Human life is complex. No single path explains how we become the individuals we are and the societies we inhabit. The physicist Albert Einstein reportedly said, “It is easier to split an atom than to remove a prejudice.”

This is the difference between complicated and complex. Splitting an atom is complicated (with predictable outcomes). Changing social attitudes is complex (with unpredictable outcomes).

Life’s complexity can be viewed as a multidimensional puzzle with dynamically changing pieces—the face of one day’s puzzle can differ entirely from the next.

The Puzzle I module offers a framework for unpuzzling these complexities. Through brief essays on topics relevant to news headlines, I delve deep into the science of human nature to identify factors shaping personal and social events.

This framework will provide a foundation for new insights into challenging issues related to the decline of liberal democracy and the shift toward illiberal populism. Consider Puzzle I as an introduction to Puzzles II-VI.