Paul Ekman studies “the lies that society cares about catching and generally disapproves of.” After all, we lie most often to avoid punishment for breaking a rule.
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We have a blind spot when it comes to predicting our own moral and ethical behavior, but new research suggests we are better, not worse, when part of a crowd.
This one comes courtesy of a dear friend, who monitors the superfluous, hyper-genderizing of merchandise. At just the moment when gender roles for many of us have never been more […]
If computers are to interact with humans as other humans do, they will have to learn to be funny, or at least think they are funny. Computer scientists are teaching machines to tell jokes.
Data gathered for a new study suggests that some parents’ beliefs on children and alcohol exposure are dangerously misguided.
Guest post from Cole Haymond. Coming off an election year, we were able to bear witness to one of the most effective, efficient and successful online campaigns in our nation’s […]
Bill Nye has made national news with his statements on creationism versus evolution on Big Think. The big idea behind it: if you reject science, you won’t succeed, and we as a society won’t succeed to the fullest extent.
Oh, the swell of hope. The hope that the bipartisanship so critical to progress might somehow arise from the post-election ashes of a rancorous and divisive national election. The […]
Brain imaging studies show that every time we learn a new task, we’re changing our brain by expanding our neural network.
The barrier for autistic people is not about intelligence but the ability to communicate. Technology has opened that door today and helped reframe our perception.
“When I was young and bold and strong, O, right was right and wrong was wrong! My plume on high, my flag unfurled, I rode away to right the world. […]
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
This past weekend, I was in Springfield, Missouri for Skepticon V (“the fifth most annual Skepticon yet”). I had such a fantastic time at Skepticon IV in 2011, it was […]
Two major papers have recently been published that may or may not surprise you. Please excuse the sarcy title, in all seriousness these are fantastic papers that provide evidence for […]
What is this thing called love? I took my own stab at understanding the neurobiological circuits underlying love and sex with my own book, DIRTY MINDS: HOW OUR BRAINS INFLUENCE […]
So BIG THINK’S book of the month—Mortalilty by Christopher Hitchens—is a moving account of a singularly personal effort to die as a free man. Hitchens wanted to see death as it […]
The Brooklyn Book Festival took place last weekend, and I still can’t stop thinking about Mary Higgins Clark. She’s a GILF, a grandmother I’d like to “Friend,” and leave inside […]
If you look east from most places in Seattle, you can see majestic Mt. Rainier looming tall and snow covered 80 miles to the west. Mt. Rainier is not […]
Here are the most sensible thoughts about the election that have come to my attention: 1. Romney has had considerable momentum since the first debate. It’s come to an end, not […]
This past Friday I headed down to the Baltimore Book Festival, an annual three-day street fair full of readings, panels, small press exhibitions, and overstuffed bookshelves on city lawns. It […]
As Obama and Romney attack each other for waging “class warfare,” a new study from the Public Religion Research Institute shows how little anyone really knows about the largest block […]
Daniel Kahneman makes an important point, one rarely addressed so directly in academic circles – that the ego-clashes we tend to excuse among high-achievers are dangerously counterproductive when it comes to advancing human knowledge. He proposes adversarial collaboration as one alternative.
One argument against liberal education is that it’s irrelevant. That objection is typically raised by people engaged in careers in business and allied techno-fields. Ask a typical business leader—especially one […]
The votes are in: Mitt Romney won Wednesday night’s debate. A CBS poll showed 46 percent of uncommitted voters pegging Romney as the winner, versus 22 percent choosing Obama. Even the analysts at […]
We’re simply not good at apologizing. It’s awkward at best, says Alain de Botton, and at its worst an apology could lead to “an escalation in anger.” That is why atonement is effective, as a ritual of mutual apologies.
Dear England, The British press has had its knickers in a twist over Americans appropriating Britishisms for some time, whingeing about it in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The […]
With Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, the 2012 election is shaping up to be a battle over whether and how the federal government should tackle the […]
What’s the Big Idea? Why do we so often form opinions about things that fly in the face of the evidence? We do this all the time — whether it […]
The shape of the glass you’re drinking from may affect how fast you’re drinking, says a new study from a UK university looking for an answer to the problem of binging.
It’s not all unicorns and rainbows in Silicon Valley these days. Already, voices are starting to grumble that it is The End of the Beginning for Silicon Valley, that Startups Are Boring, […]