The Human Journey is an educational project that highlights knowledge about the biological, cultural, and psychological evolution of the human race: Who are we, how did we get here, and what might we become?
Drawing on research and ideas from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, anthropology, archaeology, psychology, history, linguistics, philosophy and culture, the project seeks to bring together knowledge from across disciplines to better understand the evolution of the human mind and the challenges facing humanity today. Underlying all of our content is the belief that understanding our human journey can help us better navigate the modern world. While many of the problems we face today are human-made, we also possess the capacity to consciously shape a better future.
The Human Journey was inspired in part by the work and writing of late thinkers Dr. Robert Ornstein, who wrote about consciousness and the brain, and Idries Shah, who introduced Sufi ideas related to human psychology and development to the West. Their ideas about human consciousness and potentiality continue to inform the project’s perspective. Contributors do not need to write specifically about Ornstein or Shah, but be familiar with their works, and they should be sympathetic to the broad aims of the project and interested in exploring the questions that sit at its heart.
You can get a sense of the nature and spirit of the Human Journey project by familiarizing yourself with the website and also reading its introductory web page: Journey of the Human Mind.
The Human Journey website is a general interest, online resource and publication about the human condition. We’re neither a news website nor a science journal, though we sometimes draw on current affairs and scientific developments to inform our perspectives.
We are interested in articles that connect readers to the following themes as presented in these sections on the website:
Every article should contribute, in some way, to the wider conversation taking place across The Human Journey.
We currently commission two types of content:
Our blog provides a space for thoughtful, accessible short essays that explore aspects of human development and the human condition which relate and can link to the subjects we cover. Essays can be written in either the first or third person, should have a clear point of view, and explain why a topic matters for understanding humanity, rather than simply describing the topic itself. We encourage submissions to be written in a casual rather than academic tone, and can even be playful, humorous and/or anecdotal in an attempt to drive their message home.
Some examples of short essays we run:
The Illusion of Predictability in Economics
What AI Can’t and Shouldn’t Replace
Escaping the Either/Or Thinking Trap
“They Saw a Game”
Typical length: 1,200-1,600 words
We publish reviews of books related to the topics we explore on the website. These reviews are found in the Contributors’ section of the website’s Library. They are intended primarily to summarize and introduce readers to important ideas contained within each book, rather than to critique the style or success of the writing. We welcome reviews that help readers understand why the book matters and explain how it contributes to our understanding of humanity.
Typical length: 1,500-2,500 words
For both our blog and our book reviews, we are looking for writing that is engaging and accessible to a broad audience. Our readers are of all ages and backgrounds, so we encourage contributors to write for a curious and educated general audience, while assuming that readers have no prior specialist knowledge. Pieces should be clearly written, present a balanced perspective grounded in evidence, and relate firmly to the wider Human Journey themes. We don’t accept submissions that are overly academic or dense in style, or that simply present information that is of interest to the writer.
As The Human Journey is committed to accurate and well-sourced content, we ask contributors to provide bibliographic references for any books, studies or other sources mentioned. These should follow the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style and will appear in a separate list at the end of the article or review.
Commissioned articles are subject to editorial review and may be edited for clarity and consistency with The Human Journey’s house style before publication, and we work collaboratively with contributors to this end.
We encourage contributors to spend some time exploring the Human Journey website before submitting ideas. Send us a couple of paragraphs describing the proposed topic or book, the question or issue explored and why it matters. For blog essays, mention the point-of-view or angle you would take. As part of the pitch, include a few bio lines and links or attachments to previously published work, if available.
We’re particularly interested in articles that build upon or complement the existing content on the website, so where appropriate, contributors might want to identify existing Human Journey articles that their proposed piece would naturally link to or develop further.
You can email your pitches to [email protected]. We usually respond within about two weeks.
We currently offer:
We recognize that AI tools can be useful for research and preliminary exploration. However, all submissions should represent the contributor’s own thinking, analysis and writing. We do not accept and will not publish articles that we deem are wholly or substantially AI-generated.
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