Leading from behind. Is that the best policy for the U.S. in a world in which its power is waning? America must act more humbly, maybe, but is it stuck again in the Middle East?
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Obsessing over the injustices of Guantánamo Bay may become a surrogate for a wider hatred of America. But read the files and you’ll realise that obsession is the only humane response.
The story of hunger and poverty is very complex. It is a world where those without enough to eat may save up to buy a TV instead. Where more money may not mean more food.
There has been some discussion over the years here on Eruptions about what might happen if you were to bomb an eruption volcano. Now, this might be to divert a […]
In a guest post today, Samantha Miller digs deeper into understanding the nature of labeling in the organic food market. Miller is a graduate student in Journalism at American University. […]
There is so much beautiful writing about war. One of the first, best stories of a soldier (and his return home) is Homer’s The Odyssey. It captures –metaphorically, and at […]
Another fine feature of REAL EDUCATION by Hacker and Dreifus is its sensitive and altogether unideological treatment of professors who become legends. Among the legends they mention, one is still […]
This semester, as part of the course on Science, the Environment and the Media at American University, four graduate students in the class have focused their group project on the […]
The first thing you hear from him is a complaint: He’s talking, but the other guy isn’t listening. The last thing he does is announce he’s not going to talk […]
The theory of “motivated reasoning” explains that our quick-fire emotions can set us on a course of thinking that’s highly biased, especially on topics we care a great deal about.
Psychology can and should do more than reduce mental suffering, argues positive psychology guru Martin Seligman in his new book. It should encourage optimism about life, he says.
Collecting life stories and human brains is the business of the University of California San Diego’s brain bank. Donal Trump’s would be a good fit, says brain bank neurologist Jacopo Annese.
When we read, we feel a real human connection without engaging in real relationships. “Something else important must be happening,” says psychology professor Shira Gabriel.
Patricia Churchland, a philosopher at the University of California San Diego, says understanding morality means understanding its roots in the brain, i.e. our “circuitry for caring”.
How about a lamp that provides you with free and environmentally friendly energy.. forever! All you have to do is water it. Literally. Soil Lamp is an invention of the […]
It is impossible for me to think about Easter without thinking about estrus – the peak of female sexuality that takes place when a woman is most fertile. It should […]
A month ago I wrote an article expressing my concern over whether the U.S. has a clear, achievable plan in Libya. I knew at the time that President Obama would […]
If you think about any of the most popular Internet start-ups that have appeared on the public radar within the past year, they all share one unique characteristic: they are […]
Another chapter in the ongoing David-and-Goliath saga between organic farmers and the agriculture and biotechnology company Monsanto kicked off recently with a lawsuit filed in federal court.
Exercise is a necessity for cancer patients and survivors, but their condition poses some unique challenges. Personal trainer Josie Gardner recommends four exercises tailored for cancer patients.
Femmes fatales, adulteresses, killers, cultural rule-breakers—every age seems to be riveted by women who are less sugar, more spice. Who are the women that have attracted us to beauty’s dark side?
The Navy is experimenting with acupuncture and soothing atmospherics to treat Marines suffering from mild cases of traumatic brain injury—the most prevalent wound of the Afghan war.
Are medicines developed from genetic research just hype? The promises of genomic treatment have been overblown, says James Evans, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina.
My favorite lines of Shakespeare have no poetry about them, and no style. They’re simple words, uttered in desperate circumstances. They remind that life is not, for the most part, […]
Here is a list of some of the health crises that weren’t—crises that were either completely unfounded or that received an unwarranted amount media attention commensurate to their actual risk.
On the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death (and possibly his birthday too), Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Jane Smiley wrote this personal reflection for Big Think.
Rick Warren says the example of Christ teaches us about the need to show compassion, as Christ gave to the victims of the first century version of AIDS–leprosy.
Many kids are vaccinated at age two, the same age at which autism is often first noticed. But the “evidence” that one causes the other doesn’t wash.
He calls himself a climate pragmatist and so therefore is less visible in the national media, yet Jonathan Foley is a rising star and important leader in the U.S. environmental […]
“Taxation without representation,” as James Otis said, “is tyranny.” But taxation with representation is just democratic government.