All Articles

We want to ascribe intentionality and blame for success and failure, then study them for blueprints. But Gladwell says he’s always found it more productive to follow his own curiosity without worrying too much about whether or not the world will reward him for it.

What’s the Big Idea? Forget coffee and crosswords. If you want to supercharge your brain, you have to change your lifestyle. But only a few things about it. Here, we lay […]

Don’t you just hate it when people that you fundamentally disagree with say something that you know to be true? Back in March, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization […]

ITEM 1: When you think “female judges,” what or who comes to mind? Sandra Day O’Connor? Justices Ginsberg and Sotomayor? Hell, even the network television shows “Judging Amy” or “Judge […]

In his autobiography, The Moon’s A Balloon, British actor David Niven writes about an instance when the American playwright and screenwriter Charles MacArthur approached Charlie Chaplin for advice on how […]

Toni Morrison bucks accepted wisdom when it comes to calling divorce an irreparable tragedy and likens reality television to a previous public’s fascination with lynching black people. 

The Occupy Movement is unique in seeking more equitable social change without the visible presence of individual leaders. But it’s disdain for hierarchy may ultimately hurt its goals. 

The GOP has a long tradition by which its most educated members criticize the “intellectual elite.” But the conservative brain trust seems to have run dry, with criticism approaching caricature. 

Note: Before you comment to say “This is not going to change the mind of someone who would issue a death threat”, please don’t. That’s not my point. Ask yourself […]

The discovery of the Higgs boson brought forth a fresh crop of high-minded religious apologists to favor us with platitudes about how science and religion can be reconciled, if only […]

So, I might have mentioned that I gave a speech at the SSA conference in Columbus earlier this month. They’ve begun posting the official photos on their Facebook page, and […]

I was speaking at The University of Texas — Pan American not long ago and a student asked me a question that had never been asked of me in more […]

Sensors that gather data from specific individuals using a particular buildings will transform homes and workplaces into dynamic spaces with an ever-pleasant ambiance.

These days, it seems that the same common concepts are stressed over and over in order to ensure team success. But I believe, from pee-wee to pro, that this standard […]

What’s the Big Idea? In a blog post from December 2010, Dr. Michio Kaku discussed the perils of our public school system and called into question the schools’ curiosity-crippling methods, which he […]

On Monday, the social LMS (Learning Management System) Lore launched its entirely redesigned platform. It is not just a brushed up version of what is was before but a complete […]

What’s the Big Idea? We all recall the scene from the Matrix when Neo (the “chosen-one”) gets wired to a computer and in a matter of milliseconds is programmed into […]

Throughout his extraordinary career, Pryce has turned his attention outward rather than inward – onto his fellow actors, the audience, the needs of the story. This, he reflects, is the secret to overcoming stage fright: remembering that it isn’t all about you.  

Advanced robotics could allow virtually any profession to form part of the globalized economy. By adopting avatars, workers could travel to any part of the world, all from their living room.

What’s the Big Idea? It was a quiet afternoon, as almost the entire team was out for an offsite retreat. It had been three months into my new job and […]

If we wish to honor our 21st century gods (technology, capitalism), we might do well to hold a competition that celebrates the achievements of the human mind, not the body. 

America’s National Ignition Facility has set a new record for the amount of energy generated by lasers. The experiment will be used to work toward creating laboratory-controlled fusion. 

If we are interested in testing the physical limitations of human biology through sport, we should create a second Olympics which allows the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Human-run institutions have had a spectacularly poor track record at monitoring the activity of the world’s largest banks, so companies are turning to artificial intelligence instead. 

In his superb essay about his years as a Mormon (one of the best pieces about faith I have read in a long time) Walter Kirn notes that he said […]

Cheers for STEM. But what about the, um, rest of the fabulous, life changing, extraordinary and often more important teachers who don’t teach math, engineering, technology or science?

The new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayeris pregnant, and not planning on taking maternity leave. This has stirred renewed conversation about “having it all,” and women’s lives. I’ve written before in […]

She hardly needs my sympathy, but I feel sad for Marissa Mayer. It seems so unfair that the two most amazing things that may ever happen to her (having a […]

It is true, of course, that exceptional can just mean strikingly different—an exception to the rule.

A commitment to space exploration satisfies our curiosity and need to explore new lands, it provides innovation and new jobs to the economy, and it will help our species escape this rock.