Guest Thinkers — January 26, 2011

Sorry, Kids, You Can’t Get High on Bath Salts

Some lessons in media literacy are more painful than others.

Listen up, kids. Despite what you read in the papers, you cannot get high on bath salts or plant food. “Bath salts” and “plant food” are just euphemisms that internet head shops use to sell real drugs. These amphetamine-like designer chemicals, variously known as mephedrone, Meow, M-Cat, are are not ingredients in common household items. So don’t blow you allowance at the Body Shop or the garden center, okay?

[Photo credit: -pebe-, Creative Commons.]

An edited image of elmo peeking out from a trash can, positioned among scattered multiple cartoon-like chat bubbles expressing humorous thoughts.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: “Is there anything wrong with trauma dumping?”

When does "oversharing" become an issue?

Bald man in casual attire sitting on a stool with a strategic diagram background in yellow.

Leadership

Adam Grant on how to identify and develop high-potential leaders

The ability to toggle between abstract and concrete thinking is a key differentiator of high-potential leaders.

A split image with a close-up of a blue eye on the left, and a classical painting of a woman resting her head on her arm on a sofa on the right.

Business

For true success we need to be more philosophical about “good” and “bad” failure

Bob Dylan gave us the paradoxical gem "there's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all" — he had a point.

Starts With A Bang

The idea that matter is mostly empty space is mostly wrong

Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?

Strange Maps

America’s news deserts are growing

Most counties in the U.S. have only one local newspaper, often one that publishes weekly instead of daily.

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