Happy International Day of You, women of the world. Unfortunately it remains internationally respectable to argue that science has shown that men are inherently better at math and scientific pursuits […]
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Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of all time, was born on this day in 1879 in the village of Ulm, located in the southwestern corner of the German Empire. Einstein […]
Surely the greatest scientific discoveries are the product of imaginative energy and curiosity no less intense or pure than that which animates Hamlet or King Lear. Still, the petty squabble between Reason and Imagination that began in the 17th century persists . . .
With bookstores vanishing, the Pulitzer committee skimping on Pulitzers, and the Amazon dragon twining its bright yellow coils around every publisher on Earth, the book industry finds itself in dire peril. But lo! What […]
Students at a small, liberal-arts college complained to Mitt Romney about borrowing money to pursue a college major that doesn’t lead to a job. He replied, sensibly, that some majors have […]
Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new piece in The Atlantic about how women cannot “have it all” has provoked a wave of commentary, but none that I have seen has mentioned the article’s […]
What’s the Big Idea? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson believes in the power of science — so much so that he gets hate mail for it. From children. As director of […]
The same unerring perversities of good old fashioned arithmetic that plagued the 2008 Democratic presidential primary have now afflicted the 2012 Republican presidential primary race. Mitt Romney was actually able […]
The dust has cleared from Super Tuesday, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a 243 delegate lead over Rick Santorum, who has the next highest delegate total. At this […]
What is the Big Idea? World Health Day is on April 7 and the theme this year is Aging and Health. The World Health Organization provided some key facts about […]
Diane Ravitch tells Big Think what really matters when it comes to learning, inside schools and out. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it’s not K-12 teachers who are most responsible.
By Peadar Coyle It is said that education is something people have strong opinions about. A growing literature has emerged around randomized evaluations of interventions, most notably Esther Duflo’s work on […]
Sigmund Freud postulated that dreaming is a reflection of the unleashed id; it represents one’s deep sexual fantasies and frustrations implanted during childhood. But what happens when we fall asleep […]
Noah Millman intervenes sensibly in the great Douthat–Sanchez debate about morality and religion: Okay, so humanists don’t have strong reasons for their faith in human rights. Do Christians have strong […]
If you took the three-question quiz I posted last week, chances are you answered some items incorrectly. Like some of my smart, accomplished friends and family members who took the […]
Dr, Michio Kaku: Sadly, the US government will no longer boldly go into space. Its up to private enterprise to now pick up the slack and it appears that is exactly what its doing.
New research published in a scientific journal which measures the psychological and behavioral effects of social media suggests that Facebook makes us happier and more creative individuals.
Online dating is a billion dollar industry with some 1,500 dating sites in the United States alone. The industry has successfully marketed itself into the hearts of just about every segment […]
Complex math skills have been discovered in non-primates.
Rick Santorum had a great day on Tuesday, winning the Republican primaries in both Alabama and Mississippi—a state in which no poll had shown Santorum in the lead. Newt Gingrich, […]
My Tuesday post examined parents’ limited options in the age of the standardized test. But what is a teacher to do who is fed up with the testing regime? “I’d […]
Here is the comment of astute conservative commentator Yuval Levin on the recent mega-gaffe by Romney’s communications director: If, say, yesterday, you had asked me what kind of statement by a […]
Internet searches offer quick answers to easy questions or narrative responses to more complex ones. But Wolfram Alpha is about to emphasize the importance of processed data.
As part of considering the costs and benefits of major regulations, the federal government assigns a dollar value to human life. This is not a real person, just an […]
What’s the Big Idea? The idea of “brain training” conjures up visions of children playing educational computer games and senior citizens solving Sudoku puzzles, but a great workout for the […]
A simple and cheap device that stimulates the brain with a mild electric current appears to improve our capacity to learn skills like mathematics or a foreign language. Should we use it?
President Obama apparently thinks the safer way to justify higher taxes on the super rich is to pitch the proposal based on its deficit-reduction potential. But if he wants to get the ball rolling for meaningful tax reform, Obama will summon his rhetorical powers to explain how the Buffett Rule could help reduce the nation’s massive and destructive wealth inequality.
Students in China are out performing countries who spend far more education.
A couple of weeks ago there was a bit of an online hoo-ha in my adopted homeland. Singapore’s social media was ablaze (well not quite ablaze but there was definitely […]
Today as I meditate on Arum and Roksa’s much-discussed study, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” my thoughts turn to academic life at the institution where I teach. This week […]