BY AHMED EL-HADY Have you ever thought what is happening in our brains when we wander in the world around us? How do we perceive “reality”? How can we interact […]
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Specific to climate change and energy related activities, environmental groups outspent conservative groups and their industry association allies $394 million to $259 million.
Around the world, it’s becoming easier than ever to sell your human capital – the sum total of your knowledge, experiences and talents – to the highest bidder. Using new […]
My last post, following the lead of David Brooks and Rod Dreher, was about giving the argument for “communitarian conservatism” in the context of Dreher’s decision to move back to […]
One virtue BIG THINK has not been big on is COURAGE. That might be a problem. According Aristotle, courage is not only the first of the virtues, but all the […]
Over-reliance on foreign aid as opposed to tax revenue, says Sophal Ear, a leading expert on post-crisis economies, leads to corruption.
Our power to manipulate our brains and genes is increasing dramatically – and it raises serious ethical questions.
Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year, reports the Associated Press. At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say […]
Metaphor is extremely powerful: By washing, people can remove a sense of immorality, unlucky feelings or doubt about a decision, say University of Michigan psychologists.
I’m not a big science fiction reader, but I admire how the genre has just enough of a toehold in reality that it feels plausibly weird. It stakes out the […]
I debated the excellent libertarian author Ronald Bailey over this question at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. Ron has already responded to me here. Before I respond to him, I thought […]
Today, I don’t want to write about Kahneman’s work or his invaluable contribution to the study of decision making and the workings of the human mind, but rather, about something much more general: his approach to research.
Editor’s Note: After a holiday that’s all about gratitude, it seemed appropriate to post this. Please welcome Jessa Jackson as she tells the story of how she went from Mormonism […]
“I don’t have students,” Man Ray allegedly told Lee Miller when she finally tracked the Surrealist down in a Parisian bar after he eluded her visit to his front door […]
Just a few weeks after September 11, 2001, the owner of a vacant storefront on Prince Street in Soho taped a picture of the lost World Trade Center in the […]
Researchers have developed the first memory prosthetic device—a neural implant that, in rats, restored lost brain function and improved short-term memory retention.
Today’s lesson from Sherlock Holmes deals with learning to cull and to cultivate knowledge in such a way that your decision process will be optimized for the question at hand, […]
Carl Scott is probably the blogworld’s leading expert on the content of rock music (both words and music). He calls that content, once in a while, its ideological dimension. Carl both is […]
So here’s some more on THE HELP. My first post dealt with the film’s display of the middle-class racist tyranny, mainly of women, in Jackson, Mississippi in1963. My opinion is […]
BY JASON SILVA “Limited in his nature, infinite in his desire, man is a fallen god who remembers heaven.” –Alphonse de Lamartine, French romantic poet. PART I: DREAMING WITH […]
Which would you rather have: an apple or a Kit-Kat bar? It’s not an easy question. The answer depends on many factors, including how hungry you are, how much you […]
Sam Tanenhaus interviewed Harold Bloom for The New York Times; the video is here. It’s a very cool, very short, interview. It will be historic, too—not only for capturing Bloom […]
On average, a brain’s short term memory can only hold between five and seven pieces of information at a time. Can steps be taken to expand the capacity of our memory—and our brains generally?
Public opinion about climate change, observes the New York Times’ Andrew Revkin, can be compared to “waves in a shallow pan,” easily tipped with “a lot of sloshing but not […]
Now that summer’s here and the time is right to turn to reruns of various kinds, I’m trying to spend the ample time I have as a tenured professor watching […]
When French-American artist Louise Bourgeois passed away in May 2010, most remembered her as the “Spider Woman” thanks to her Maman series—giant metal spiders scattered all over the world in […]
So you may have noticed I haven’t posted on any movies lately. That’s because I haven’t seen any I liked or hated enough to talk about. I did just see […]
English Lessons is a new blog celebrating writing we love, and illuminating why we love it—and what we can learn from it. Poetry, fiction, editorials; Presidential speeches, classic texts, popular […]
Two New York City police officers have been acquitted of raping a woman in her apartment while they were on duty in 2008. In the words of New York lawyer […]
Everybody, meet Kergolus. This little furry thing is a geo-mascot, shaped like the territory it symbolises. Top marks if you’re able to guess which territory that is, either by the […]