A lack of ambition plagues virtually every Western country. The ability to act has become shackled by a profound pessimism that does not exist in developing countries.
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The only thing worse than being misperceived by a machine is being expertly perceived by one, says Walter Kirn about software that recommends the author books and movies.
Turning off mobile phones and avoiding the Internet can leave people suffering from symptoms similar to those seen in drug addicts trying to go cold turkey, researchers have found.
Nicolas Kristof recently wrote a column in the New York Times urging Americans to teach their children Spanish before Chinese. Chinese has become quite the coveted prize for New Yorkers: “Chinese […]
In a technology-based culture, you learn from infancy that truth is what can be counted and measured. That makes it easy to divide any conversation into what you learned (important!) […]
Frank Furedi takes to task Tariq Ramadan, “who wants to bury the Enlightenment virtue of toleration and replace it with recognition.” Can we seek meaning without a capacity to judge?
The European subspecies is slowly dying out, according to some. The blame should be laid firmly on the shoulders of emancipated women.
Erika Morphy tells retailers how now to be evil when selling and suggests other resolutions for navigating a tricky economy and cautious consumers.
What would Michel de Montaigne, the French author commonly credited with inventing the essay, think of the custom of making new year resolutions?
The American people rescued these six banks. They’ve all violated the law, and they’re all suspected of even more possible illegalities.
Depression is a major public health problem. Policymakers, treatment providers, and patients need unbiased research and responsible dissemination of information by the press.
The cosmetics industry has dragged its feet when it comes to developing alternatives to animal testing. Here they are again trying to stall new animal welfare laws.
There is a broader need for more individual scientists to communicate with the public. Currently, that kind of activity is not particularly valued in some fields of research.
We are not hapless victims of circumstances, we are deeply complicit in creating them. We are not stuck with global warming. We are global warming.
Misal embodies the type of person who will truly transform India: not an engineer or a financier, but an average person who refuses to be satisfied with the status he was born to.
When you talk about Classical music, you often begin with the three Killer B’s: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. If you talk about American photography, you need to begin with the […]
If the following combination of names has meaning to you, the answer is yes: Desean, Lesean, Jeremy, Michael, Brent. Football and philosophy don’t often share the same Op-Ed column, but […]
Since I’ve run out of blog ideas—and have New Year’s Eve parties to get to—today I’m just going to post some of the things that people who are more interesting […]
Next July, the United States Postal Service will commemorate the pioneers of industrial design with a limited-edition stamp collection. Each of the 12 stamps features the designer’s name, the type […]
One of the best things about Christmas for me is the Barnes & Noble gift card in my stocking. I am always excited to get it, because it means I […]
I am back from my break – it was a good time in New England, even with the Snowicane that kept us at home for a couple days. I definitely needed […]
1. The Tea Partiers–and many other conservatives–distinguish between the view of our Founders (good) and that of the Progressives (bad). The Progressives (beginning around the turn of the 20th century) […]
Spiritually unmoored, many people nonetheless experience intense elevation during the magical moments that sport often affords, says David Brooks.
Every fad has its golden window, the period between Wow and Enough already. So it is with flash mobs, those hit-and-run performances that keep springing up.
U.S. politics, often decried for its “partisanship”, is all too bipartisan in its deeply dysfunctional consensus on tax and wealth, says Columbia economics professor Jeffrey Sachs.
We don’t look at Nature only from the light of reason. To look for explanations behind natural phenomena is, as Einstein remarked, akin to an act of devotion.
Newly published research suggests keeping a potential romantic partner guessing can pique his or her interest—mystery can be a powerful motivator of attraction.
“When we learn to tolerate boredom, we find out who we really are,” said one speaker at a recent conference on boredom who lamented our over-stimulated culture.
Our ultra-costly and ultra-punitive system is neither protecting victims nor rehabilitating lawbreakers. It’s time for a new and less costly approach, says Sunil Dutta.
The financial crisis has created an environment where, because of government-funded bailouts, big banks are getting bigger, as the small ones struggle.