The mere presence of an image next to a statement makes it more likely that people will believe the statement. It’s a psychological fact that demonstrates the malleability of our beliefs.
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How is it that such a persistent stereotype — which is certainly not unique to Jersey Shore– has been reproduced for so long, and continues to resonate in today’s culture?
Nathan Harden writes with his characteristic techno-confidence that most higher education will be online soon enough. That means that most non-elite private colleges and many mediocre public institutions will soon […]
It’s been a difficult year for economists, who’ve had to endure a combination of criticism when they apparently had the wrong ideas and being ignored when perhaps they had the right ones.
In his recent post, fellow Big Think blogger Adam Lee blames the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict on competing religious fundamentalisms. The recent renewal of fighting on the Gaza border, he writes, […]
This is a lengthy post but I want to do justice to Adam Lee, Big Think and the arguments. These are my initial thoughts. Fellow Big Think blogger and friend, […]
There are a lot of nightmare scenarios when it comes to the Middle East. Some of these are already visible on the horizon as the New York Times outlines in […]
So the best reason to read a “great book” is that you might learn a lot from it about who you are and what you’re supposed to do. In that […]
Researchers at Ohio State University say that the more educated you are, the more likely it is that you are piling up extra debt, and not just when it comes to student loans. This belies the notion that uneducated/undereducated people bear blame for the financial crisis.
You know that supposed ‘debate’ about climate change? It sure isn’t about the science. A review by Dr. James Powell , a former member of the National Science Board (under […]
It turns out that Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” gaffe in October wasn’t a gaffe at all: it was, as some observed at the time, a reflection of how the Republican […]
How long does it take to know that you’ve found The One—or someone who you might want to see for a second date? I found the answer to this and […]
A new report out from the Pew Research Center says that people under the age of 30 are more likely to read and are more likely to use their public library.
Is a college education fundamentally an expensive insurance product that is purchased to avoid falling through the cracks in our society? If so, what can take its place?
A few weeks ago, I received a few emails and Tweets asking my opinion of Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist and intelligence researcher from the London School of Economics, joining […]
The president’s decisive 60+% electoral college victory can be contrasted, of course, with his very narrow popular vote margin. Our Constitution has the effect of magnifying his win, giving it […]
The American cupcake craze has come to savory foods. Dishes like pizza and lasagna are being served in dessert tins, perhaps because we have an evolutionary attraction to cute things.
Mark 2012 down as the year that we finally saw traditional political polls for what they are – a form of voodoo black magic mixed with Machiavellian pseudoscience. With only 10 […]
Ali Wyne interviews Graham Allison, the author of Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, a book that swiftly and significantly altered our understanding of how policy decisions are executed.
The most basic definition of collective intelligence is to get group of people to do something collectively that seems intelligent. A profound definition is the creation a global brain.
On Sunday at 7pm EST PBS Nova is airing a special on the science of mega-storm Sandy. For readers who work and teach at universities, I encourage you to watch the […]
So Romney is taking a big and deserved hit for his stupid and arrogant remark that 47% of Americans won’t vote for him because they don’t pay income taxes and, […]
So says an outstanding young conservative public intellectual—Helen Rittelmeyer. It’s true enough that conservatives still do accuse the Democrats—or, more precisely, the liberals—of being moral relativists. Rittelmeyer quotes Paul Ryan […]
Most short lists of greatest living artists will have names such as David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, (BigThink.com’s own) Ai Weiwei, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, or Jeff Koons. But who would […]
When voters are asked to explain the policy positions they claim to support, the complexity of the issues naturally makes them soften of their positions, improving political discourse.
It has recently occurred to me that I’m Martian. My friends have taken to smiling and nodding when I talk about this. Some of them have been persuaded. Some of […]
In his blog post yesterday, Big Think’s own Adam Lee called into question the editorial standard that would have us introduce evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa as our newest blogger. Kanazawa […]
So I’ve gotten a lot (meaning several) emails complaining that I haven’t gotten around to keeping my promise of talking about Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind. Well, sorry. […]
Focusing on what the materials have to teach us is a staple of design thinking, and a powerful mindset for anyone seeking to create anything with structural integrity.
The Science Channel will re-run all five seasons of the sci-fi cult drama Fringe beginning tonight at 8pm. The two-hour pilot will air along with the first episode, followed by daylong […]