Blog articles from the Mindset section of The Big Idea

Mindset

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Morality, reality, and policy

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Economic strategies worldwide take precious little account of the world’s real problems, says Colin Tudge  Even at this late hour, we (humanity) might still realistically hope to prevent the world’s final descent from catastrophe into meltdown – provided we took the real problems seriously enough and really were prepared to do, in Rishi Sunak’s bulldog … Read more

No new thing under the sun

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This article is intended to show how the world’s great literature has tackled the problems of food and farming these past 3000 years. AlThough agriculture and the world in general have changed beyond recognition, the most fundamental problems – of politics, the economy, and above all of mindset — are the same as ever. Every … Read more

Is it time to break the law?

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The most serious divide in the present world says Colin Tudge is not between political parties or rival religions or between religion and science but between those who realise the gravity of the world’s present plight and want to do something about it and those who seek primarily to exercize their power and maintain the … Read more

The Science of Ice Cream

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Is cookery an Art or a Science? Ice cream making is very much at the Science end of the spectrum as a new generation of gelato makers attest.

So many goodly creatures

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  What is Biodiversity? Who needs it? And why bother?  A series of essays on the website which could turn into a rather nice book. “How many goodly creatures are there here!” Miranda from The Tempest (V.i 184-187) It is fashionable to care about the natural world – or at least to pretend that we … Read more

The world beneath our feet

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Colin Tudge reflects upon Bruce Ball’s latest book, Healing Soil Truly the things we take for granted – like the Earth, and indeed life — are the most wondrous. Nothing is more taken for granted — and routinely abused — than soil; and yet, as Bruce Ball illustrates in his latest book, Healing Soil, the … Read more

Who are the real friends of science?

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Science is indeed wondrous but it has limitations – which, as Sir Paul Nurse demonstrated in a popular and doubtless influential article published in 2021, are not always recognized by some of its most adept practitioners.

What will be the message of British Science Week?

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British Science Week is celebrating science – which indeed we ought to do. But, says Colin Tudge, we must discuss the caveats too.

Does nature have rights?

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We certainly should behave as if does, says Colin Tudge There are loads of laws around the world including Britain to protect various components of the natural world and this of course is good – but the existing laws are almost entirely for our own, human benefit. The law in general regards our fellow creatures … Read more

Bring back metaphysics, or: The art of the unknowable

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The “ultimate questions”  Metaphysics asks what many have called “the ultimate questions” – which sounds pretty impressive, and is. But although these metaphysical questions are clearly so important and ever-present, and indeed are at the root and at the heart of all bona fide religions, metaphysics as an independent discipline has largely gone missing. And … Read more