Glossary

Creative incompetence is a deliberate, self-protective strategy where an employee intentionally exhibits minor, non-critical errors or eccentricities to avoid being promoted out of a role where they are highly competent, satisfied, and effective.

Simulacra are copies or representations of things that either had no original to begin with or no longer possess an authentic real-world referent, functioning as self-contained signs that generate their own meaning.

Hyperreality is an existential and semiotic condition in which the distinction between the real and the simulated dissolves, leaving individuals to navigate a world of representations that are experienced as more real, vivid, and authoritative than the physical reality they replace.

The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept stating that unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If a society extends absolute tolerance to all viewpoints, including those actively seeking to destroy tolerance itself, the tolerant will eventually be suppres

The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept stating that unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If a society extends absolute tolerance to all viewpoints, including those actively seeking to destroy tolerance itself, the tolerant will eventually be suppres

Militant democracy (German: Streitbare Demokratie) is a constitutional and political concept which holds that a democratic state must have the authority and legal mechanisms to defend its democratic order against those who seek to overthrow it using democratic means. It represents the inst

The Utility Monster is a philosophical thought experiment formulated by Robert Nozick in 1974 to critique utilitarian ethics. It describes a hypothetical being that converts resources into happiness or pleasure far more efficiently than ordinary people, demonstrating that a moral system fo

The Parity Principle is a philosophical heuristic stating that if an external resource performs a function that we would readily classify as cognitive if it occurred inside the head, then that resource should be considered a literal part of the cognitive system, regardless of its location.

The Five Aggregates (Skandhas in Sanskrit, Khandhas in Pali) are the five dynamic, interacting components that constitute human experience: form (rupa), sensation (vedana), perception (sanna), mental formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana). Buddhism uses this classification to d

Anatta is the Buddhist concept of non-self or the absence of a permanent, unchanging ego-entity. It is one of the Three Marks of Existence (Tilakkhana), alongside impermanence (anicca) and unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), serving as the metaphysical cornerstone of Buddhist liberation.