My earlier post, “Storming the Ivory Tower“, discussed the real harm that religion is doing in the world, harm that Very Serious People overlook while tut-tutting at atheists. The natural […]
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Happy 2012! By now, you’re probably still in the earnest stage of your New Year’s resolutions. If one of those is about your determination to cut back on drink, this […]
In our period of economic uncertainty, it may seem wrong to question the growth imperative. But, then again, perhaps this is exactly the occasion to rethink the goals of global economic policy.
Five years after São Paulo, Brazil, began its fight against visual pollution by banning billboard, poster and bus advertisements, people are happier and businesses more creative.
The urge to predict is understandable. We forecast the future, and continue to do so even after repeated mistakes, because of the deep psychological need for a sense of control, to keep ourselves safe.
Climate change deniers lost an important ally in 2011, as Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller recently switched sides. James Lawrence Powell dissects the curious case of this former climate skeptic.
Many signs of Chinese unrest, targeted mostly at local officials, go unreported by state media. An estimated 90,000 riots, protests and mass petitions occur each year, mainly in rural areas.
In addition to recent military posturing, Iran is looking to extend a softer version of its influence to South America by signing trade contracts, opening embassies and financing development projects.
I had a drink with a friend a few weeks ago who informed me that the only men looking for a woman my age (mid-forties) are men in their early […]
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 […]
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.