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 […]
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After the drink company left South Africa during apartheid, it set up shop in neighboring Swaziland. But now its tax payments support the country’s notorious dictator, Mswati III.
Happy New Year, everyone! As I may have mentioned in the past, I like the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions: it’s an entirely secular holiday whose point is self-improvement, […]
June 23, 2012 will be the hundredth anniversary of Alan Turing’s birth. The so-called Year of Turing also presents an interesting framework for us to gauge the progress of computing.
In the busy world of the 21st century shouldn’t we be making it easier, not harder, to vote?
Labeling coffee as “fair trade” can boost sales by 10%, finds a recent study. The findings shed light on the rapid growth of the fair trade and organic markets. But […]
Over the Holiday break, I read Walter Isaacson’s masterful and absorbing biography of Steve Jobs. As his biography reveals, Jobs was a dark, complex and often deeply contradictory figure. “There […]
I like the idea of “literary New Year’s resolutions” suggested by Ruth Franklin in The New Republic, and I’ve decided to hop on the bandwagon. But while Franklin’s resolutions primarily concern […]
In the video below, author Gretchen Rubin describes two frequent mistakes people make in setting goals for themselves. Watch the video here:
Scientific research increasingly throws doubt on the question of free will. If it doesn’t exist, or if it is extremely limited, what would it mean for the New Year’s resolutions you may be making?
A new model of how the brain works, using special glia cells to regulate the synapses, sorting information for learning purposes, could give rise to better computer algorithms.
The fundamental source of prejudice is not ideology, but rather a basic human need and way of thinking, says a new study. To reduce prejudice we must first recognize the role it plays in our daily lives.
In a study, individuals whose diets were rich in essential vitamins performed better on cognitive tests and showed less brain shrinkage, a symptom of Alzheimer’s, as they aged.
When children assign labels to objects, they depend less on language than adults do. The finding could help guide parents in communicating with and teaching their children more effectively.
Ah, New Year’s Eve: It feels so important to find something significant, meaningful, memorable to do. And then two weeks later you can’t recall what it was, because it was […]
One of the traditions of my old site was, at the end of each year, to choose a selection of my favorite posts from throughout the year and highlight them […]
A week after being admitted to the hospital with a fever, a Chinese man in the southern Guangdong province has died from a bird flu infection caused by the dangerous H5N1 virus.
We know New Year’s isn’t the only time people drink but to clear the confusion around so many home remedies, here is a list of foods, drinks and minerals to incorporate into tomorrow’s brunch.
Tonight, you’ll pop a bottle of Champagne, and raise a flute to the promise of sweet, newborn 2012. As this is a time for all things reflective, stop to think […]
The state of Texas has created a $3 billion fund to pay for a new cancer research initiative. By building on the International Cancer Genome Consortium, it aims to cure five kinds of cancer.
Increasing demand for year-round, out-of-season organic food has shifted production to Mexico where large farms produce monocultures, depleting local soil and water resources.
Though marketed as a miracle health product, the benefits of antioxidants have been greatly overestimated, say researchers. In some cases, they have been shown to aggravate health problems.
David Brooks has a generous and eloquent column on the decision of “crunchy conservative” Rod Dreher to move back to his hometown of St. Francisville, LA. Dreher is embracing the […]
Open any American history textbook and you’ll find it there—Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. George Washington’s steely profile cutting through the wind as he stands in […]
This short animation was submitted to Big Think by Morgan Miller. You can visit his site at www.slushingbrooks.com. “Slushing Brooks is the name of the fictious working class neighborhood where most of […]
How would we redesign economies, markets, and organizations to help us live better? Umair Haque gives three lessons for turning the crumbling dream of prosperity into an opportunity.
An increasing number of colleges are beginning to offer courses or entire programs devoted to green business practices. Bard College is the latest to offer an MBA in sustainable business.
A buddy of mine told me yesterday that his youngest son, who is all of five years old, walked up to him on Christmas morning and said “Dad, we never […]
A former Apple engineer who launched his own wireless networking start up puts his customers in direct contact with his engineers. Running a lean business keeps him competitive.
When you’ve got a business idea, it’s easy to get excited and start talking it up to possible investors. Often, this happens before the concept is fully baked. And that can mean missed opportunities.