This essay was previously published on AlterNet. Last November, I attended a debate in the NYU Intelligence Squared series on the topic, “Would the World Be Better Off Without Religion?” […]
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Via Dangerous Intersection, I saw this TED lecture by Daniel Kahnemann, based on his book Thinking Fast and Slow, about the conflict between the “experiencing self” and the “remembering self”. […]
Americans (and most everyone else in the world) are getting bigger. Yes, obesity is BIG news. Many of us have grown so large that the New York Times reports that […]
Mitt Romney has experience that Barack Obama doesn’t. For all his obvious gifts, Obama has no real experience running private companies, while Romney is one of the most accomplished business […]
Exercise is practically essential to good health but scientists have not understood why until recently. Physical exertion, it seems, helps recycle worn-out proteins that poison the body.
Under the first major modification in 17 years to the manual that defines mental disorders, definitions of autism, Asperger syndrome and developmental disorder will be brought together.
A new mobile app that securely sends video and audio to cardiologists has helped diagnosis patients before they get to the hospital, meaning they receive better care when they arrive.
People in a romantic relationship are generally healthier than those who are not. But when it comes to marriage, just living with your loved one, without the certificate, may prove healthier.
A 60-day moratorium has halted international research that produced a more communicable strain of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, the full findings of which will be reported only to scientists and health officials.
In today’s excerpt – the gold standard. In recent political debates, there have been calls for a return to the gold standard. This standard states that holders of paper money […]
Can the comedian’s critique of campaign finance make a difference or is it too easily dismissed as comedy? Today, Colbert urged South Carolina to vote for Herman Cain, who is no longer running.
From insurance broker to farmer to head of one of the country’s largest security firms, this female entrepreneur learned a great deal while mastering the male-dominated security business.
If you ever want to make even the most cosmopolitan of your friends speechless, telling them you have volunteered to travel to Newark, New Jersey, so you can masturbate to orgasm in an fMRI is a great way to start. Once they overcome the shock, chances are they will start to ask questions. Most I was able to answer.
The customer service benefits to using Twitter have become apparent to companies large and small. Michele Obama and Rupert Murdoch are the latest individuals to fire off tweets.
S. rarely says much about current events when we get up in the morning. But today she was visibly agitated over the visual of the group, comprised largely of white […]
What’s the Big Idea? Big Think co-founder Peter Hopkins is fond of thinking against the grain, and when it comes to the current debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act […]
If you’ve got an idea, you’ve got to know how to sell it. Here is a simple guide to presenting your vision to investors, customers and colleagues.
Need a little extra cash and want to make money doing something you love? Here are fives simple businesses you can start on the side and let grow while you keep up with your other life.
This week, there’s been a flurry of stories about Muslim groups trying to suppress criticism of Islam, both by law and by force. It’s worth summarizing them briefly to show […]
The Institution for Economic Affairs, a free-market British think-tank, has released a freely-downloadable edited volume titled … and the Pursuit of Happiness, packed with papers summarizing the public-policy implications of […]
The last thing I ever wanted to do was to write a word about Newt Gingrich’s sex life. But, alas, ABC’s “blockbuster” interview with Newt’s ex-wife Marianne, airing tonight on […]
Using money she had received for her 30th birthday, Zoe Strauss bought a camera in 2000 and began shooting a 10-year project that had previously existed only in her imagination. […]
French physicists have successfully prevented instabilities from developing in plasma needed to run a fusion reactor, a potential source of endless and clean energy for the planet.
Today, Apple announced its new e-book software. Stanford and MIT are offering its courses online—and for free. It looks like the information revolution is about to change education as we know it.
Many, including myself, wondered if today’s Apple announcement would be the kiss of death for digital textbook startups like Kno, Inkling and Chegg. Now, it seems as if Apple as […]
The information age has already touched most industries, disrupting the flow of goods and services. With the ability to track and aggregate massive amounts of patient data, health care is next.
Media entrepreneur Saad Mohseni Mohseni describes Afghanistan today as the way the U.S. was in the 1950s. But the rate of change is very much accelerated, meaning “Afghanistan will resemble the western world vis-à-vis media probably in the next five to ten years.”
Skype programmer Jaan Tallinn isn’t so sure we’ll ever be able to build networks that can replicate– even in a business context – the communicative power of meeting in person. Instead, he believes, we’ll continue to edge asymptotically closer.
New York Times technology columnist David Pogue says to predict future technologies, focus on what is possible rather than what isn’t, and extrapolate from the behavior of young people.
I saw Melissa Harris Perry deliver the keynote speech for King Week at Emory University this past Tuesday. Perry is a professor of political science at Tulane University, the new […]