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John Duncan

@john-duncan.bsky.social

232 followers 144 following 32 posts

Cognitive neuroscientist - retired and launching a new career as (so far failed) fiction author. But you can try my writing with the popular science book The Animal and the Thinker

Posts Replies Media

John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Paperback of my book out today. Not such a good paperweight as hardback, but otherwise nicer. www.penguin.co.uk/books/461766...

penguin.co.uk

The Animal and the Thinker

Why are we so often in conflict—arguing with ourselves and with others, uncertain over who we are what we need from our lives? In The Animal and the Idea, the world-leading, pioneering neuroscientist...

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Latest post on Animal and Thinker blog Why I love feminism... partly... johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com/p/culture-wa...

johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com

Culture Wars – Part 4. Two kinds of feminism

(This blog is an add-on to my book The Animal and the Thinker.

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

New post on my blog - what should happen to teen rapists? johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com/p/culture-wa...

johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com

Culture Wars – Part 3. What should happen to teenage rapists?

(This blog is an add-on to my book The Animal and the Thinker.

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

New post on my Animal and Thinker blog: johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com/p/culture-wa... The ideal of democracy and the reality of our minds...

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

New post on the blog: johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com/p/why-we-try Smashing computers, why I've come to love bad reviews, how cute God would think we were

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

It is in the dialogue of instinct and reason that we find answers to life’s biggest questions.

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

The book lays out the principles, strengths and weaknesses of instinct and reason. Not rivals, each brings something essential to the mind. Instinct struggles with modern civilisation - but brings value and meaning. Reason brings an infinity of new ideas - but alone is helpless.

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

For thousands of years, writers, thinkers and philosophers have seen life as a battle between the guiding power of reason and a disruptive animal within. Fierce culture wars and endless newsfeeds turn up the tension. How can we overcome our uncertainties and know the many sides of ourselves?

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Why are we so often in conflict — arguing with ourselves and each other over who we are and what we want?

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Just finished the back cover text for the paperback of The Animal and the Thinker. It will need splitting into 4 posts:

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com First four posts – operating principles; “the other”; two things to teach schoolchildren.

johnduncananimalandthinker.substack.com

The Animal and the Thinker blog | John Duncan | Substack

This blog is an add-on to my book The Animal and the Thinker, discussing how the principles of instinct and reason illuminate the big questions of our lives. The principles are in the first two posts ...

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John Duncan @john-duncan.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Last year my book The Animal and the Thinker came out. Basic idea – how the operating principles of instinct and reason together answer big human questions. Right and wrong. Culture wars. Family and work. The meaning of life. That sort of thing. Now as an add-on I’m starting a blog…

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