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Against AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the world. This sentiment has been echoed across practically every field, often with positive connotations. AI, however, is exemplifying dystopia. Here is a whistle-stop tour as to some of the reasons how. 1. Environmental Impact Could you pour a full water bottle down the drain with an unscathed conscience? Would you use ChatGPT to answer your queries, do your assignments, or simply search the web? These two questions necessitate the same answer, given that AI has been found to gulp up half a litre of water (16 ounces) for every five prompts. As of…
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What Does Trump’s Election Mean for the Future of Book Bans?
The re-election of Donald Trump signals a new, dark era for America, and the future of its democracy. The most powerful country in the world is now set to be led by a convicted criminal, who is seeking to establish a cult of personality, having campaigned on a slew of propagandic disinformation, and who has publically bragged that “four more years” of his presidency and “you won’t have to vote any more.” This is a case study in the potential rise of an authoritarian leader. Hence, many have raised concerns on what another Trump term will mean for censorship…
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Is Women’s History Necessarily Feminist?
1,600 words (Adapted from ‘highly commended’ submission in the Minds Underground’s 2024 essay competition.) Feminism is an extremely versatile socio political movement, and as such carries with it a variety of definitions. The categorisation that “feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities, … respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge … and empower[ment]” (International Women’s Development Agency, 2018) is herein taken to represent ‘feminism’. Where, then, does the notion of ‘women’s history’ interact with this? Firstly, we must consider what the primary focus of women’s history should be; next come the questions of whether women’s history is…
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From Malpractice To Weaponisation: A Scientific History
4,000 words (Taken from a guest article written for a school-published science magazine.) For the people 2.3 billion people living in twenty-first century democracies, science is oft-regarded as an objective discipline, based upon the rigorous pursuit of truth and evidenced observations. But if you took the perspective of a twin during the Holocaust, suffering at the hands of Josef Mengele, or of a Soviet citizen, battling famine as a consequence of mandatory Lysenkoist techniques – this trust in science is in actuality not a universal privilege. Holocaustic Human Experimentation One of history’s most known, and most hated, Adolf Hitler…
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Queer was always here: the existence and importance of LGBTQ+ history
The term ‘transgender’ may not have been coined until the 1960s, but that doesn’t mean that people we’d now deem trans haven’t existed continuously throughout history. From Roman Emperor Elagabalus (204-222), to French soldier and diplomat Chevalier d’Eon (1728-1810): queer was always here.
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The ‘Developing Country’ Trap: How Europe Ruined Africa’s Economy
Of Worldometers’ list of the world’s countries by GDP, 64% of the lower quartile are in Africa. 52 out of 54 countries in Africa have been colonised by European powers; with the worst offenders being Britain and France, followed by Spain, Portugal and Belgium. This is not a coincidence, not even mere correlation, this is causation.