Is thinking more important than doing? 2022 was a year of great ideas, from philosophies which grapple with modern morality to challenges to some of the most towering scientific consensuses of our time.
Review of the year: the ideas that shaped us
Is thinking more important than doing? 2022 was a year of great ideas, from philosophies which grapple with modern morality to challenges to some of the most towering scientific consensuses of our time.
"The unexamined life is not worth living," postulatedSuggested or hypothesised. SocratesConsidered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason.. From the dawn of time, humanity's main enterprise has been in developing ideas, and 2022 was no exception.
Modern Matrix. 2022 has been the year of virtual realityA 3D world that someone can interact with inside of a computer. . We are closer than ever to realistic submersion in the virtual world. That is, if we are not already in one. This year, philosopher David Chalmers wrote a book which argues that if creating a perfect simulationA model representing a situation. is possible, somebody in the universe has probably already done it, and we are probably already living in it.1
Giving (far) forward. Billionaires Jeff Bezos, Changpeng Zhao and Yvon Chouinard have all pledged almost their entire fortunes to the world at large this year. Many of the ultra-rich are supporters of a controversial theory called effective altruism. This year, philosopher William MacAskill published its first major manifesto, What We Owe the Future. According to the book, our moral duty to the unborn future human race is greater than to current, local causes - so, in other words, stop giving money to local animal shelters or homeless charities and start investing it in a long-term solution to climate changeLong-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change..
Celebrating dying. 2022 marked the end of the life of Shatzi Weisberger, a representative of the "positive death movement", which aims to dispel our silent fear around death. The movement argues that the Western world's fear of death is a result of tabooForbidden due to social rules of behaviour., and that to live life without being scared of dying we need to talk openly about it.2 Weisberger invited journalists and thinkers to witness the end of her life, bringing the idea that we should find beauty in death at the fore of 2022's big ideas.
Dark matter. This year, a group of scientists challenged a well-accepted theory about "dark matterA hypothetical substance that can not be detected by scientific instruments. Its existence is inferred from evidence that the universe consists of more mass than we can perceive." and gravity. Researchers previously claimed that situations where Newton's theory of gravity does not hold in the universe, for example in disc galaxies, could be explained by dark matter providing gravitational pull.3 In 2022, scientists argued that dark matter may not exist at all, and that the phenomenon is better explained by an alternative theory of gravity theorised back in 1982.
<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="question"><strong>Is thinking more important than doing?</strong></h5>
Yes: History will remember the thinkers who drove our world forward, not the individual actions we choose. We represent and commemorate our time through ideas.
No: Thinking too hard inhibitsStops. action, which is one of our main problems today. We spend so much time arguing about how to deal with problems that we never get around to actually solving them.
Or... Ideas power action and action powers ideas. It is impossible to separate these two things: they are the oppositional forces which drive the world forwards.
Postulated - Suggested or hypothesised.
Socrates - Considered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason.
Virtual reality - A 3D world that someone can interact with inside of a computer.
Simulation - A model representing a situation.
Climate change - Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change.
Taboo - Forbidden due to social rules of behaviour.
Dark matter - A hypothetical substance that can not be detected by scientific instruments. Its existence is inferred from evidence that the universe consists of more mass than we can perceive.
Inhibits - Stops.
Review of the year: the ideas that shaped us

Glossary
Postulated - Suggested or hypothesised.
Socrates - Considered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason.
Virtual reality - A 3D world that someone can interact with inside of a computer.
Simulation - A model representing a situation.
Climate change - Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change.
Taboo - Forbidden due to social rules of behaviour.
Dark matter - A hypothetical substance that can not be detected by scientific instruments. Its existence is inferred from evidence that the universe consists of more mass than we can perceive.
Inhibits - Stops.