Researchers at Ohio State University say that reading a good book written in the first person can change the reader in different ways.
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By Chris Arkenberg “The intelligence of the city is on the streets.“ – Manu Fernandez Amidst the swirling maelstrom of technological progress so often heralded as the imminent salvation to […]
Dear readers, Book Think debuted one year ago this month, and I’m in the mood to commemorate. Since it’s too hot for books, thinking, or even turning pages absently while […]
The idea of artists running museums sounds to many like allowing the inmates to run the asylum. A profile in the current issue of The New Yorker of Tate Gallery […]
Scientists believe they may have come up with the vaccine to keep nicotine from reaching the human brain. They are hopeful that it will make the effort to quit smoking possible.
Many believe the war on drugs is counterproductive, and that it has lead to more cases of HIV—especially among needles users.
North Korea taunted the United States on its birthday three years ago on July 4 with a missile launch that eventually splashed harmlessly into the sea. They’ve had other embarrassing missile mishaps […]
Studies show fear of flying, spiders, public speaking or even an obsessive compulsive disorder, along with many more phobias and anxieties can be combated by Cognitive-Behavioral therapy.
Can anyone learn how to light up a room? Author Fox Cabane says that, by using empathetic body language and speaking in a cheerful yet authoritative manner, you can be more well-liked.
Is a Harley Davidson motorcycle a masterpiece? In an effort to buoy the mid-range art market, auction houses are expanding the definition, associating the term with luxury.
Humans are a distractible bunch. We’re easily seduced by ads and offers, memes and tweets. When we’re not focused on useless gimmicks and irrelevant social chatter our minds drift into […]
Sports psychologists have found that more ardent fans of a sports team form significant and positive social relationships that turn on identifying with the aspirations of the team.
In the avalanche of analysis and speculation about Chief Justice Roberts’ stunning decision to side with the Supreme Court’s liberal wing to uphold Obama’s healthcare law, one strain paints Roberts […]
Who could disagree with self-fulfillment and self-cultivation? These values, however, which are centered on expressive individualism, leave the values of future generations up for grabs.
What’s the Big Idea? Perhaps the better question is, do humans speak dog? Either way, the debate over whether language is unique to humans, or a faculty also possessed by […]
Financial management and youth are like oil and vinegar–they don’t mix. Managing finances is a distant and removed—and thus boring–prospect for most young people. In fact, the very idea of […]
What happens when you do make it to the top of your field, only to find that it’s not exactly what you’d expected or been told to expect?
Imagine yourself in the hotseat at NBC programming. Are you the Industry Leader? The Runaway Train? Or the Sniveling Quail? Take our psychometrically untested personality quiz and find out!
People like us are rare. There is so much pressure to conform, but we are willing to be different. We dare to face down any crowd armed with only what […]
Art history is littered with unsavory biographies but how can works of such exalted inspiration originate in selfish characters? Extreme devotion to any singular purpose may be inhuman.
So the big news in squeaky clean Singapore of late is that this manicured island-state is hardly as bland, boring or as vice-free as it’s been made out to be, […]
Postings at Waq al-waq will be suspended until some point in mid-July (depending on the fish and novels) at which point I will resume, what is for me, regular posting.
Fashion never sleeps apparently, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Asia where lifestyle related online start-ups are springing up faster than you can say “buy me that Birkin.” […]
Today’s breaking news was, of course, that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare”. In what will doubtless go down in American history […]
In slang, the “cheating band” used to mean that conspicuous band of paler skin revealed when a would-be cheater took off their wedding band to fool and seduce a new […]
Whether women, or men, or both invented it – empathy, even in adversarial relationships, is invariably the wisest approach.
In Yemen, al-Qaeda often makes mistakes that open the group up to criticism. Most of the time this chance goes begging as the Yemeni government, popular clerics and tribal shaykhs […]
Who could have predicted that Chief Justice John Roberts would break with the conservative block on the Supreme Court and write the majority opinion upholding the individual mandate, one of […]
Warren Littlefield, former NBC president, advises young people entering any field to trust in their instincts even when they run counter to common sense in the industry, then to fight passionately for the projects and ideas they believe in.
What is the Big Idea? A new study released on Tuesday shows that immigrants play a leading role in innovation and economic growth in the United States. “Patent Pending: How Immigrants […]