Diplomacy is where there are no rules
09 July 2025
He had bought a large map representing the sea,Without the least vestige of land:And the crew were much pleased when they found it to beA map they could all understand.–Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark Iâ€...
The power of self-organisation
04 July 2025
We all believe in organisation. We worship the Great (or Intelligent) Organiser in the sky, and we admire great organisers, from Alexander of Macedonia to Napoleon. Our mental structures are ‘wired’ toward organis...
The reinvention of yoga: From ancient practice to global soft power
20 June 2025
The UN General Assembly, on 11 December 2014, adopted, without a vote, a resolution commemorating 21 June as the International Day of Yoga. Addressing the UN General Assembly on 27 September 2014, Prime Minister of In...
The myth of the lone genius: How scientific revolutions really happen
17 June 2025
How do you get a bright and new idea, or the clever turn of phrase that illuminates your thought? By staring stoically at a well-lit light bulb until, by empathy, the ‘outer’ bulb ignites the ‘inner’ one? By h...
The vulnerabilities of international law
11 June 2025
Analogies allow us to illuminate issues from a different point of view and break out of our self-regarding Einstellung – the belief that, having ‘done the right thing’, we can move on secure and contented in our...
Weapons of Emotional Destruction
01 May 2025
Over 5,000 years ago, humans domesticated the horse. It transformed mobility. It also transformed local affrays into distance projection of power: warfare. Such is the unintended power of enablers. The enabling imp...
What’s wrong with doping?
23 April 2025
(A contrarian query) I’ll admit to a disinterest – I do not watch Olympic Games (and very few professional sport events). When the tally of medals happened to appear on the screen, I glanced at it distracted...
How concepts get their meaning
17 April 2025
In his recent essay titled Che cos’è un dispositivo? (What Is a Dispositif?), the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben outlines the genealogy of the concept 'dispositif', tracing it to Hegel and other precursors. I ...
On the origins of ideas
11 April 2025
(against anachronism in ideas) Where does a river begin? The Mississippi is an incontrovertible reality. Or is it? The Mississippi watershed – a visual reminder that what appears as a singular, incontrover...
The strategy of provocation
01 April 2025
Provoking a stalker In this short film, an ermine (actually, the stoat in winter coat) is playing peek-a-boo from his home in a rotting tree. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkemK00kPo4 Now you may just exc...
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