If we have access to the same facts and evidence, we ought to reach the same conclusions about any topic. What does it mean when we don’t? We’ve all encountered […]
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When people think about the future, at least in many of the progressive circles that I move in, do you know what they think about? Gloom and doom. Generally, our […]
Senator Bill Bradley sits down with Big Think to discuss his latest book, We Can All Do Better, out in hardcover today, May 8, 2012. He talks about what it […]
What is the Big Idea? Dominique Moisi, a special advisor at the French Institute of International Relations, published a few words of advice for president-elect François Hollande inLos Echos. His […]
Editor’s Note: In a previous post, Ali Wyne published the first part of his interview with Ian Bremmer about the main argument of Bremmer’s new book, Every Nation for Itself: Winners and […]
As I wrote last week, the Breakthrough Dialogues launched in 2011 as one of America’s top new thought leader forums, in part because of the cross-cutting ideological discussion and mix […]
Votifi is an online platform that encourages positive, nuanced political exchange. After you sign up, the website sends you daily polls through your browser or mobile device and creates a […]
In November of 1977, Houston hosted a national women’s conference to hammer out a broad agenda against sexual inequality. It was hailed as the most diverse American political gathering in […]
Economics rests on unguarded assumptions that need to be examined, says author and Harvard professor Michael Sandel. He wants to revive a debate over the role of market forces.
While some concerns about GM crops are valid, refusing to pursue them while poor countries suffer malnutrition and starvation is irresponsible, says rights activist Isobel Coleman.
The troubling chronicle of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has me thinking about the trial of another dissident who faced a life-changing dilemma of his own 2411 years ago in […]
Momentary enthusiasm, a few nice words at the inauguration, then gridlock: it’s the ebb and flow of electoral politics in America, and it’s lead liberal and conservative insiders alike to argue that representatives ought to capitulate every now and then, if only for the sake of negotiation.
Imagine that someone offered you something and said, “This might give you a short-term performance boost. If it does, we’re not sure how long the effect will last but we […]
Voters in France and Greece have strongly rejected the politics of austerity, electing a president and parliament that vow to soften Europe’s plan to slash government spending.
Given global capital markets, America has no choice but to join the race to cut corporate tax levels. Capital gains should be taxed as normal income to make up for the loss of income.
Deriding the Democratic Party’s “Julia” propaganda yesterday, Ross Douthat recycled a conservative truism. Unlike those admirable (because safely extinct) old-timeliberals, he wrote, today’s Democrats want the government to do what families should: “The liberalism […]
Just before Rip Van Winkle falls into his thirty-year slumber, he encounters the ghostly spectacle of a handful of ancient Dutch colonials playing at ninepins, the thunder rolling across the […]
Vanity Fair has published some revealing letters from the young student Barack Obama to his girlfriend Alex McNear. Some conservatives have been mocking the heck out of them as evidence […]
On Saturday, the Obama 2012 campaign officially launched with rallies held at Ohio State and Virginia Commonwealth University. Amy Gardner and Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post offered details on […]
China’s rapid urbanization has afforded it the opportunity to build new, environmentally friendly eco-cities. Its efforts may be a model for the rest of the urbanizing world.
Last week, the blogosphere was in an uproar over a sermon given by a North Carolina pastor, Sean Harris, who seemingly advised parents to beat their children if they show […]
Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, has just released his eighth book, Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World (New York: Portfolio: 2012). When he first […]
In Britain, the main Opposition Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband was pleased at his party’s strong progress in the mid term council elections in England – and especially Wales. Gaining well […]
While we know superstitious laws are silly, we may be better off obeying them. Doing so will save us the guilt of having gone against conventional wisdom if misfortune should come our way.
In an attempt to encourage sympathy across the battle lines of ethnic conflicts, neuroscientists are working with the Pentagon to better understand how violence works in the brain.
If President Obama is re-elected in the Fall, he is likely to face a Congress even more polarized than today, with the ideological divide greater than at anytime since before […]
Being trained by evolution to avoid confronting your own mortality, your brain may register a feeling of terror to read news articles about death. We have a strong aversion to our fragility.
Harvard researcher Elizabeth Spelke studies the minds of babies to better understand how we think and behave as adults. She believes language is the key to our creative processes.
Scientific research suggests that empathy works more strongly on the non-religious to motivate generous behavior. Religious people are guided more by doctrine and community.
The idea that social classes are intentional constructions built and reinforced for strategic purposes is appealing because no other idea of social class makes much sense to me.