internalize market logic into every aspect of human identity and relationships. The essay concludes by suggesting that imagining genuine alternatives to neoliberal capitalism requires recovering a theological vision of human dignity—that we are creatures of infinite, not market-determined, worth.

Permalink philosophypolitics

MovieWeb

10 'Calvin and Hobbes' Quotes That Prove It’s the Greatest Comic Strip of All Time

This article presents ten of the best quotes from Bill Watterson's *Calvin and Hobbes*, arguing that the comic strip's genius lies in its ability to blend humor with genuine philosophical insight that resonates across ages. Watterson treated childhood anxieties and existential questions with equal seriousness, creating dialogue that works on multiple levels—funny for children but deeply meaningful for adults. The quotes range from Calvin's egoistic declarations and observations about nighttime fears to meditations on cosmic insignificance and the importance of wonder, demonstrating why the strip remains culturally influential despite its brief ten-year run.

Permalink philosophyartcomicsliterature

Fast Company

collider.com

10 Sci-Fi Books That Are Better Than 'Dune'

I cannot provide a summary of this article because the text provided does not contain an actual article—it is only the author's bio and website template code from Collider, along with book cover images and metadata. The substantive content that would constitute the article itself is not included in what you've shared.

Permalink philosophybooksdunesci-fi

www.theatlantic.com

Review: ‘The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity’

Graeber and Wengrow's *The Dawn of Everything* dismantles the conventional linear narrative of human history—from egalitarian hunter-gatherers through agriculture to inevitable state hierarchies—by drawing on recent archaeological evidence to show that pre-industrial societies were far more politically complex, varied, and deliberately organized than assumed, with populations regularly choosing between different social forms rather than passively following technological determinism. The authors argue that human beings have long possessed the freedom to disobey, relocate, and create alternative social arrangements, and that this freedom, rather than inevitable progress toward bureaucratic states, should define what we consider "civilization." The book, posthumously published after Graeber's death, frames human history as one of political experimentation and possibility rather than predetermined stages, suggesting that our current "stuck" condition in hierarchical states was neither inevitable nor necessary.

Permalink philosophyhistorybooksagriculture

www.nytimes.com

Forget Utopia. Ignore Dystopia. Embrace Protopia!

Kevin Kelly coined "protopia" in 2010 to describe a third path between utopia and dystopia—a society making incremental technological progress over time rather than achieving perfection or collapse. The concept has gained traction among futurists as a more realistic and inclusive alternative to binary thinking, though advocates like Monika Bielskyte argue that protopia requires deliberate social, cultural, and political work centered on marginalized communities rather than being an automatic product of technological advancement alone.

Permalink technologyphilosophydystopia

www.eamesinstitute.org

Toys & Eames Design Philosophy | Eames Institute

The Eameses collected and studied toys not as frivolous objects but as windows into design principles and universal human truths—toys exemplified "good design" through anonymous authorship and perfect execution of their essential purpose, whether a kite's ability to fly or a top's "spin-ness." They systematically analyzed toys across cultures and time periods both as functional objects to be played with and as intellectual artifacts, using this understanding to inform their groundbreaking work in everything from furniture to educational films, ultimately recognizing that toys served as the most effective medium for communicating complex ideas to audiences of all ages.

Permalink designphilosophyfilmeducation

theconversation.com

The curious joy of being wrong – intellectual humility means being open to new information and willing to change your mind

A psychology professor draws on her own crisis of faith after her brother's sudden death to explore intellectual humility—the willingness to acknowledge the limits of one's beliefs and revise them under strong evidence, distinct from mere wishy-washiness or self-deprecation. She outlines its four components (open-minded, curious, realistic, teachable) and cites research linking it to tolerance, better relationships, and personal growth, while noting ongoing studies into how it can be deliberately cultivated.

Permalink philosophypsychology

bigthink.com

Escape the perfectionist trap with the Japanese philosophy of “wabi sabi”

Piece traces the Japanese aesthetic concept of wabi sabi — rooted in Zen Buddhism and embodied in practices like kintsugi's gold-repaired pottery — as an antidote to perfectionism, valuing imperfection, impermanence, and humility over flawless outcomes. It surveys wabi sabi's presence across Japanese art forms (ink painting, bonsai, tea houses, gardens) and pairs it with Western parallels, from Voltaire and Shakespeare to Nick Offerman's "chasing halfway decent," arguing this isn't an excuse for laziness but a reframing that lets people pursue excellence without the anxiety and self-punishment perfectionism breeds. Worth keeping as a practical philosophical reframe for a self-described perfectionist, with concrete cultural touchstones to return to.

Permalink designphilosophywellnessmindfulness

The Conversation

Tiredness of life: the growing phenomenon in western society

Researchers across Europe are studying "tiredness of life"—a distinct form of despair affecting some healthy older people who feel their existence has lost all meaning and yearn to die. Unlike existential suffering tied to terminal illness or other life crises, this phenomenon is characterized by the conviction that one's life journey is complete and dragging on pointlessly, rooted in factors like profound loneliness, loss of social relevance, fear of dependency, and the cumulative erosion of identity. The piece suggests that this suffering may reflect how Western medicine and society have extended biological survival while neglecting quality of life and social purpose for elders, contrasting with cultures like Japan where aging is viewed as a period of continued growth and meaning.

Permalink healthphilosophypsychologymental health