Jim Davies

“…when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.” –Nietzsche Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . For some people, this quote is very evocative. It feels important, and beautiful. Others feel like it doesn’t mean anything at all, because the idea of a deep hole […]

Artistic appreciation is a deeply subjective process, perhaps the most essentially personal thing that humans do. But are there some explanations for why we like what we do? Why, for instance, does a particular song get popular? Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Some of it has to do […]

Imagine that tomorrow I were to show you a newspaper article describing a deadly wildfire. Do you think you’d be more upset upon reading that 10,000 people died than if you read that five people died? Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . This scenario makes people engage in affective […]

There is only a certain level of novelty that most people are willing to tolerate.

Our inability to care for ourselves as babies is a key to the genius of our species.

The “marshmallow experiment” has become a famous way to measure the self-control of children. (This is a version of the test made for entertainment, not research, purposes.) Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Every year since 1988, my friend Lou and I have picked a New Year’s resolution together. […]

Father Christmas bears some striking similarities to the divinities of many religions.

Nailia Schwarz via Shutterstock Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Runners can tell you that sometimes the last mile of a run seems to feel dramatically longer than the first. This perceptual distortion isn’t limited to brains addled by exercise—it’s a consistent feature of our minds.  When we look […]

The city is a big brain that can solve big problems.

The city is a big brain that can solve big problems.