Ethics

Is true equality achievable — or even desirable? Go on a journey through the strange and unsettling "Land of Justice."

Do you really need a monstrous upbringing to make monsters?

Ethicist and doctor Simon Whitney argues that society's overly cautious approach to medical research is blocking breakthroughs.

Kelly Richmond Pope, a forensic accountant, shares a simple test that puts your ethics under the spotlight.

AI programs like ChatGPT can create "thanabots" based on deceased loved ones' digital communications, allowing us to talk with the departed.

Big Think covered the 2012 study shortly after it was published. We are now correcting the record.

The debate goes back at least 400 years.

With U.S. infrastructure crumbling, an honor oath and iron ring remind engineers of their profession's ethical weight.

No, Gandhi did not single-handedly bring about Indian independence. Pacifism alone usually gets you killed.

A 2020 study revived a longstanding controversy over Christopher Columbus' claims of marauding cannibals in the Caribbean.

A proponent of panpsychism argues moral truth is inherent in consciousness.

In history, every major technological advance has been used, for good and bad.

Are people are more likely to act less emotionally and more rationally when speaking their second language?

From cosmetic procedures to heart operations, the introduction of AI will create an ethical minefield.

A team of scientists has warned that marketers seek to advertise in our dreams. Will our sleep be commercialized against our wishes?

Fear of technology is not new. But we misunderstand its origin. In reality, we don't fear technology but each other.

Memory, responsibility, and mental maturity have long been difficult to describe objectively, but neuroscientists are starting to detect patterns. Coming soon to a courtroom near you?

Does humanity have a moral imperative to seed life on lifeless worlds? And should we avoid colonizing a planet if life already exists there?

Within a month of that initial conversation, Peter Singer became a vegetarian.

Rather than sending serial killer art to auctions, it should be sent to abnormal psychologists for research.

You can learn a lot about life through literature's most unrespectable and heinous characters.

We have become the greatest threat to ourselves and to life on this planet. We need a set of agreed-upon safeguards to preserve our future.

And how to make it think differently.

Robots must identify themselves.

We do not need to pause AI research. But we do need a pause on the public release of these tools until we can determine how to deal with them.

The biggest lingering question about GPT-4 isn't if it's going to destroy jobs or take over the world. Instead, it is this: Do we trust AI programmers to tell society what is true?

Always look on the bright side of death.

Being a jerk gets you rich, promoted, and laid (if you're a man). But there is a downside.

Some classic books, like Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," remain controversial to this day.

Albert Camus was a Franco-Algerian philosopher with some great insights on the meaning of life, why you should look to this life and not the next, and why suicide is a poor choice.