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The debate over the fiscal cliff has spawned a multitude of suggestions for reforming the tax system, including my own.  One possible reason for the wide range of proposals, even from mainstream economists, is that the recommendations of standard economic theory may be very different from what the American economy actually needs today.  Here are two views of taxation, from the theoretical and realistic standpoints – can you find a happy medium between them?

In 1975, rock legend Lou Reed released an album entitled Metal Machine Music. The album consists of no songs, no lyrics and is entirely devoid of melody and rhythm. Instead, […]

Unique architecture may play a role in Einstein’s creativity and ability to solve complex problems in physics. 

A Spanish company has successfully completed a test of a balloon that could take passengers 20 miles above Earth, just a few miles short of Felix Baumgartner’s October launch spot.

A new UN report warns that if thawing continues as expected, major ecosystems will be impacted and large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere.

The rate represents a drop over the past year compared to the previous year, but almost 1800 square miles was still lost, possibly due to rising deforestation in some Brazilian states.

The same machine used to discover the Higgs boson particle may also have produced something that would most likely have last existed around the time of the Big Bang.

Dear Representative Boehner, Earlier this month, after President Obama was re-elected, you assured America in an interview that you are the “most reasonable, responsible person here in Washington.” No one […]

Ireland’s Catholic bishops have released an official statement on the death of Savita Halappanavar, to my surprise. It may well be that the outcry was so great, they felt obligated […]

Most short lists of greatest living artists will have names such as David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, (BigThink.com’s own) Ai Weiwei, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, or Jeff Koons. But who would […]

The company announced today that two of its models will include functionality that will let iPhone owners access the personal assistant using a special “Eyes Free” feature.

Security is perhaps the most well-known illusion human beings have contrived. From the cursory seduction of emotional stability to the wrathful manifestation of raging armies, the painful longing for complete […]

Recent break-ins at several Texas hotels have been traced to a digital pickpocketing tool that takes advantage of a security vulnerability in locks found in millions of rooms worldwide.

Our prehistoric ancestors are the ones who did the heavy mental lifting for which we owe our expanded frontal cortexes. So who has the right brain for today?  

British Airways passengers can now be assured of finishing any in-flight movies they watch, thanks to an agreement between the airline and the UK government.

Jeff DeGraff: At Christmas, I change from one culture into another and yet another still and back again. 

Here, in a Big Think interview at his Beijing studio, Ai Weiwei discusses the challenges China faces to becoming a truly “great nation.” 

Like any big, bold idea, Elon Musk’s plan for colonizing Mars strikes you at first glance as indeed crazy. And yet, the reason for Musk’s success in leading four of the most innovative companies in America is that he is analytically minded, first and foremost. 

Should employees be incentivized to deliver high performance on day-to-day tasks? Of course we need that, but 20-30 percent of incentives should be based on “breakthrough new pathways for the company, experiments,” says entrepreneur Jack Hidary.   

Next in the company’s plans for world domination: The ability to find answers to the questions you normally don’t think of going to a computer to ask.

The University of Cambridge has set up a center designed to examine the risks posed by advancing technologies and climate changes to the survival of the human species.

My latest column has been posted on AlterNet, 50 Reasons to Boycott the Catholic Church. In it, as you might have guessed from the title, I list fifty arguments for […]

We’re having a conference—sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute—at Berry College next Friday and Saturday on POP CULTURE and REAL CULTURE.  All the details can be found here.  YOU are […]

I was touring a tony private school the other day and came home impressed but disquieted.  The teachers and parents were welcoming, genuinely pleasant and unfailingly polite, yet I felt […]

Increased benefit choice brings along with it increased risk. For instance, what if employees choose options like paid time off at the expense of long-term benefits that will be much more valuable to themselves and their families over time?

In his recent post, fellow Big Think blogger Adam Lee blames the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict on competing religious fundamentalisms. The recent renewal of fighting on the Gaza border, he writes,  […]

Participants from various Asian countries recently attended a conference in Bangkok centering on transforming men’s beliefs about themselves, including “sexual entitlement” that often leads to violence against women. 

            If you devote the patience necessary to finish this short post, you will end up a better decision maker. But then, as you will discover in the paragraphs below, […]

New Delhi’s MedTech Row is home to a growing number of health sector companies, partnerships, and nonprofits that are focusing on how to provide affordable care to the country’s poorest citizens.

For those of us who are committed to creating a better world how do we respond to the evil and heinous acts of our violent past? I just got back […]