The Best of Engelsberg Ideas
10+ most popular Engelsberg Ideas articles, as voted by our community.
Engelsberg Ideas is the home to great writing from the world’s leading thinkers on history, culture, ideas, featuring essays and regular podcasts.
Engelsberg Ideas on Books
In defence of freedom in fiction
While we may think we have moved beyond the censorship of the past, writers' artistic freedoms are still constrained.
Engelsberg Ideas on History
The historian's dilemma
History writing is a solitary existence and far removed from the dynamic world of news reporting. And yet the line between the two is often unclear. Historians such as Thucydides demonstrate the…
Engelsberg Ideas on Technology
The economy and the paradox of technology
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has greatly enhanced humanity’s capacity to shape the world through manufacturing and finance. However, these technological developments also have the…
«Francis Bacon had described the scientific method’s application to the natural world in his Novum Organum Scientiarum (1620) as restoring humans’ ‘rights over nature’ as they use all their ‘efforts to make the course of art outstrip nature’.»
How 1970s California created the modern world
What happened in California in the 1970s played an outsized role in creating the world we live in today – both in the United States and in large parts of the globe – for better or worse. It is not an…
Engelsberg Ideas on War
Democratised and declassified: the era of social media war is here
The implications of democratised intelligence analysis, as seen in Ukraine, will shape future conflicts.
The other side of the hill
In war, we are, like the Duke of Wellington, still trying to guess what is on the other side of the hill, we just have more tools to help us do so.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
Why we don’t remember pandemics
While wars are endlessly memorialised in the West, the non-narrative and morally complex nature of a pandemic mean it is rare to come across a memorial to its victims, much less a monument recalling…
The truth shall set us free
Modern culture has left us ever more isolated and lonely but promises absolute liberty to pursue our desires. But to feel truly free we must rediscover a spirit of collective truth. Only then can…
Gareth Evans — philosophy's lost prodigy
During his short life, Evans was a figure of contention. Although his output was limited, his untimely death was a huge blow to British philosophy.
Alexander Helphand — impresario of revolutionary disaster who smoothed Lenin's return to Russia
Ukrainian millionaire businessman, lauded for his business acumen, made an enormous contribution to the twentieth-century's dark history of violence - he was instrumental in supporting Lenin's return…
Meteorites: our fascination with the ultimate antique
They are more than just reminders of the universe’s origins. Meteorites have been a commodity for investors, a demonstration of the cultural capital of museums, and prized items for collectors the…
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