Exploring hedonic adaptation and its implications for happiness maximisation
Word count: 4,163
- Introduction
If we want to increase happiness it follows we need to understand what makes people happy and for how long. In this […]
March 2017
What Philosophy Should, But Won’t, Learn From Silicon Valley
We publish philosophy like hardware even though we write it like software.
Word count: 1,203
(update, 19/03/2017: I notice this has now been picked up on reddit in […]
What’s happiness for anyway? Why nature doesn’t want to keep us happy and what we can do about it. Public lecture at Oxford Brookes
We’ve become wealthier, healthier, safer, smarter and long-lived over the last 60 years but, surprisingly, no happier. But if those things don’t seem to work, […]
January 2017
Advanced Tools and Techniques for Becoming Happier in 2017
Word count: 1,988
In the past, I’ve thought New Year’s Resolutions were a waste of time. If something is important enough to start, shouldn’t it be important […]
December 2016
Are You Sure You Want To Donate To The Against Malaria Foundation?
Word count: 1,838
In advance of the Christmas charity season, GiveWell has announced that the Against Malaria Foundation (‘AMF’) is once again their top pick for the […]
November 2016
The Unproven (And Unprovable) Case For Wild Animal Suffering
5,467 words.
Abstract
I’ve been surprised to learn recently that so many people I know in the effective altruism community believe there is more total suffering than […]
September 2016
The Surprising Unimportance Of Saving Lives
Reading time: 11-15 minutes
When we think about doing good, saving lives is at the top of the list. Doctors, firefighters and Batmen […]
July 2016
Why Aristotle’s eudaimonia isn’t ‘A better kind of happiness’. A critical reply to the New Yorker
Writing in the New Yorker, Will Storr argues Aristotle offers us “A better kind of happiness“.
To summarise his argument, Will claims Aristotle’s ‘eudaimonic’ version of happiness, […]
May 2016
If you had a billion pounds and an urge to maximise world happiness, what should you do?
What should a billionaire do to maximise human happiness?
Reading time: 11-14 minutes
[Note to reader. This is a draft 5,000-word essay that […]
April 2016
How To Life A Happy Life – Interview With University Of Oxford
I was recently interviewed as part of Oxford’s How To Life A Happy Life, one of their Research In Conversation series. The link […]