On Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, writer and musician Henry Rollins’ reflections on the power – and limitations – of music.
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Judging by the abundance of “guilty pleasure” TV shows, many people in America seem to feel overly constrained by the norms of public civility. The expectations of reasonableness and respect […]
The tight squeeze in science funding means the best are forced to be even better. In an economic downturn, it’s like that across industries, but in no other area do […]
Reductionists believe that memories, emotions, and feelings can be broken down to nothing more than interactions between brain cells and their associated molecules. In other words, “you” are your brain.
In an op-ed in the New York Times last week, Arthur C. Brooks tried to account for data showing that conservatives tend to be happier than liberals. Brooks began by […]
Charles Rubin is dubious about all the enthusiasm that comes with thinking “exponentially.” Today’s suggestion is that the coming Singularity will remove the limits placed on individual lives by biology, […]
Despite the triumph of the individual in Western culture, society still determines what love is and how it can be gotten. Unfortunately, our modern view of love is set up to cause us pain.
The culture of corruption that Penn State’s weighty football program created must either be dissolved or dedicated to healing the school’s wounds, which will mean fielding a losing team.
Scientists say the mood you are in is just as contagious as a cold. By imitating the emotions of others, we help form in-groups that confer evolutionary advantages on its members.
Sincerity, or the alignment of the inner-self with the outer-self, arose from religious movements that emphasized a modest and personal relationship with divine spirits.
Conservatives are more likely to be married and to subscribe to religion. On the other hand, they may also be less attentive to the world’s injustices and believe in free-market bliss.
“Danger: Art Inside,” read the labels on the crated sculptures as I toured last month the almost-ready-for-public-viewing, but now restored, reinstalled, and reinterpreted Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The signs […]
Read Part 2 here. To finish off Saturday night, atheist comedian Keith Lowell Jenson and journalist Ted Cox gave a demonstration of “ex-gay” conversion therapy. The quack idea undergirding this […]
Food is becoming increasingly politicized in America. Michelle Obama schooled us with her organic garden. And the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination schooled us by eating a stick of fried butter […]
In pursuit of the biological basis of morality, researchers are interested in an area of the brain at the boundary of the right temporal lobe and the right parietal lobe […]
The “always-on” work culture, says Leslie Perlow, drains morale and initiative, and scatters employees’ mental resources, making it difficult for them to take ownership of projects and prioritize their efforts. But changing it requires collective effort.
One of the most common questions I’m asked when I give lectures is how the brain differentiates love and lust. It’s an interesting question — and as most of us […]
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have successfully coaxed semiconductor electrons into vacuum tubes, preventing nano-sized collisions that slow down computing speeds.
Every media producer will need an automation strategy in the next two years, say companies who have created software that crunches numeric data into print-worthy prose.
An American company is developing applied neuroscience technology that will allow operators to read the thoughts of someone and then perhaps classify them as dangerous.
Mobile apps, learning communities and services on the Internet now offer a far more effective and also cheaper way to do these tasks as a student.
If the internet has given us one positive thing, it’s the opportunity to experience the best of other cultures and bring our understanding of life closer together. With that in […]
Harvard scientists have created a nanomaterial which regulates itself by adjusting to a host external stimuli like temperature, pH, pressure, and the presence or absence of certain chemicals.
…in reruns, of ourse. So I realize I’ve been pretty short on pop culture commentary lately. It’s not that I haven’t seen the new Wes Anderson movie and don’t have […]
We’re more than half-done with the week, and I have more good news for your Wednesday night: Daylight Atheism, The Book is now available on Smashwords! With this expansion, we […]
Remember that guy in the Truman Show who pretends to be the protagonist’s best buddy [1]? Who takes him out for a few brewskis on the beach when Truman starts […]
Read Part 1 here. On Saturday, the SSA conference was in full swing, with three simultaneous tracks of talks going on throughout the OSU student union. As Murphy’s Law predicts, […]
A team of Ukrainian students have created sensory gloves which translate sign language, including its various regional dialects, into speech and also won a $25,000 prize for their invention.
A good one might advise you not to wear a polyester suit to an interview at Goldman Sachs. He might also help guide you through the moral and ethical mine field that is Wall Street.
Intro This post may be mostly about what’s happening in gaming culture, but it concerns online conduct in general. Some background: online video blogger, Anita Sarkeesian, started a campaign to […]