Cognitive Engineering

Does an adventure require facing danger and seeing the world, or can you simply go on an adventure around your living room? In this week’s podcast we discuss adventure. What exactly is an adventure and how do you do it properly? We attempt to unravel what makes an adventure interesting, why we undertake them in the first place and what their essential elements are. We analyse the structure of adve...

Why is work important? The pandemic has spawned new movements dedicated to fighting against the oppression of wage labour. So this week, we take a look at the burgeoning Anti-work movement. One that started off as a minor subreddit and has now grown into a popular idea. We discuss what makes the Anti-work movement influential and ask if it is a positive sign that people are questioning modern work...

Is Tracey Emin entitled to ask the current Government to take down artwork that she gave to the Government when David Cameron was in office or is that unreasonable? We look at whether it is ever permissible to ask for a gift back. In this week’s podcast, we discuss gifts and ask what rights you have when you give a gift to someone and whether these rights change depending on who the gift is for. W...

The human body is full of seemingly uncoordinated processes and sensations. Needing to pass and then drink water in quick succession, developing an insatiable hunger just before bedtime, getting an itchy nose when your hands are both full. It often feels like there are some inherent design flaws in the human species. In this week’s podcast, we discuss redesigning humans. Why are some biological pr...

What is a life without risk? From going outside to eating our lunch, we take dozens of risks every day without stopping to consider them, let alone attempt to quantify them. In this week’s podcast, we are joined by Jerry Smith, Head of Advisory at the risk analysis company, CHC Global. Jerry helps us to unpack how the insurance market operates, the idea of malicious versus benign risk, and why hig...

As the UK Government teeters on the edge of a precipice, we look back to a key moment in the genesis of the current crisis: the lobbying scandal that brought an end to Conservative MP Owen Paterson’s political career. We use these events to analyse the issue of politicians’ pay. In this week's podcast, we consider the issue of optimal remuneration for our political classes. We debate whether we wo...

It’s one of Britain’s most loved yet least considered products: the humble crisp. In this week’s podcast, we discuss the association between colour and crisp flavours. We ask all the burning questions: What does your favourite crisp flavour say about you? Have crisp packets always been the same colour? Is there really a definitive colour palette for each flavour? Along the way, we take you through...

Taking a walk through the woods with the family pet can sometimes unearth some unexpected surprises. Sticks, stones or even, buried treasure. In this week’s podcast, we discuss what counts as treasure and how you might distinguish it from trash. We survey the historical legal definitions of treasure, assess the likelihood of a detectorist striking gold and present examples of how finding treasure...

"If I could talk with the animals, just imagine it..." In this week's podcast, we discuss what it would be like if we could indeed talk with animals. We consider the ethics of such conversations and try to work out what our non-human friends might be able to teach us. We also dive into topics such as language processing, communication and intelligence. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: -...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he "certainly broke no rules" as questions continue to plague the government over parties during lockdown last Christmas. In the wake of the Christmas party scandal, we think it is timely to revisit our podcast on ministerial accountability. Christmas parties row: Three gatherings to be investigated by top civil servant https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-...

Magic, spells and wizardry aren’t things you normally associate with local government(unless you're in Environmental Services). But in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, a man employed as the ordained city wizard was let go after 23 years of toil and trouble. In this week’s podcast, we address the vital topic of unemployed wizards. We start by discussing if there might be more value in employi...

Irritability, sleeplessness, muscle tension and fatigue are all potentially caused by too much noise. Was Schopenhauer right when he called noise the "most impertinent of interruptions"? This week, we discuss the issue of noise pollution... ...as quietly as we can. The European Environment Agency estimates there are 10,000 premature deaths from noise exposure each year. So why are our cities noisi...

How often do you use the interrobang, asterism or SarcMark? Do you ever find yourself scrolling to find the perfect emoji? Or perhaps you might feel frustrated by the overuse of punctuation?!? In this week’s podcast, we discuss new punctuation. In a world awash with corporate-speak and scare quotes, what should we add or remove from conventional punctuation and how could it be optimised? We consid...

With the UK's terrorism threat level being raised from substantial to SEVERE, following the 14 November incident in Liverpool, we are revisiting our podcast with Jerry Smith from CHC Global. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-terrorism-threat-level-raised-to-severe ---- Ever wondered how we measure the amount of terrorism? We talk to Jerry Smith from CHC Global, who explains how the Global Terr...

Do you prefer Rembrandt or Rothko? The Vatican or The Shard? A Georgian terrace or a 1960s housing estate? Ever wondered why we stopped building beautiful old buildings and how architectural modernism came to dominate our skylines? This week we discuss the theory of the Tartarian civilization. It claims that our most ornate buildings are the work of a lost civilization called the Tartarian Empire...

With Remembrance Day occurring next week, it seems only fitting to re-release a podcast we recorded in 2018. In this podcast, we discuss Remembrance Day, what it means, why we commemorate, and how its purpose has changed over the decades. Remembrance Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website alephinsights.com or to get in touch about...

You don’t see any job listings for archers, spinners or falconers on LinkedIn these days, yet these trades were once thriving professions performed by ordinary people. Many of these jobs only survive through historical reenactment at fairs and festivals, which invites the question: in hundreds of years from now, which jobs of today will be regarded as cultural heritage for future reenactors? This...

Feed the cat, take the bins out, listen to this podcast. From the timeless paper and pen to the more recent digital calendar or kanban board, to-do lists - whatever their form - are an attempt to remove chaos and inertia from our lives. But do they work? In this week’s podcast, we discuss the efficacy of to-do lists. We try to ascertain whether there is an optimal number of things that should go o...

We take for granted the speed, reliability and ubiquity of today's internet, but it wasn't ever thus. Do you remember AltaVista, the ZX Spectrum or the iconic tones of a dialup modem? What about the absurdly long wait times to download an image or to log in to an internet chat room? We indulge our nostalgia to gain insights into the evolution of one of humankind's most important inventions. In thi...

Why do some small things give us so much pleasure? Tidying up the desk, putting on new socks or changing the washing-up sponge, all seemingly insignificant and yet capable of providing us with an immense sense of joy and satisfaction. In this week’s podcast, we discuss pleasure. We ask why we routinely undervalue the things from which we derive pleasure, if we spend too much money on big things an...

Greatness is a tricky subject: it is difficult to pin down yet we know it when we see it. In this week’s podcast, we mark the passing of technology pioneer and Aleph Insights hero Sir Clive Sinclair by discussing what makes greatness. We discuss objectivity versus subjectivity: can we simply call someone great or is it a title for which unspoken, yet consistent criteria exist? We also look at whet...

Humans have been on the move since time immemorial. But with the fabled age of discovery well and truly over are there still geographical mysteries left to uncover? Is there an innate human capacity for exploration and what drives our desire to venture into uncharted territory? In this week’s podcast, we discuss discovery. Is human exploration a metaphysical quest in search of the unknown or is it...

Does being the first to market give you a competitive edge? Is first-mover advantage still the harbinger of success that economic theory suggests? When does being the first mean you might end up finishing last? In this week’s podcast we discuss first-mover advantage. Now that Amazon have suspended their drone delivery service, will it be easier for others to succeed? We present some of the most si...

Why is it that public spaces, like petrol stations, shopping malls and airports, are depressing and boring? These spaces are extremely useful and functional, but why do they seem to lack any real architectural flair or soul? This podcast discusses the trade-off between the utility of a building and aesthetics. We examine what factors should influence the design of a building (e.g cost of maintenan...

Some fashions come and go quickly, but others move in slower cycles (e.g. the bowler hat). What drives the rate at which given fashions shift, and most importantly, what does this mean for the future of facial hair? In this podcast, we delve into enduring fashions and try to understand how their cultural context, evolving meaning and basic function might contribute to their longevity. We examine t...