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Call me a proud alum.  If you haven’t yet heard of Jim Yong Kim, the Dartmouth College president nominated by Obama today to head the World Bank, then welcome to […]
As any parent of a distractible seven-year-old knows, the neural circuits involved in self-control are some of the latest-developing parts of the brain. This important set of abilities is worth the wait, though—as well as some parental effort. Parents can accelerate the development of self-control by encouraging their children to pursue goals that are challenging but not impossible, a moving target that depends on the child’s age and individual abilities.  
Free will has long been a fraught concept among philosophers and theologians. Now neuroscience is entering the fray. For centuries, the idea that we are the authors of our own […]
Ever find yourself dozing off during a lecture or seminar? Dread walking through those classroom doors because you know exactly what’s on the other side? Just the sight of a […]
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg takes an unflinching look at the science of habit, and offers concrete strategies for transforming harmful habits into beneficial ones.
The video below ought to put a definitive end to the No Sex versus Bad Sex debate.  Slovakian wildlife photographer Adrián Skippy Purkart captured a queen ant being ravaged by a […]
A few years ago I gave a sermon at my (very liberal) church asking the question: “What determines the limit to our tolerance?” After the service, one member of the […]
Quick. Grab a pencil. Some crayons. A notepad. Wrap your brain around this Friday’s Big Enigma from Ivan Moscovitch’s The Big Book of Brain Games.  Share a photo of your solution in […]
A Q&A With Christian Wiman, Translator of Stolen Air When Osip Mandelstam died at age 47 in a Siberian work camp under the Stalin regime, he became one of twentieth-century […]
My latest column has been posted on AlterNet, How Religion’s Demand for Obedience Keeps Us in the Dark Ages. It’s about the religious worldview that sees human existence as a […]
Editor’s Note: Today, in honor of World Water Day, we’re publishing this guest post from Doc Hendley, the founder of Wine to Water, a nonprofit organization focused on bringing clean […]
After Mitt Romney’s 12-point win in Illinois, it’s difficult to see how anyone else could win the Republican nomination. His lead in the delegate count over Rick Santorum has expanded […]