Humans find great meaning in transcending our physical and mental limitations and tapping into enhanced states of consciousness. When we do so we are expressing an impulse that has been inherent in the evolutionary process from the big bang onwards. Evolution has continually transcended its limitations, breaking free from the determinism of blind laws and

The pursuit of happiness is one of the founding American ideals. But evidence from psychology research points to the conclusion that pursuing happiness for its own sake doesn’t actually work. What can work, however, is to cultivate a meaningful life, because in doing so, happiness tends to follow as a by-product. What do humans find

Creativity is one of the enduring mysteries of the universe. How does something more keep coming from something less? From cosmological to biological to cultural evolution the universe appears to be getting more and more creative as it evolves, and human creativity is just the latest example of that trajectory. Can this explain why humans

We’ve been taught that evolution is a cruel and vicious struggle in which only the ruthless survive. But if you look a little more closely, the natural world is teeming with cooperation. Not only that, but from single celled organisms right the way through to human civilisation, the scale of cooperation has been steadily increasing.