Wiser Every Day

The ghost in the machine

Why we keep talking as if we have two minds — and why it matters.

Dec 5 • Steven Schwartz

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October 2025

Getting dumber: the reverse Flynn effect and the politics of denial

For decades, humanity appeared to be getting smarter. Then, inconveniently, it wasn’t. IQs are now sliding backwards, and instead of asking why, we’ve…

Oct 31 • Steven Schwartz

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We pretend to teach, and students pretend to learn

In our brave new AI world, academics pretend to teach, students pretend to learn and administrators pretend it all adds up to something called higher…

Oct 14 • Steven Schwartz

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September 2025

The bullshit detector’s survival guide

In a world of waffle and weasel words, plain speaking is a small act of rebellion. Here are seven ways to recognise bullshit, challenge it, and, if…

Sep 22 • Steven Schwartz

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Degrees of difficulty

Universities are struggling. Staff see livelihoods at risk, students see disruption, and managers see balance sheets collapsing. Everyone is right …

Sep 15 • Steven Schwartz

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Beyond diagnosis: building a mental health system that works

A landmark disability scheme was built on compassion, but captured by a “cash for diagnosis” culture. This is not just a budget problem. It is a human…

Sep 1 • Steven Schwartz

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August 2025

The world is turning classical

The world is turning classical. Not everywhere. Not all at once. But unmistakably - and just in time.

Aug 13 • Steven Schwartz

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Our daily bread (and other dangerous substances)

Your dinner doesn’t need an app or a PhD, just something to eat, something to drink, and a little gratitude. This is a story about science, food, and…

Aug 7 • Steven Schwartz

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July 2025

Favourites from the Wiser Every Day archive (in case you missed them)

Our most-read essays so far—still free to read and share.

Jul 18 • Steven Schwartz

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Between Patience and Fortitude

In an age of noise and urgency, the library is a quiet kind of miracle.

Jul 9 • Steven Schwartz

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June 2025

Revival: Knowledge without wisdom

It's time we once again started hearing the word wisdom on campus. (Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture. Original version.)

Jun 23 • Steven Schwartz

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The Fraying of Reality

Is a fake summer reading list a harmless AI "hallucination" or a glimpse of something more troubling: a culture slowly surrendering to the smooth…

Jun 10 • Steven Schwartz

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