Culture & Religion

In a country where sports spending is all but nonexistent, two teams look to local businesses — specifically, a brothel and a funeral parlor — for funding.

The BBC is launching three pay-TV channels in the country, including CBeebies, which airs Teletubbies and other preschool programs.

Tea growers have won legal protection for the name, ensuring that, as with certain specially-produced wines and spirits, theirs is the only tea that gets to be called Darjeeling.

Despite the convictions we hold of our own moral correctness, we are easily brought under the influence of group morals, i.e. our behavior is motivated by our desire to be faithful to a group.

A newly published study examining moral beliefs among self-described liberals, moderates and conservatives reveals that liberals are the worst at stereotyping other groups as well as their own.

Software that learns to tell stories by maintaining an interconnected web of concepts rather than through rote memorization could help computer programmers better understand how humans think. 

China’s RT-Mart is beating out its Western rivals in the hypermarket industry by giving their stores features that are familiar to customers who normally get their groceries off the street.

This afternoon, the Supreme Court agreed to hear argument in two same-sex marriage cases: a challenge to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn Proposition 8 and […]

Researchers compared art from three time periods and found that modern artists got — and are still getting — animal gaits wrong far more often than expected.

A videoconference scheduled for tomorrow will bring together 6,000 people from opposite sides of a 40-year-old conflict in the hope that they can begin the hard work of peace.

The notion that men are only interested in one thing is a false one, says professor Andrew Smiler. He has compiled statistics suggesting that our culture’s view of the young male is all wrong. 

Given a choice between gifting a smaller reward now and waiting to gift a larger reward later, it’s more likely that you’ll forego rationality and choose immediate gratification if the beneficiary is related to you.

The author of a study that examined recruiter behavior at elite firms says many choose potential employees in the same way they’d choose friends or even romantic partners.

Dear Representative Boehner, Earlier this month, after President Obama was re-elected, you assured America in an interview that you are the “most reasonable, responsible person here in Washington.” No one […]

Here, in a Big Think interview at his Beijing studio, Ai Weiwei discusses the challenges China faces to becoming a truly “great nation.” 

In his recent post, fellow Big Think blogger Adam Lee blames the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict on competing religious fundamentalisms. The recent renewal of fighting on the Gaza border, he writes,  […]

Participants from various Asian countries recently attended a conference in Bangkok centering on transforming men’s beliefs about themselves, including “sexual entitlement” that often leads to violence against women. 

Several case studies suggest that the absence of non-verbal communication cues and a tendency to idealize online relationships can result in symptoms of psychosis.

In Ghana, where 96 percent of citizens identify as religious according to a recent poll, a conference held last weekend drew humanists from across West Africa.

By analyzing population records kept during the 19th century by the Finnish government, researchers have concluded that having an older sibling was beneficial and detrimental, depending on one’s age. 

New studies conducted at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management suggest that feelings of guilt increase the amount of pleasure we receive from indulging our desires. 

Runners aren’t the only ones who experience an endorphin-based “high”: A new study shows that people who sing, dance, or play music together experience similar mood-enhancing effects.

Currently in use at five companies across the US and Europe: Mannequins equipped with a camera that sends data to a facial-recognition program.

Down in the dumps? You’d better watch your wallet, among other things.

Despite the fact that homosexuality is still criminalized in many countries, recent active and proposed legislation in a number of countries suggests a rapidly growing trend.

The 2013 German Michelin Guide contains twice as many two-star restaurants as last year’s, and more three-star restaurants than those of every other European country except France.

The ironic disposition of today’s youth is a response to excessive material wealth and excessive choice, argues Princeton’s Christy Wampole, arguing a better civic life is within our grasp.

A University of Cincinnati professor interviewed men in three cities and found that, despite different interpretations of the term, the overall meaning behind it isn’t as controversial as it was in the past.

Consumers tend to believe that products from the same brand that are eaten together are designed to taste better together, according to a new study.

Findings of a three-year study released yesterday identify a set of distinct parenting “cultures” — the Faithful, the Engaged Progressives, the Detached and the American Dreamers.