iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I can now officially confirm that my book ‘Happiness for Mortals’ is coming out with Cambridge University Press next year. Just the index to complete! 🥲

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The first review of my 'Identity in Science Fiction' collection has appeared (link goes to pdf). Hopefully more will come www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/...

um.edu.mt

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My old friend Ben Smart gave his inaugural lecture on 'health as a property of complex systems'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv1i... It's based on his recent book on the philosophy of public health. Well worth checking out! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

link.springer.com

The Philosophy of Public Health

This book, inspired by health policymaking during the Covid-19 pandemic, proposes an innovative capacities-based approach to understanding public health

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I sometimes feel like a philosophy missionary. I am out in the hinterlands, preaching to the heathens sceptical of the value of philosophy, fighting for every soul. While those back at the citadel have the luxury of their refined debates, I am forced to adapt to local customs.

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

After watching the Odyssey my son pointed out that Agamemnon spends most of the time aura farming. Both true and a warning from gen Z.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Joshua Knobe and others are running a philosophical intuitions survey. They are particularly looking for philosopher participants. If you've got a spare 5 minutes check it out. moralsciencelab.com/intuitions/

moralsciencelab.com

intuitions-study | moral science lab

A study of philosophical intuitions

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Just a reminder that I'm running the thought experiment competition again, open to any high school student in Australia. If you have any relevant contacts, I'd really appreciate it if you could forward them the link to the competition website. Deadline is July 15th. sites.google.com/view/thought...

sites.google.com

Flinders Thought Experiment Competition

Students are invited to submit their ideas to the Flinders Thought Experiment Competition! Competition Deadline: 15th July, 2026 at 6pm. Eligibility: Open to all students attending a high school i...

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

A very nice interview with Ursula Le Guin about The Lathe of Heaven- I think from the year 2000 www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1bZ...

Bill Moyers interview with Ursula K. LeGuin about "Lathe of Heaven"

YouTube video by kliljedahl

Niccolo Negro @niccolonegro.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Reposted by Tom Cochrane

Please join us for this fantastic double-book symposium on @hohwy.bsky.social's and @kathrynnave.eurosky.social's books. Register here for the link: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Today I learned the word 'eleutheromania'. It's a passionate desire for freedom and for casting off constraints.

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Reposted by Tom Cochrane

As part of the class I'm currently teaching at Flinders on happiness, I recorded a lecture on my view that happiness is a pattern of successful love. If you're interested, please do check it out. youtu.be/YLHCQOx6BvI @flindersuniversity.bsky.social #happiness #well-being #philosophy

youtu.be

On the connection between love and happiness.

YouTube video by tom cochrane

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

youtu.be

On the connection between love and happiness.

YouTube video by tom cochrane

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

If I could travel back in time I'd most like to meet David Hume. Not to talk about philosophy. Just to beat him at billiards.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Pogona vitticeps is not impressed with your suggestion

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Here's the winner of the Flinders thought experiment competition 2025: 'Substitutia syndrome' by Ran Zhou www.youtube.com/watch?v=acp7...

Flinders Thought Experiment Competition 2025

YouTube video by tom cochrane

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

We have a statue of Aristotle in the middle of our campus at Flinders, so today I gave a lecture on Aristotle in front of it- taping up a helpful motivational quote for the students.

Me in front of the statue of Aristotle. The quotation reads: “Now obviously youths are not to be instructed with a view to their amusement, for learning is no amusement, but is accompanied with pain” (Politics, VIII, section 5).

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Reposted by Tom Cochrane

Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Just heard the very sad news that my former teacher and colleague Malcolm Budd has died. One of the leading philosophers of art, music and natural beauty of our time.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

I think the second quarter of the 21st century will be much better than the first. I think this post will age well. 👍😀👍

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

John Varley has sadly died. He was one of the great science fiction authors of the last 50 years. I strongly recommend his collection 'The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short fiction' which intersperses the stories with nice autobiographical reflections www.amazon.com/John-Varley-...

amazon.com

The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction

Ace hardback with dust jacket, Exclusively published by and for the Science Fiction Book Club, Oct. 2004, SFBC #1173161, 528 pages. 8vo (8.5" x 5.75") First hardcover edition, reprint of trade paper o...

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Watching Pluribus? Want to talk about it? Try this 👇

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Preaching to the choir here, but it’s worth getting all the arguments lined up.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

I had many interesting conversations at the #ASPP2025 held at Monash University. I gave a talk on happiness and hedonic adaptation and generally tried to promote the control theoretic worldview.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Philosophers disagree more than academics in other fields? False! Or if anything, a product of gerrymandering. Philosophy is where you've put all of *your* disagreements about the basic ideas in your fields. We're the ones trying to resolve them.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

unbelievable. Get your fucking tendrils out of my emails!

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Bryan Frances just dropped one helluva good paper on philpapers (forthcoming in Philosophical Studies). It lists 200 elementary facts from epistemology and on that basis draws interesting conclusions about the nature and progress of philosophy philarchive.org/rec/FRAPAF-2

philarchive.org

Bryan Frances, Philosophy as Fact-Based Discipline: 200 Philosophical Facts - PhilArchive

I list 200 straightforward facts directly about philosophical matters that virtually all philosophers know and non-philosophers don’t know. We have seriously underestimated the straightforward epistem...

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

May your emails be read by unintended recipients. - ancient Chinese curse

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Adelaide folks- I'm having a book launch for my new book 'Identity in Science Fiction' at Dymocks on Wednesday 19th Nov (6.30pm). Dymocks is trying to get everything sorted- so if you're interested please register as soon as possible! I'd love to see you all there. www.dymocks.com.au/events/detai...

dymocks.com.au

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Does any language have a word for wanting to be warm? I.e. a word like 'hunger' or 'thirst' but for temperature?

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

My book 'Identity in Science Fiction' is now available to buy in the UK and USA. You can get it from places like amazon, but if you order direct from Bloomsbury, you can get a 20% discount with the code: GLR BD8 #scifi www.amazon.com/Identity-Sci...

amazon.com

Identity in Science Fiction: Brain Transplants and Other Misadventures

Identity in Science Fiction: Brain Transplants and Other Misadventures [Cochrane, Tom] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Identity in Science Fiction: Brain Transplants and Other Misadventures

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I was interviewed by Imi Lo for the Intense Mind podcast: youtu.be/zlcJK3pgIG8 The basic topic was death but we ranged widely over issues of happiness, aesthetic value, love, ocd and Stoicism. You can also find it through eggshelltherapy.com/podcast-blog... and the usual podcast players.

eggshelltherapy.com

Death Anxiety and the Will to Live: Finding Beauty as a Mortal Being- Tom Cochrane, Imi Lo - Eggshell Therapy and Coaching

I spoke with philosopher Tom Cochrane to explore death anxiety, happiness, and how we cope when existential dread surfaces. Tom has been developing a comprehensive philosophy for over 20 years, addres...

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

A journal rejection is a kick in the balls, but the follow up 'support email' from the publisher recommending their other (shitter) journals really takes a cheese grater to them.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Ted Chiang: "In the here and now, a philosophical question might be strictly theoretical, but in the world of a science fiction story, it could have practical consequences. That means there could be inhabitants of that world for whom the answer to that question is hugely important."

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

I'm a co-author on a paper led by Ange Weinrabe, who is a recent PhD from Sydney Uni. It's mostly about a program that she's run for many years with collaborators in Pakistan to improve youth mental health through arts interventions. www.frontiersin.org/journals/edu...

frontiersin.org

Frontiers | Reframing culture in youth mental health: introducing a neurocultural framework through participatory arts and emotional scaffolding

IntroductionYoung people are experiencing an escalating global mental health crisis, intensified by the effects of COVID-19, cultural disconnection, and the ...

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Jason Chen interviewed me for his podcast series The Ethical Frontier. We began by discussing a recent paper of mine on the fear of death, and branched out from there. Fascinating stuff! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjg...

The Fear of Death | Tom Cochrane | Ep. 74

YouTube video by Jason Chen

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

I feel bad for my friends at Adelaide University. Philosophy has been reduced to 8 generic topics that every student must now take. And because it's all laid down as recorded lectures, topics will be harder to update in the future to reflect new ideas or relevant issues.

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

quote-skeeting because this is an issue I've worked on a lot. Moods/emotions can be distinguished in a way that is in retrospect obvious. It comes down to the fact that most emotional episodes involve both a cognitive appraisal and a pattern of bodily responses... 1/6

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

How literally can we take the idea that we have a psychological immune system and that depression is a dysfunction of it?

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Please help me out! Best examples in film where the music moves from non-diagetic to diagetic or vice versa? Youtube clips if possible 🙏 Here's one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfJc...

The Truman Show (6/9) Movie CLIP - Father Son Reunion (1998) HD

YouTube video by Movieclips

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

A proposed measure for happiness: Amount of time either 1) experiencing the final value of things or .5) instrumentally nurturing things, multiplied by how much one loves/endorses them, minus the time spent in conflict with one’s attachment to things multiplied by how much one loves/endorses them.

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

I did not expect a performance of Bach's Air to be such a blatant thirst trap. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvgl...

HAUSER - Air on the G String (J. S. Bach)

YouTube video by HAUSER

Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Where can you find Pope Leo XIV next to Bruce Lee? On this poster I made of famous people who studied philosophy! (I hear Leo XIV is also wicked on the nun-chucks) #philosophy #philsky

Poster showing 72 famous people who studied philosophy at university.

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

@lindsaybrainard.bsky.social‬ has written a beautiful short paper about the harms to a student who uses AI for a creative assignment. Since it is around 4000 words however, I fear that no student considering cheating will read it. philpapers.org/rec/BRASAF-4

philpapers.org

Lindsay Brainard, Step Away from the Chatbot: a Letter to a Student about AI and Creativity - PhilPapers

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Tom Cochrane @doctorcochrane.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

If you know an Australian teenager, please encourage them to enter the Flinders Thought Experiment Competition. All they need is a short description up to 300 words. Deadline is 7th July. The winning entry will be animated! For details and last years winner see: www.flinders.edu.au/study/humani...

flinders.edu.au

Thought Experiment Competition - Flinders University - Flinders University